15 Best Inflatable Paddle Boards | Which is Best for You in 2024 and Beyond?

[@rapdre2]

I love gili company. The meno and the adventure are great boards for me and what I do for storage and etc. I just bought the blackfin xl so I’m excited to use it. But gili will always be the brand I rock with.

[@inflatablesupauthority]

I agree! Gili makes very underrated boards that are well thoughtout, functional, lightweight while blending a good amount of stiffness to their mid and higher priced models. Have fun on you Blackfin XL! I'd be interested to see what your thoughts are on it compared to the Gili boards.

[@david243121]

Great overview! I'm in the market for my first blow up SUP. I have had a 10'6'' Riviera all-around regular board for years. Not new to paddle boarding. I've surfed it, I've raced it, and I've cruised on it. I don't have roof racks anymore so looking for something more portable that fits my needs. I want to be able to cruise, do some yoga, possible surf (but not priority at all), have longer adventures. I live in south florida and have a lot of back water / river riding. also some Gulf riding. I am 5'11'', 180lbs male. Would like to spend under $800. What would be your #1 recc? Strongly considering the iROCKER 11 Ultra. Or the BLACKFIN CX 10'6" ULTRA. Thanks!

[@inflatablesupauthority]

I think ultimatly those two choices you listed are pretty good picks but it depends what activity you would do the most or what the priority would be. You can certainly do yoga on the Blackfin CX Ultra or 11 Ultra but they won't be the best suited boards as usually the characteristic of a good yoga board is a wider shape and wider width. For a pure yoga board I do like the Diatom Ten6 by Sea Gods or the Gili Komodo. The Meno 11'6" is also good for that as well as the Pioneer Pro although the Pioneer may be out of your budget range. If you prefer to have a more lightweight manueverable board The Blackfin Ultra CX is a good pick. I found the Ultra 11 to be a decent Jack of All Trades board but my 2021 board is not the most stable. Later models are reported to have better stability however. If Stability is important to you I do like the Meno 11'6" as it actually had decent manueverability and tracking for a board of its size and it has a lot of well thought out onboard features and good quality accessories. It's not too heavy either. I'm just throwing out ideas here as finding a board that is good at all cruise, yoga, surf, longer distance paddles and back country rivers is a bit difficult as all of those things require different characteristics from boards. Like I said in the begining if one or two of those activities takes priority I may be able to narrow the list down a bit haha. Cheers!

[@inflatablesupauthority]

If portability is your priority then the Ultra Series may be your best bet. Just had to add that haha

[@david243121]

I really appreciate the thoughtful reply! Portability, efficiency/speed/tracking, ability to handle some light chop, yoga (but ok not having very stable board - I like the challenge! Ha), anddd least important- surfing. Those are my priorities in order from most to least important. I actually ended up getting the CX Ultra from myself, AND a Cruiser 10 6 Ultra for the girlfriend (beginner). Mine was on sale for Labor Day for 499. Hers was 399. Comes with electric pump, paddle, bag, etc. Both boards seem to have great reviews and the price was 50% off which seemed great. Given the other options I was looking at, this seemed to be highly rated and great middle ground price. Hopefully I made good choices. Do you think I did? Eek.

[@david243121]

Another thing about the Ultra line: They only have the 9in dual fins they come with.. I often do shallow water paddles in rivers and am worried about this being a problem. Do you think I’ll be ok? Talked to CS yesterday and they said they have different replaceable fin options in productions, and should be avail sometime in Oct. so that that’s good.

[@inflatablesupauthority]

@@david243121 After telling me your prioritt list I think you made a good choice. You getting the Cruiser for your girlfriend was also a good move because if you wanted the slightly more stable board for yoga you can use hers. I think you chose well :)