I am looking to buy an all round family SUP board. There are lots of products for sale on the web priced at $800 with paddle that are not well known established brands that probably come from a factory in China, some are claimed to be designed by experienced Aussies. Does any one have any experience with this type of SUP, is it a case of you get what you pay for or are they OK?

As the price goes up the boards get lighter with better construction materials/ building techniques.

If you have to carry the board any distance or lift it onto a roof rack the difference between 8.5kg for my Naish or 15kg for a cheap board becomes significant.

This time of year is good to find some bargains at the surf shops. I purchased my board 11 months ago and spent $1300 for a high end board with a very good paddle, $700 discount for last years stock.

Add about 80 to your weight in kgs for the liters of buoyancy needed for initial learning.

Consider renting a board for a couple of hours to try out first, costs around $60 and onboard at Port Noarlunga has a few boards for hire.

Good luck,
Darryn

I bought a 9"6' 155 litre Surfing Hawk made by Blackhawk. Yes it's a Chinese import and its heavy at 12 kg however for entry level I couldn't go wrong for $700 for the board, deck grip, carbon paddle and bag.

I've had the board for 3 months and it has taken a beating in all kinds of surf. The epoxy construction appears ok however time will tell.

It is doing the job for me now and by Christmas I will upgrade to a JP Surf WideBody or Starboard WidePoint.

Good luck.