It is the time of the year to start giving away more Paddle TV awards to the exceptional canoes and kayaks that I’ve tested this year. This time around I will be awarding the best kayaks and canoes of 2023!
Having tested many different canoes and kayaks over the last four years, I’ve realized that there aren’t that many truly bad kayaks out there. The biggest question is actually, which is the correct kayak for you? What value does it give? Does it give bang for your buck?
This year, I tested many different kayaks and canoes and, for the most part, liked all of them, but some stood out as particularly awesome! So the Paddle TV awards are here to recognize that awesomeness.
Best Gateway Kayak – The Sea Eagle 330
This is not a new kayak, it has, in fact, been around for several years, but I tried it for the first time this year. The Sea Eagle 330 wins the award for being the best gateway kayak.
A gateway kayak is a kayak that gets people into the sport. It allows them to try kayaking affordably and discover if it is something they would like to continue. A great gateway kayak needs to be affordable, but it also needs to provide a reasonable paddling performance. A gateway kayak has to be fun to paddle to encourage people to continue. At the same time, it is likely a kayak that people will upgrade from reasonably quickly.
I tested two of the most popular, cheapest gateway kayaks side by side: the Sea Eagle 330 and Intex Explorer K2. I discovered that the Sea Eagle 330 is a much better kayak and provides better value. It is about $75 (USD) more expensive. However, it is overall much better quality in every way. For example, it comes with a three-year warranty instead of a 90-day warranty, and the pump and the paddle provided are of better quality. Overall, it just provides a better paddling experience. So, the Sea Eagle 330 is the gateway kayak I recommend to people.
However, the reason that I am giving the Sea Eagle 330 a Paddle TV award is that for $240 (USD), it provides unbelievable value.
The Most Luxurious Kayak – P&H Volan 160
The P&H Sea Kayaks Volan 160 is on the other side of the spectrum. This gets a Paddle TV award for being the most luxurious kayak I have tested this year or maybe ever.
The P&H Volan is a high-performance touring kayak that is designed to be able to handle any water conditions, from flat water covering distances to rough water and ocean surf.
It is a 16-foot-long sea kayak that is 23 inches wide and is a composite sea kayak. It is made from a mix of carbon and kevlar and costs between $4500 – $6000 (USD). That is quite a chunk of change.
The P&H Volan is a beautiful lifetime kayak. If you take care of it properly, it will last you a lifetime. For people with enough money to spend, the P&H Volan is definitely worth the money. It really is a beautiful thing and well deserving of a Paddle TV award.
The Best Recreational Kayak – Perception Hangtime 11
Flipping back to the other side of the spectrum again, the Perception Hangtime 11 gets a Paddle TV award for being the best recreational kayak I tested.
The reason that I’m giving the Hangtime 11 a Paddle TV award is because of its innovation. It is not a kayak that is designed for everyone, but it is designed for people who want to hang out on the water and relax with friends and family. Unlike every other kayak I’ve ever seen, the Perception Hangtime 11 has an integrated lounge chair on the back.
You can use the lounge chair while on the water, but it is also perfect to chill out when the kayak is on the shore. It has a comfortable headrest, and cup holders are placed all over the kayak. This 100% fits the bill for a recreational kayak; it is a boat that people can unwind on. For $950 (USD), it is not a bad deal.
The Most Sustainable – Melker Rodloga
The Melker Rodloga is one of the most beautiful kayaks I’ve ever seen. It is a head-turner. That is one of the reasons that it wins a Paddle TV award. But the other reason is that it is a beautiful boat to paddle.
Melker's mission, with all their kayaks, is to change the paddling industry and manufacture kayaks in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way. Instead of using carbon and kevlar as most composite kayaks do, they use a locally sourced flax weave. They are also doing all sorts of cool things with prototyping, including using recycled boats and old fishing nets to create prototypes for these kayaks.
So the Melker Rodloga is definitely worthy of a Paddle TV award for its sheer beauty, performance, and the steps they are taking to create a more environmentally friendly industry.
The Best White Water Kayak – The Pyranha Scorch X
Paddling the Pyranha Scorch X gave me one of the most unique white water paddling experiences I have had in a long time. It is fair to say that it is the dryest riding creek boat I have ever paddled. It has incredible comfort, speed, and boof-ability. The secondary stability rivals that of any other kayak. It really is a fun and confidence-inspiring kayak.
What separates the Pyranha Scorch X from other creek boats of its class is that it is a bit longer. It is 10 feet and has incredible rocker, which gives it a lot more speed and a high ability to boof and stay on top of the water.
The Best Cruiser Kayak – Delta Kayaks 15.5 GT
The 15.5 GT touring kayak wins an award because of its performance as a cruiser kayak. It has a great combination of performance and stability. While it is not the fastest kayak nor the most stable, it is a great middle-of-the-road touring kayak. The kayak is really well-built and of good quality.
The Delta Kayaks 15.5 GT is 15.5 feet long and 24 inches wide. It costs around $2300 (USD). This kayak costs more than a rotamolded kayak but less than most composite kayaks. That is because it is a thermoform kayak. This means it is a plastic kayak but is much stiffer and lighter than a traditional rotamolded plastic kayak. It weighs only 49 LBS, so it is easy to move around.
The 15.5 GT is well-made, performs well, and is confidence-inspiring, so it deserves a Paddle TV award.
The Sea Eagle Inflatable Travel Canoe
When I first heard about this canoe, I was not expecting it to feel or be like a canoe whatsoever. But I was wrong. The Sea Eagle Travel Canoe looks and acts like a canoe. It has some benefits over some traditional canoes. The Travel Canoe is 16 feet long and 38 inches wide and retails for around $1800 (USD). This is similar to canoes in its class.
What makes it such a special canoe – except for the fact that it is a full-sized inflatable canoe that fits in the back of your car and in your apartment – is the fact that it is the most stable canoe that I have ever been in. It provides rock-solid stability, and you can take this on any canoe trip that you can take another canoe on.
The fact that the Sea Eagle Travel Canoe is inflatable means that if you capsize, it will float whether it is swamped or not. I was truly impressed by this canoe. The Sea Eagle Inflatable Travel Canoe deserves a Paddle TV award.
The Swift Cruiser 14.8 Pack Boat
I actually reviewed the Swift Cruiser 14.8 pack boat a few years ago in the very first boat review I ever did, and I really liked it then. I took it out for another trip recently and again realized why I really liked it.
This is a canoe-kayak hybrid boat. It has the benefits of the canoe, including the fact that it is a big open boat with plenty of space for storage, but it also has a kayak seat and footpegs in it. Therefore, you can paddle it like a kayak. This means that on a solo trip, you get the benefits of a kayak and a canoe.
In the right circumstances, it is hard to find a better boat for solo trips. However, it is not designed to be used on all trips, so if you are on exposed water with rough conditions, it is probably not the best boat. But for classic multi-day canoe trips, going lake to lake, or river trips with portages, the Cruiser 14.8 is truly a dream.
It is not a cheap boat, costing roughly $3500-4500 (USD). But it also weighs between 24-30 LBS, which is remarkable, especially when lugging it across a long portage. I loved paddling the Cruiser 14.8, and it is definitely worthy of a Paddle TV award.
So there you have it, these are my Paddle TV award-winning canoes and kayaks for 2023.
This Year's Winners:
Sea Eagle 330
P&H Volan 160
Perception Hangtime 11
Melker Rodloga
Pyranha Scorch X
Delta Kayaks 15.5 GT
Sea Eagle Inflatable Travel Canoe
Swift Cruiser 14.8 Pack Boat
Here's This Year's Paddling Gear Awards as well!
