Hi I'm looking at buying a kayak. I've had them before but only sit on tops. I will mainly be using it in the sea on surf but would also like to do a bit of river running. Any recommendations as to what would be a good boat would be great.

To really enjoy the surf to the maximum, I would recommend a surf kayak. But then you wouldn't be able to run rivers. If you get a river running play boat, then your surfing ability will be more limited than the surf kayak, but you'll still be able to do something and you'll rock on the rivers. There's always this trade off. A full on play boat is also an option and it's always good fun to throw some big air moves on an ocean wave but then you will be really limited on a wave as the play boat would be the shortest boat, and hence the slowest. You won't be doing bottom turns and cut backs in a play boat... It may also not be the best of bets for a beginner, especially on low volume rivers. Decisions, decisions.

To answer your question directly, something like the Fluid Spice (a river running play boat) would suit your needs, maybe. It has some good edges and enough length to be quicker than a play boat on an ocean wave and yet will still keep you upright on a river and be less edgy than a play boat. Just my, perhaps biased, opinion..
playak.com/kayaks.php?id=345

How heavy/tall are you? That would help anybody else with an answer to your question. Try out a few different boats, go to a shop and start asking questions. If anything is unclear, come back to Playak and shoot with the questions. Good luck..

I'm weigh about 80kgs and I'm about 6 ft tall. Thanks for your opinion I will have a look at that kayak.

greencrisps wrote:

I'm weigh about 80kgs and I'm about 6 ft tall. Thanks for your opinion I will have a look at that kayak.

I'm about 86kg, no gear, and 6 ft tall and I'm pretty happy in the boat. Got the seat in the middle position and still have a fair sized foam block up front. This was the first time I tried out the boat properly, check out the pictures of the boat at the bottom, and also the comparision to a full on play boat:
adrian.playak.com/index.php?option=com_c...=view&id=83&Itemid=3

If you're a beginner, it will be a steep learning curve to be out surfing your local beach break. If you've ever seen a beach ball in the break zone, you know that once one big wave comes, it crashes on it (or before it) and brings it all the way into shore. In a whitewater style kayak, because you have a lot of air/buoyancy inside your kayak, when your trying to paddle out and over the waves you can cop a pounding. It often will seem like all the ground you make, you lose whenever a set comes through. You can't dive under the waves like on a surf ski or something, you've just got to try and go over them! Learn to roll before you go out. Trying to drag a kayak full of water from the brake zone to the shore is extremely difficult.

If you can find a point break where you can catch the waves and paddle back around them, this is perfect for a whitewater kayak. Just make sure that if a set comes and trashes you it won't be dumping you onto any rocks.

Having said all this, the surf is huge fun in a whitewater kayak. It's just that I'd hate to see you get overwhelmed and decide after a few goes that it's not for you. If your out paddling often, you'll learn quick! And paddling whitewater rivers is an awesome experience, so in my opinion you'd be better off getting something that can do both, not just ocean.

Adrian has suggested a river running playboat. This sounds like it would best suit your needs, there's also many other brands that do similar style kayaks, so have a look around. Jackson Fun series, Liquid Logic CR series. All the other whitewater brands will do something in the same catagory as well. Wavesport, Fluid, Dagger etc...

Good luck!