Overall this kayak is great! It’s beautiful, lightweight, and I was able to go much faster than others around me. I took it out this week on a very calm river. When the wind picked up and caused a little bit of chop in the water, it bounced over the small waves and began to feel a little unstable. It did not break waves very well, but that’s not what this kayak is really meant for anyway. When the water was calm, it tracked very straight.
My biggest complaint is that they didn’t even try to make the front compartment or the exo-shell watertight, which makes them kind of pointless. They could’ve easily made them with rubber gaskets and they’d be great for waterproof storage, but the front hatch is literally just a loose plastic lid held in place by the bungee cord. And the exo-shell container is just thin plastic that loosely clamshells together with no rubber or anything to keep it straight or watertight. Very disappointing as even my husband’s cheap Walmart kayak has watertight storage compartments. Also, because the plastic is black, so in the sun it gets HOT and will heat up your water bottles and melt your M&Ms :(
The seat is comfortable for the first few hours. I have a pretty bony back though, so after about 2-3 hours it was a bit uncomfortable where my spine was rubbing against the back of the seat. The leg padding and thigh guards are nice.
I do wish the paddle that came with the kayak was a bit longer. I believe its 226 cm. I’m a 5’4” female and that just felt too short for me. A couple inches longer would’ve make Paddling much easier.
I didn’t take on much water while Paddling, maybe a cup total that drained out easily when finished. There was a small amount of water in the hatch and exoshell too from waves splashing.
Overall though, it’s a nice kayak for the price, and its design is very beautiful! I’d purchase it again, perhaps if it was on sale so I could buy a longer paddle for about the same price.
