LL Bean Cascadia

My husband and I are beginning kayakers and purchased a 2016 LLBean Cascadia Sit on Top Kayak Package with paddle. It is very affordable (retail $419 but we got 20% off during a sale). My husband is in his 60's and I'm in my late 40's. We live on a river and both have injuries and pain so we were not comfortable with a sit-in kayak due to the fear of not being able to get out, and also of the kayak filling completely with water and not being able to get back in. We are very pleased with our purchase.

It is quite stable, although I'm not you can stand up to fish in it like some reviews said--maybe in a calm lake. It doesn't tip easily but it sure is possible as we've both gone over several times dealing with trees/strainers but we don't have much experience. It's fairly easy to crawl back onto. I've tried it with and without the included 8 scupper plugs. With the scupper plugs a little water gets in the boat but nothing a sponge can't soak up. Without the scupper plugs my butt got wet but otherwise drained well.

There are front and rear storage areas. You can clip a dry bag to either molded plastic handle at the bow or stern. The center handles are cut-in so you can't store things there. Several foot positions are comfortable and a very nice removable seat is included with a high back, very adjustable.

It does move around some on the river steering wise but it also is very easy to maneuver around obstacles and turn quickly. It's only 9 1/2 feet so it fits INSIDE our Toyota Sienna Minivan which was important to us. Very good beginner boat for the money.