Paddle boards

[Subeccoo]

My husband bought one this year and I love it so much, I need to get my own. But there's so many out there to choose from, I don't know where to start.
Everyone says to try loads first but that's not an option round here.
So, any experts out there that can point me in the right direction? Budget up to 500 quid, would prefer less but they're pretty pricey.

I’m not too sure about brands but we’re getting a pretty wide one next. We’ve got a narrow one from Decathlon and with our high centres of gravity, it’s very wobbly.

DP and I spent a bit more than that on ours, but when we researched the key points seem to be thickness (6” much better than 4”), width (ours are 32” I think, and my friend’s 30” feels noticeably less stable) and intended purpose - sea, speed etc. We ended up with Quroc ones and I love them, but there were a few cheaper options that met our criteria too - if you google ‘best budget paddle boards’ etc there are loads of good in depth articles weighing up different ones.

Thanks guys, there's so much out there, will keep doing my research!
My husbands one was the cheapest hiks one and I find that fine, but we really are beginners so got nothing to compare it to!

I hope you have a great time when you get your board. Not trying to be negative but when first launch can you make sure you are aware of the local river regs (navigation patterns, what arches of bridges to use, general safe awareness). There has been an explosion in the use of SUP boards this year and unfortunately many folk have no idea what they are doing as they meander way they like. I am another riverbuse (rowing) and we have had so many near misses or actual collisions because SUP boards are on the wrong side of the river travelling in the wrong direction. Again, not trying to be miserable, but it is a real problem at the moment.

The £300 Itiwit one from Decathlon is fine for beginners and for children. A friend prefers that one to her husband's much more expensive one from the Red Paddle Co. as it's lighter.

It's already been mentioned in part but do make sure you have appropriate third party liability insurance and/or rivers licence for when you use your SUPs on rivers or lakes.

Really good points, thanks a lot! I had wondered about all that, so will really look into it.

I have the decathlon itiwit one, and love it. Only been on our local river, which is small and the Norfolk coast but it’s great. The canoe is great too.

Jobe are good, I have the Jobe Lena which is great as its a yoga sup so really stable

iRocker
A really good brand, and this is their entry model. I have it and its excellent for beginners.

www.irockersup.co.uk/product/nautical-paddle-board/

Id love to recommend Aqua Planet but we’re still waiting for ours 😡. They are good, strong, stable boards though and very reasonably priced if you can wait...