Cheap Paddle Boards: The Best Affordable SUPs

Thanks to the huge selection of affordable SUP boards, this sport has become even more accessible to quite a few people.

Stand Up Paddling is a great workout, you get to be outside in nature and have a good time with friends. There are countless good reasons why SUP could be a great hobby for everyone. If it weren’t for the financial aspect. A branded board can easily cost 700-1300 dollars. An amount that many can not afford or do not want.

That’s why it’s fortunate that more and more affordable boards have come on the market in recent years. However, this selection can also be a challenge. Many of the extremely cheap SUPs are simply cheap and low-quality junk. In this article, we want to help you a little in your search for a SUP board that is cheap.

First you’ll find a list of the best cheap paddleboards. After that, a little guide on what you should look for when buying a cheap inflatable SUP board.

Bestway Hydro-Force Oceana

With a length of 305 cm and a thickness of 12 cm, the Bestway Hydro-Force Oceana has an above-average width of 84 cm. This leads to an extreme tilt stability, which especially beginners will be happy about. But also for yoga and other fitness exercises you are grateful for this width.

With the accessories, with air pump, paddle & double paddle add-on, kayak seat, coiled leash and carrying bag, which unfortunately cannot be carried as a backpack, everything you need is also included.

With the thickness of only 12 cm, especially rather light paddlers benefit from an improved water position. For people from 80-90 kg, the board then has too little volume and stiffness.

Aqua Marina Fusion

Aqua Marina has made a name for itself, especially in Europe, as a manufacturer of good, reasonably priced SUP boards.

The Aqua Marina Fusion, which has enjoyed great popularity for several years, belongs for us also quite clearly on the best list of cheap SUP boards. Over the years, the board has already received several revisions and has been optimized again and again.

With a length of 330 cm (10’6″), width of 81 cm (30″) and thickness of 15 cm (6″), the Fusion is the second largest model in the Aqua Marina All-Around series. It behaves the same way in the water, high tipping stability and comfortable riding characteristics, with a maximum load of 130 kg (286 lbs). Remarkable for a SUP of this size is the weight of only 8.4 kg (18.5 lbs).

The set includes an air pump, aluminum paddles and a backpack. The accessories are, as is often the case with this starter set, rather modest quality. Not bad, but not outstanding either. On the SUP are also various D-rings installed on which an optional kayak seat can be mounted.

iRocker Nautical 10’6”

In 2020, popular and well-known manufacturer iRocker launched a newly budget-friendly line, Nautical Boards.

The Nautical SUP is available in two lengths (10’6″) and (11’6″) with both boards having a width of (32″) and a thickness of 15 cm (6″). Both boards have a width of (32″) and a thickness of (15 cm) (6″), so they are stable enough that even Stand Up Paddling newbies will feel comfortable right away. The shorter version is a bit cheaper, which is why we included it in our list. However, if you have the budget, we also recommend considering the longer version. This gives you a bit more pull and speed in the water, which feels like a very stable touring board.

The board is packed with cool and useful features. In total, SUP has 13 D-rings to which you can attach various accessories, as well as an action cam mount, luggage nets in the front and rear area, and several grab handles.

If you are looking for a really stable SUP, the iRocker Nautical is the right choice. Thanks to the double-layer construction, shocks and sharp objects can not harm the SUP so quickly. In addition, this construction also ensures a high stiffness, which benefits one in the water with nice ride.

The whole picture is completed with the excellent accessories. Included is a relatively light fiberglass paddle, a double stroke air pump, coiled leash and a backpack.

Gili Air 10’6”

The Gili Air 10’6″ offers everything we expect from a beginner-friendly all-round board. Thanks to the width of 31″ you find the balance very quickly, while it remains agile in the water and has a good tracking.

The Gili Air is made of high quality PVC. Thanks to this, it is robust and can carry up to 280 pounds (approx. 127 kilograms). Thus, even tall paddlers should feel comfortable on the SUP. Thanks to the large standing area on the SUP, you can also practice yoga very well or take a second person or dog with you.

Thanks to the 3 carrying handles, the Gili Air is very easy to lift and with a weight of only 19 pounds (8.62 kilograms) it is one of the lightest. This makes transport and handling all the easier.

The GILI Air 10’6″ also comes with a complete beginner’s set with pump, paddle, leash and backpack.

Roc Explorer

Many manufacturers of cheap SUPs appear and then disappear again. Only a few manage to stay on the market and Roc is clearly one of them. Roc manages to deliver affordable products with a reasonable quality for years.

The Explorer consists of a single-layer PVC shell and is still very robust. The board itself is reduced to the basics. Luggage net, footprint and carrying handle. For this it is one of the cheaper on the market.

The board comes with an aluminum paddle, leash, hand pump and backpack.

Retrospec Weekender 10’

The Retrospec Weekender Board is another simple and affordable inflatable paddle board that is especially suitable for beginners and casual paddlers.

The SUP is rated at a maximum weight of 275 and weighs just 17 pounds (7.71 kilograms).

A luggage net with bungee cords is mounted on the front of the board, as well as a carrying handle in the middle. It also has a three fin system – two fixed fins and a large, removable center fin.

Otherwise, there are no other D-rings for mounting a kayak seat, for example, as is common with other boards.

Included with the Retrospec Weekender inflatable is a paddle, hand pump, leash and carry bag. The bottom line is that this is a simple, inexpensive SUP.

Funwater Tiki 10’6”

For people on a tight budget, the Funwater Tiki 10’6″ might be an option. It is another SUP reduced to the basics, but has enjoyed great popularity for several years.

It is noteworthy that the board is made of double-layer PVC. A robust construction, which is not often seen in the cheap SUPs, and which provides good rigidity. Despite this, the Tiki Board is only 17 pounds (7.71 kilograms).

Thanks to the 33″ width, the board has great stability in the water, which will suit beginners and SUP yoga practitioners.

The Tiki 10’6″ from Funwater has a bungee storage, a central grab handle and a D-ring for the leash. It also has three fins, all of which are removable.

With the SUP board you get a beginner set with paddle, backpack, hand pump and leash.

Buying a cheap SUP: The following things should be considered

Ok you’ve been through our selection of cheap SUPs and you might be wondering where the REALLY cheap SUPs are? The SUP offers which suddenly appear everywhere at the beginning of summer, in the discounter, DIY store, every mail order catalogue and soon probably also at the bakery around the corner ;-). Of course we understand that the extremely low prices, partly around 200 dollars, are very tempting, but you have to classify these products a little bit more exactly. These prices are only possible through savings in certain areas – often in the quality. They are primarily more better air mattresses, which are good for short distances and the kids to splash around near the shore. We do not want to discourage you from buying one. But you should be aware of what you buy and what you want to do with it.

We have compiled our list according to the criterion of a good price-performance ratio. With SUP from the hardware store for 200 dollar, the price is right, but the performance is not there. Of course, you also have to live with the boards on our list with certain deductions. However, these are SUP boards which are primarily aimed at beginners and thus allow the first experiences on the water. Ideal to occasionally take a leisurely ride on a calm body of water.

However, if you are sure that you will be out and about with a SUP extremely often, and sometimes a bit sporty and longer, then the following article “The Best SUP Boards” is better for you. On the other hand, if you are still unsure whether you will like Stand Up Paddling at all, we recommend to use a board from the rental shop a few times first. We always think it’s a shame when a product is bought just because it’s cheap, but then ends up sitting around in the basement and ends up in the landfill.

Cheap SUPs: What’s the difference to expensive ones?

The boom of Stand Up Paddling is mainly due to the development of the inflatable SUP board. Stand Up Paddling has been around for a relatively long time, but it was the uncomplicated handling (storage/transport) of the iSUP that made it attractive to the majority of paddlers. One point where the hardboard will always have the edge is stability and stiffness. A thin, hard board is superior in all aspects of handling such as speed, tracking, but also maneuverability. That’s why all SUP manufacturers work tirelessly to come as close as possible to this ideal of a hardboard.

For this reason, stability and stiffness is often the main difference between an expensive and cheap SUP board.

Renowned brand manufacturers have years of experience, development and innovation in how they achieve this stiffness. They use special materials, even more densely woven drop-stitch cores, two-layer outer shells which are laminated and other often proprietary production processes. Of course, this innovation and higher quality materials must be reflected in the price.

Cheap SUP are only possible by using inferior materials and the cheapest processing techniques. This leads to less stiffness, more weight, less stability and unfortunately often less durability. You can often spot the really cheap SUPs from a distance on the water, they flex like a banana.

A point in which more expensive SUP also stand out from their cheap competition is in the quality of the accessories. In a cheap set are of course always only the simplest versions. For example, the paddles are practically always rather heavy and made of aluminum. The backpacks are kept very simple and questionable whether they will withstand intensive use for several years.

Which size is the right one?

Maybe you’ve made a selection of possible cheap SUP boards, but are wondering which size is right for you.

The longer a board is, the better it glides, higher speeds are possible and they usually have good tracking.

The trade-off is the longer a board, the less maneuverable it is.

The wider a SUP, the safer it lies in the water. This stability is especially important for beginners. Therefore, a beginner board should be at least around 80 cm wide.

For advanced paddlers, narrower SUPs have less water resistance, making paddling more efficient and allowing for higher speeds.

The thickness has in the first place influence on the volume, basically you can say that the more volume a board has, the greater the load capacity, so even heavier paddlers can use the SUP. Secondly, the thickness also has an influence on the stiffness of the board, which is why most boards today are 15 cm (6″) thick.

Ok that was a pretty long answer to the question: Which size is the right one?

The short one is. It depends. On your height, weight, balance ability, and primary purpose of use.

Spoilt for choice when it comes to inexpensive SUP boards

Unfortunately, we cannot give a definitive answer as to which SUP is the right one. The different starting points and demands on a SUP are too different. What is for one only cheap plastic junk, is for the other the perfect bathing island to lie 20 m away from the shore in the sun.

It’s best to decide for yourself what you want to do with a SUP. Whether you want to spend every free minute on the lake in the summer or 2-3 times a year at the most.

This way, you’ll quickly know what you expect from a SUP board and whether a cheap model can meet those expectations.

If it’s about making your first attempts and then buying a better one later, you can consider buying a used SUP.

Or as a last tip: when new boards come on the market there is always the opportunity to buy a cheap SUP from the previous year in a sale.