Solstice Watersports Bali 2.0 Inflatable Stand-Up Paddle Board Kit (10'6 x 32'' x 5'')

So I was pretty dubious when we bought this unit, but it has exceeded my wildest expectations. I read the other reviews here where "most" reviewers said it is great, but there were also various inflatable SUP reviews about not getting firm enough, bubbles showing up, inflation work, etc. But I'm happy to report no issues, and an excellently performing SUP. I'll address a few of these apparent cons from other reviews, and make a few comments on general performance. For the record, I am a middle aged 6'2" 190lb male with a beginning level of experience (maybe a cumulative 30 to 40 miles on a board before on protected ocean water before getting this board). I consider myself in great shape, and I paddle for a work out, irrespective of my primary reason for going out.First, this inflatable paddleboard inflates easy, and the pump was plenty good enough for me. Now with the caveat that I'm in pretty decent shape, I always inflated this board in one go without stopping. But without working it too hard, I timed myself from the point at which I had the pump attached until I got to 15 PSI. 3 minutes and 27 seconds, and as I recollect about 160 strokes There's a secret to that pumping action; if you think you're going to pump with elbow action, it isn't going to happen, and the only way you're going to finish the last 60 or so strokes is to act like your giving CPR - lock your elbows, and pump from you waist or elbows using your entire upper body as a weight to drive the pump in. That might sound like work, but even in 90 degree weather, I wasn't breaking a sweat.With that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised by the utility of an inflatable SUP. This SUP was christened on a family road trip in a vehicle so loaded that I wouldn't have been able to take a normal SUP. This isn't to say that this thing is small and compact - it certainly folds down, but not counting the paddle it still takes up the volume of what is likely your biggest suitcase (and maybe a bit more). While I expected the inflatability to be useful, I was expecting it would discourage use. But inflating this unit was never an obstacle, and I believe it was actually considerably easier than hauling a SUP off the roof rack. I could unbag, roll-out, and inflate this SUP in about 5 minutes, and I could do it pretty close to the water. Since the bag has backpack straps, it was an easier carry than a hard SUP.That likely leads you to wonder what putting the board away was like. I carried a coleman 6v inflator with me, that would never be sufficient for inflating, but this unit also has a deflating mode. While the board deflates easily, this makes it pretty easy to suck all of the remaining air out of the board and get it truly flat. Without a deflator, you have to be a little more attentive to rolling the board and getting all of the air out of it. With a deflator, the board rolls easy, I give it a wipe, pull out the pin for the tail fin, and slide it into the bag. All told, this takes about 90 seconds of releasing the valve and running the deflator, and then probably 3 to 4 minutes of wiping and working it into the bag, depending on where you've been paddling. Of course, if sweat is still dripping in your eyes, this is more like 10 or 15 minutes.Now in terms of performance, this board performed quite nicely. First, at 15 PSI, the board was plenty rigid for my 190 lbs and I couldn't detect any deflection while standing, dropping to knees, or while getting up and down. Standing in the direct center and bouncing on the board, I thought I could detect minor deflection of the ends, but nothing disturbing. The upside or downside depending on how you look at it, is I think the inflatable nature of this board makes it really stable. Versus hard boards, this one is easier to balance on. If you're looking to push your skills, this might be a downside. If you're looking for stability, it is an upside. We also had 3 10 and 8 year olds on this board at once, and it was plenty stable for that as well, but cumulative weight was probably still under 180 lbs.The surprising rigidity here worked out well for overall board usability on the water. Granted, I'm not doing paddleboard racing, and I'm sure a racing board is a world of difference, but this inflatable moved decently fast. My fastest averaged pace on sustained paddling of 1 1/2 hours was 19 minutes a mile (according to the iphone and Under Armour's MapMyRide app). Granted, that was a little bursty and had various breaks in between, but when making faster runs, I was counting about 25 strokes per minute, using a pretty long and hard stroke that I drop in the water pretty far out in front. According to my app, when I look at my splits, my first mile out was covered in 16 minutes and 30 seconds, or 3.6 mph. On rivers and lakes, that was fast enough for my purposes, and encouraged me to cover 5 to 6 miles each time out. On these longer excursions, the eyelets on the front and a couple of bunging cords were exceedingly valuable, making it very convenient to tie down an assortment of stuff (water bottles, life jacket, water shoes, iphone).Finally, I think I've had this board on the water probably 7 or 8 times now, for a total of around 30 miles, and it has held up well. A number of times the kids have taken it out also. The skin is certainly tough enough to handle shore landings and running into most stuff that isn't excessively sharp (perhaps a metal dock edge would be a bad idea). During those inflation and deflation cycles, I also haven't seen any indication of the bubbles that occasionally show up on Amazon pictures, other than a soft patch which I think is intentional on the side opposite the inflation valve. I also haven't exposed the board to excessive heat and since I live in Arizona, I wonder if there could be any issues here - time will tell. But I will point out that the foam board pad on top does hold some crease marks / impressions from being rolled up sometimes, and I wonder how that will hold up over a couple of years. It looks to me that any replacement or repair of that type of material would be much more difficult than on a hard board.Overall though, I don't think I've made any purchase before which I've been so pleased with given the price point. The one caveat here you should notice though, is this board doesn't come with a paddle, and good priced paddles of decent quality are hard to find without spending a fair chunk of change. My SUP came with Amazon Prime, and that was a good deal at the time, even without a paddle.

I bought this on a whim; wanting to pick up the board again but not totally believing I needed a hard one, I had to weigh the lighter foam core against this heavier one. I went with the convenience of the inflatable SUP that I can roll up and pack in the trunk, or even on my moped.It really does inflate hard, and is more than sufficient to handle my 5'3" frame and 110 lb weight. I really don't know how serious that 300lb rating is, I'm not sure I want to test or try it LOL. The rocker (front tip) is tapered and it does cut thru the waves pretty efficiently, but in strong headwinds this shape & angle prove to be detriments! Drift becomes a serious problem in strong winds, way more so than any of the standard paddle boards that have a curved front and lower profile. After all, this one is 6" high, and the front comes almost completely out of the water.I still give it 4 stars for function with some minor caveats. If your goal is to hit the water you could buy cheaper ones (down to almost $400 with free shipping such as the Sevylor Samoa), but this one has a commanding presence, being so long and that high profile does attract a lot of attention from other paddlers. The fin is the only weakness, it has to be attached with a screw; when or if the screw is lost, the fin will simply fall off and disappear into the ocean. If you forget the screw, you can also forget being able to keep the thing anywhere near stable in the water!It is a pleasing dk blue and the foot pads are really comfortable, I literally paddled for almost 4 hours, I was blissfully in heaven, it was great to get back in the water after so long of just using pool floaties (I have bad knees).The pump works fine, but the PSI gauge was received broken, as was the repair kit bottle (the orange one with the screw cap). It was pulverized during shipping. I also bought a carbon fiber take-down paddle that was very expensive. Total investment was thus $1,100 and change. Still beats the $1,200 to $1,600 for a foam core SUP, but in some cases, not by much.I do reserve the right to amend this review and modify my rating! Have yet to try surfing, but I don't think this model is suited for that.

I love love love this board. I know there have been some price variations, either way I’m glad I made the purchase. It is my first board, but I believe it’s very well made, incredibly durable and worth it. I have been working on improving my balance and overall physical health and this has made a big difference for me. I use it everyday, until I close my pool. So I get 6 months of daily use out of it. I’m happy.:)

The board was easy to unpack and inflate. The pump has a gauge on top so you can watch your progress It helps if two take turns pumping. It is as firm as our solid board,not as wide but quite stable. We are going to take it back and forth to our condo in South Florida and here. It rolls up into a surprisingly small space. The pack with it seems to be of good quality.

Easy to transport and inflates easily with pump that was included. Must inflate to 14 - 15 Psi or it will bow a little. Great for people up to 160 lbs. Rides a little low in the water for me, 195 lbs, but still fun and light to carry around.

Everything works great. It is a great board for the price. The pump works fine. It does take a bit of work to get pumped up but not too bad. The backpack carrying case isn't the best quality, but it does the job.

LO RECOMIENDO