Rio 1-Person Fishing Canoe

We have had so much fun with our 2 RIO Kayaks for at least 10 years now. My husband and I (we are now 68), my children and their families. We have lost plugs over the years, but they continue to stay afloat until we can get replacements, We have taken them on lakes, calm rivers, and mild white water rafting. Love these Kayaks

We own three Rios, and really like them. They are fun boats. My nieces and nephews love to play "bumper boats" in them. There's no skeg, so they're very maneuverable, and you can float in 3" of water without touching bottom. I like the material that covers the top, sides, and floor of the boat; it's very durable and sturdy. On the back of the seat there are holders for bottled water and snacks, and there is a convenient mesh holder in the area behind the seat for misc. stuff.

It's not the fastest boat out there, but that's ok. It's very stable, and is great for novice paddlers; they feel very safe in it out on the water. It does fishtail a bit when you paddle, but it gets you where you want to go.

This is a good choice if you want a decent inflatable canoe for a reasonable price and weight, good portability, and if you just want to get out on the water and have fun.

I have a Rio, and it is an outstanding boat for what it was designed for....an adventure boat. I bought it on sale at Sportsman's Warehouse, and couldn't be happier. I have two other kayaks (a Pelican Pursuit 100, and an Advanced Elements Convertible), but this is my favorite fun boat. All of the negative comments about tracking are just because they don't know the 'trick'. Just get one, or two of the skegs for the K-79 Tahiti models, and one or two chopsticks. Insert the bottom of the skeg into the trolling motor mount from underneath, place the top behind the top mount and insert the chopstick. It's super secure. if you want two skegs, just repeat for the other side. With these mounted, the Rio tracks as straight as any boat I have ever been in. To remove them, just pull out the chopstick...quick-release style.

The Rio is not as fast as touring kayak, but faster than a lot of Recreational boats out there, and quite a bit faster than a regular canoe. The nylon cover is tough, and the Rio handles fast water beautifully. I have even had it in the ocean, and have paddled as far as 3 miles off shore with no trouble at all. You can't go wrong with this boat, or it's big brother, the Colorado.

Got the Rio for light weight, tough nylon skin, ease of setup and transport to water's edge, and to accommodate my 22 pound dog. All requirements fulfilled!

Get a very good paddle - splurge, and tracking, will be no problem. Of course don't expect hard shell kayak performance. Glad Sevylor keeps the Rio going, sad the Fish Master is no more. The inner bladder with nylon skin is a great way to go, several seasons for me.
Way to go!!!

I will say the boat is very stable. However, the Rio fishtails like crazy. Having to paddle conservatively to build up speed seemed very awkward to avoid fishtailing. It's pretty much a regular inflatable. You get what you pay for. Nothing really outstanding...with all the faults of low priced inflatable. The kayak also started to twist when inflated making it crocked in the water??? Like I said you get what you pay for. Not good, but not terrible for the money.

This was my first inflatable, not a bad boat to start off with but it left me wanting something better.
I wanted an open canoe style inflatable that I could easily paddle with a single bladed paddle - well the boat was useless for this! The Sevylor Rio is more of a kayak - shaped like a canoe. You sit in the same position as you would in a kayak and have to use a kayak paddle. It generally tracks well (with kayak paddles). You do get a bit wet as it has no deck and the canvas style material that covers the upperside of the boat takes ages to dry out, gets dirty easily and is hard to clean! The floor valve is one of those rubbery things you find on beach balls, the cap on mine broke off and I had to be careful not to loose it.

I sold this boat after a few months and replaced it with the more traditional canoe styled Gumotex Palava - which is in a different league! If you want to paddle a traditional open canoe it is well worth spending a little extra on the Gumotex Palava, I can't fault it!

I also own a Stearns Spree 1, which I would also recommend over the Rio if you want a Kayak styled boat, it has very similar handling and speed, but is much easier to dry out and has a deck to keep you dry!

The Rio isn't a bad boat, but I think there are better models available!

I have read other reviews on the Sevylor Colorado and they prompted me to throw in my two cents worth.
I have the single model (the Rio),I find that the boat tracks just fine, it's all in how you paddle the boat, of course. I actually bought two of them and I was out last Sunday with a buddy of mine and it was his first time paddling and he totally enjoyed it. I had the seat in his boat set up for me, I like the seat as far back as possible because I want lots of room for my dog in the front. With it set up like that I could see that his boat was a little high in the front and he noticed the drag. I gave him the dog and... problem solved.

Even paddling into the wind as well as angling into the wind and we did not have to fight to keep the boats in control. I intend to sell both of these boats and I'm going to purchase the Colorados to replace them as I find the Rio's to be lacking in space. I would not suggest that anyone buy a Rio if they intend to carry along any gear at all. The only thing that bothers me about these boats is that they seem to take on quite a bit of water, nothing major, and I'm not even sure how the water is getting in. I'm very careful not to drip water from my paddle, so, I know that that is not how the water is getting in. The floor and seat is not getting wet from wicking, however there winds up being about a liter or more of water in the space between the floor and pontoon.

I would also agree that the vinyl inflation stems are pretty crude. It's really not easy getting them to pop out once they are depressed. I also find that the seats definitely need to be about four or five inches taller. I intend to deck my boat out for fly fishing and I'm going to install a padded rigid seat mounted to a wooden deck as well as a motor mount and an fish finder/rod holder mount.

I have the Sevylor Rio and I like it for fishing and short runs. I've paddled it slowly down stream on the South Platte river near Evans and in various lakes near Boulder and Loveland. I might take it down some faster water in July. The Rio likes to fishtail so I use the skeg intended for the Sevylor Tahiti. The skeg fits, but not very securely. It required a bit of engineering. The "directional strakes" on the bottom of the boat remain warped because when you fold it up, you fold the strakes as well. The nylon outer shell is heavy duty and protects the inner PVC. Overall, I'm happy with it as a stable and compact 25lb. fishing boat. I'm 5'8", 160 lbs. and the Rio fits me pretty well. I've paddled better boats, but with the skeg, the Rio isn't as bad as I was expecting. If I had the money I would have gone with an $750 Innova Sunny, but I got the Rio for only about $250. Easy math.

The inflatable kayak designed like a canoe which does not have the good qualities of either. the pros: the boat is ligts easy to transport, constructed well of good materials and take to rough water very well. I have run it over -III rapids. This yak preforms better in moving fast water better then a lake.

The cons: slow, tracks horrably was designed with fishing/hunting in mind. Needs a skeg desprately to correct the tracking problems.