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I am 5'8 and weigh 205 lbs. I bought the Jive a few years ago to learn how to roll and to get comfortable surfing a closed deck boat. I live near San Diego and have become mostly a surf kayaker in recent years. When I asked some experienced BCU instructors what closed deck boat they recommended for getting started surfing decked boats they all agreed the Jive was the best place to start. True to their recommendations the Jive is easy to roll and easy to surf. It's a very forgiving boat. Slow compared to my surf kayaks and without fins it does not give the ability to hold on a wave as well as a surf kayak, or get off a wave or hit the lip. It will surf big waves, but not the best for fast breaking hollow waves. It is very loose and will spin if you flatten out at high speed, it teaches you to surf rail to rail and use the paddle as fin for trimming on a fast wave. It's a venerable little boat and a lot of fun in rock gardens and confused seas, bobs like a cork. It's small enough I throw it in my van or truck for traveling and it has seen a lot of waves up and down the California coast. Have done very little whitewater, but I was very confident after having been in rough ocean conditions in my Jive. Only drawback is that the foam seat is fairly uncomfortable as is the steel foot plate. I have to get out and stretch every couple of hours.

It's too bad Necky does not make this boat any more, it seems to be a very good design for both rivers and surfing . A good boat to get started.

The Wavemaster Stabilizer Comp comes in three sizes, I bought the 2.6 m; it's 8'5" long and about 27 inches wide. The factory spec sheet says it will handle surfers up to 260 lbs. I weigh ~ 210 with equipment and there is plenty of capacity to spare. Waveskis are the highest performance paddling craft you can use for surfing maneuvers resembling those you would do on a shortboard. The higher performance skis are set up to have a high center of gravity that allows you to crank powerful turns at high speed. This makes the high performance waveskis very unstable when standing still waiting for a wave or when trying to paddle out through breaking surf, so beginners often find it impossible to even sit on the skis and paddle them out. The wavemaster stabilizer comp is advertised as a beginner to intermediate ski. It is a wide stable ski with a deep seat well and pronounced foot wells for the foot straps. I have found it to be as stable as a battleship and it takes a pretty large wave to knock you over. (Once you learn a few tricks, like leaning way forward as a wave hits you, and lying back and high bracing if you are going over.) I can paddle out through the surf with my feet in the stirrups with confidence that I'm not going to tip over. Because it is wide it's not a fast paddler. The ski is well constructed and the adjustable foot block and belt positions let you adjust the ski to fit your size and how aggressive you may want to surf, I've found the best performance moving the belt and and foot block all the way back and the fins are set quite forward. The adjustable block and belt make the ski adjustable to any surfer so they are much easier to sell used than most waveskis which only fit paddlers of a given leg length. It took three or four outings to get the fins set up for the best performance. I have a fair amount of experience surfing kayaks and own a high performance ski, I wanted something that was easier to paddle out in rough winter surf and to gain confidence in getting my feet in the stirrups, rolling etc, and something that I could let friends and family members try out waveskiing without turning them off to the sport. You can take off surprisingly late on this ski, it is actually hard to pearl at the beginning of a ride, it works well in small to medium surf. The biggest waves I have surfed on the ski are about 6 - 8' . I would not buy this ski if you plan to surf fast, critical waves. I got quite a thrashing trying to beat a critical section on a fast breaking wave. This is a good ski if you are a beginner interested in waveskis or if you are coming to waveskiing from having surfed higher volume sit on tops. I'm fairly heavy for many surf kayaks and this ski would float and perform for a much heavier paddler so this is definitely a big-person board. (The shorter models are for smaller paddlers) New waveskis are expensive so if you can find a stabilizer comp used it would be a good way to get started. The drawbacks are that this is a entry level cruiser, so it is not going to have the down the line speed of a high performance ski. It is quite wide and I have only rolled it about once with the help of a wave so I can't really comment on ease of rolling, most waveskis are hard for me.... Due to the fact the boat is quite stable, I've only had a few serious wipeouts, and one swim. It is very easy to climb back on in deep water, without tipping over... something a beginner will appreciate. I get a lot of people who are interested in this ski because it looks quite unique compared to sit on top kayaks that people are used to seeing.

This PFD is comfortable, well made, rugged and durable. Only drawback is that if you have a bit of a gut it tends to ride up on your body. This is only an issue when swimming. I use mine for surf kayaking and I have to tighten it very tightly because of the large arm holes, several times I've had it pulled over my head during bad wipeouts in big waves. Astral makes PFDs that fit those of us with mid-drift bulge better.

The Good:

• Very forgiving boat when turning in the surf, goes very smoothly from edge to edge.
• Very fast on a wave, the fastest kayak I have experienced surfing on the green face of a wave.
• Very fast and easy to catch waves.
• Very fast and easy to get out through big waves in the break.
• Good for heavier paddlers, I'm 5'8 and weigh 205 lbs with gear.

The bad:

• My boat does not have fins, you have to use your paddle as the fin, not as easy to climb on steep wave faces, tends to want to flat spin when you reach terminal velocity, so you have to keep the boat on edge to keep it tracking.
• It's a little too long for maneuvering in steep surf.
• It wants to pearl on nearly every wave, you have to take off fairly diagonally and tip out of pearls.
• Hard to roll. Requires doing a lay back sweep roll for me, with extended paddle.
• The cockpit is a very, very tight fit. I've got banged up a few times now getting out of it in crashing surf and once having to wet exit in shallow water after losing my paddle.

All in all it's a very fun surf kayak, an old classic design now. Not for beginner surfers but a great find if you can get one used. If I was going to spend $2000 for a new surf kayak I think I would get a shorter boat like the Aquarius.

I just rented this boat or a 2hr evening paddle. So not an in depth review. I weigh 200 lbs and I am an intermediate paddler. I thought that this boat did not want to track well and seemed to swing with the wind without the rudder. This is the first boat I have given up and used the rudder. It was not much fun to paddle with the rudder. It was also not that fast of a boat, I have a much wider SOT that is faster. Not that exciting.

I've owned my SeaDart for one year now and I am very satisfied with it. I have found that it handles well in choppy water and wind when other kayaks are having trouble, I keep tracking in a straight line making really good speed for a sit-on-top. I use my boat in bays and off the coast of San Diego and the North coast. It seems to be very sea worthy and it goes out through surf well. I find in large waves it is not the best for surfing but it is good for adjusting your speed to make surf landings. It is a bit heavy and it takes some skill to turn it quickly. Also it tends to be a wet ride in waves but it is very stable and reliable and fast. I paid $625 for mine since it was an older model and I am very happy with the amount of boat I got for the money, I really enjoy it.

I bought a Frenzy for my teenage son after we took a surf kayaking class and had the best success in the Frenzy. He likes to use it in surf and I like to take it out for paddling around by myself just to get excercise and get out on the open water. It is very stable and forgiving, and very easy to transport. My son and I used our tandem kayak and let a Japanese exchange student use the Frenzy this morning. He had never been in a boat before and he was paddling around the bay in the Frenzy with a huge grin on his face, bobbing on the waves, turning at will and keeping up without much trouble. This is a great boat for begginers and knocking around and play in the surf. (Kind of slow if you have a long way to go however.)

I tried out several tandems and decided on the odyssey. It seems to be very fast compared to similar sized kayaks. It also handled better in the wind than longer tandems like the Cabo. However it does seem to be a bit tippy in surf, and it is very heavy and hard to cartop, the nice sleek surface is also murder to hang onto when it is wet and you need to climb back in, when in deep water or man handle it on a roof rack. A nice boat for mild swells and waves. They advertise that there is room for a passenger...no way.