UK’s Best Budget Paddleboard Brands
Eye-Catching, High-Spec, Low-Cost ISUP's
Why Paddleboarding?
Paddleboarding is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK and a great way to exercise, lose weight and improve your cardio. It’s also a fun, family-friendly activity that can be enjoyed by all ages and abilities.
Recent technological developments have resulted in the most ridged, stable, light-weight and resilient boards that are easy to paddle and transport, inflate and pack away at the end of the day. Inflatable stand up paddleboards (iSUP’s) have revolutionised the sport and brought paddleboarding to the masses.
With the increased popularity, production costs have plummeted so that you can now pick up a decent inflatable standing paddleboard with accessories for around £300.00. What’s more, as it’s free to paddle on the sea and only a few pounds a month for family access to 4,500 miles of UK waterways, additional costs are negligible, making Inflatable paddleboarding one of the cheapest and most exciting new sports to get into.
FACT: A leisurely hour out on a paddleboard will burn 300-400 calories, and considerably more if you’re touring.
How To Choose A Decent Paddleboard
If you’re new to paddleboarding, selecting a decent and dependable board can be difficult. To the untrained eye, similar looking touring or all-round boards vary wildly in price, from as little £89.00 on Amazon, up to a whopping £1299.99 from Red Paddle Co. Just take a look below...
Sure, you often get what you pay for but the fact is, there are some exceptional budget boards out there that offer great value for money. So, we made it our mission to find the UK's most stylish, high-spec & low-cost iSUP's from all of the UK’s top paddleboarding brands including:
Aqua Marina | Aqua Planet | Aqua Spirit | Aqua Tone | Aztron
Blue Fin
Fanatic | Fatsticks
Gili | Gladiator | Goosehill | Gul
Hala | Hatha | Hurley | Hydro Force
IRocker | Isle | Itiwit
Jobe | JP Australia
Loco
McConks | Mistral
North
O’Brien | Oshea
Paddle Co | Portofino
Quroc
Red | Roc
Sandbank | Shark | SIC Maui | Slingshot | Skatinger | Starboard
Tahe | Thurso | Tidal Rave | Tourus | Two Bare Feet
Vast
Wave SUP
Having identified literally hundreds of boards from the suppliers, we drew up some guidelines that the brands had to adhere to if they were to advance to the next stage.
The most unique and stylish iSUP's that ticked all 5 boxes were earmarked for a more detailed review in which we analysed a raft of data (excuse the pun!) including:
At the end of the review process, only a handful of brands managed to make it onto our shortlist of the UK’s best budget paddle board brands. All have a decent selection of stylish, high-quality, low-cost iSUP’s with extensive warranties to choose from. They were, in no particular order:
iSUP Construction & Durability
Fanatic, Blue Fin, Sandbanks & Tourus construct their paddle boards utilising a PVC reinforced drop stitch core that comprises an air tight polymer coated nylon fabric that’s joined by thousands of vertical fibre of uniform length uniform in size. The layers are either glued or laminated and at least 2 PVC rail bands added to strengthen the perimeter of the board.
Sandbanks goes a step further by fusing an extra layer of polymer to the base drop stitch fabric for additional reinforcement. However, we were unable to determine the precise quality, density or thickness of the drop stitch fabric or the reinforced layers from all the brands, so we looked to the warranties for additional guidance.
Extended Warranties
Many top brands were rejected because their warranties only covered 12 months, which let’s face it, is a measly amount of time given how short the UK paddleboarding season is and how infrequently many people use their boards.
So, we were most impressed to find that Sandbanks offer a whopping 7-year automatic warranty, whilst Fanatic, Blue Fin & Tourus offer an impressively reassuring 5-year warranty as standard. This certainly suggests that they have the utmost confidence in the quality of their products. Indeed, Bluefin even have footage of 4x4 trucks and tractors driving over their iSUP’s to show how rugged their boards are!
Paddleboard Accessories
Fanatic, Blue Fin, Sandbanks & Tourus offer a similar range of standard accessories including fin/s, ankle leash, adjustable 3-piece stand up paddle, bag/back-pack, Go-Pro mounts, waterproof mobile phone case, repair pack and 2-way pump. Upgraded accessories included SUP-2-Kayak 4-piece paddles, carbon fibre paddles, premium fins and kayak seats, depending on the brand.
Range Of Designs Under £500.00
Sandbanks have 18 different models and designs available, whilst Fanatic & Bluefin both have 12 & 8 different models, colours or designs under £500.00.
But it was Tourus who had the widest range, with an impressive 21 individual designs and models to choose from.
Conclusion
Fanatic, Blue Fin & Sandbanks are well established and highly-regarded brands in the UK and as such, you will often see their boards out on the water. All have a good selection of paddleboard packages under £500.00 which, with their impressive warranties offer exceptional value for money.
Tourus however offer something a little different. As the ‘minnows’ in the UK waters, the chances of seeing someone with the same board are very slim. So, if you prefer to stand out from the crowd, a Tourus paddleboard could be the brand for you.
For more details on how all the brands and their boards compare, take a look at the table at the foot of the page.
Special Mention
Upon reviewing the data, we felt two other brands stood out and deserved a mention.
Tidal Rave, although very new to the industry, managed to tick all the other boxes. They certainly have some of the loudest, boldest and brightest paddleboard designs and low-cost packages in the UK. Plus, with a 3-year warranty as standard, they look set to compete with some of the bigger fish!
Skatinger have been around for more than a decade and are a highly reputable manufacturer overseas. They have an exceptional range of bright and colourful designs to choose from and all are competitively priced. They offer a 2-year warranty and have clips of 4x4 trucks driving over their iSUPs to demonstrate how durable they are!
You’ll find a few of these boards in our online store. For all the latest designs and updates, check out the websites below.
