Water Mat Suggestions

[55]

Looking at getting my kids a small/medium water mat, but holy he!! are they expensive.
Anyone with experience have any suggestions? I'm looking for one that wouldn't be too much of a burden to store in our SV211 and also keep me from needing to sell one of my kidneys.
The inflatable ones are much cheaper, but I worry about durability.

[Flyindutchman]

I'm watching this thread. I can't believe how expensive they are either. I've checked Overton's for sales often. Maybe something at the boat show too.

[jondavis08]

Best prices I've seen are the Wave Pads(http://wavepads.com). Can custom order these up to 100 feet! They also seem to have a lot of special deals that post on facebook.


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[ski4evr]

cousin had a 20 footer he carries on his pontoon, kids and ladies loved it. real pita to put away. definitely no where to carry it on a 211 unless you strapped it to the swim platform. he paid bout $400 if I'm not mistaken.

[Whitetail15]

I have a watermatt.. from the watermatt company. I can't say enough about it. kids love it. everyone loves it. A friend has the thinner one , not as good. Get the XL if you are going to buy one.

[Phil8uga]

Can anyone recommend the best length, brand and thickness. After doing some research there seems to be a lot of options. I could not find the watermatt XL whitetail recommended.


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[Whitetail15]

sorry i gave bad information.. mine is a watermatt ex plus. 2" thickness.

[Phil8uga]

Thanks Whitetail15.


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[55]

Just ordered the Connelly "Party Cove" water mat. Due to the fact we don't have a dock and will have to haul it on the boat, I decided on the smaller 6'x8'. However it should be plenty big for my kids for the next few years. It's backordered from Overtons, but once we receive it I'll provide an update on roll-up diameter, durability, etc.

[jondavis08]

FYI, just saw that the Wave Pads are on sale for X-Mas, pricing below so you have an idea.

[SilentSeven]

Re-opening this old thread....looking for feedback on mats. Any input if the knock off mats are any good or is it better to just spend the $$$ and get a brand name (lily, etc).

Feedback appreciated from those of you who've owned one for a bit.

[MN Ryan]

We've had a Rubber Docky for a few years. It's alright. It doesn't have the option to tow it, so it mostly just gets anchored to or near our dock. Occasionally, we've hauled it out on our pontoon, but rolling it up in the middle of the lake is a major hassle.

It faded quite quickly--we leave it out for the weekends, but it's in the garage for the rest of the time.

I honestly don't know if more expensive = better. It's been a worthy purchase for us.

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[SilentSeven]

hmmm...."rolling up in the middle of the lake is a major hassle". Interesting. How so?

Forgive my n00b question as I've never had one of these things.

[MN Ryan]

Consider that it's 6' x 18' of fairly stiff foam--it's not feasible to roll it on the deck of the pontoon, so I haven't found a better way than having two people (wearing life jackets) roll it in the water. They roll fairly well on land because you can press it against the ground to compress it and roll it tightly, but in the water, you really don't have a good way to compress it, so you end up with a loosely rolled tunnel of foam.
They make ones will a beefed up tow point so you can pull it behind a boat. If you want to haul it anywhere, that is the route I would recommend.

[trip33]

I have personally had the Wavepad brand. Some of these things are very thick and dense foam which makes them very buoyant but it can take a good deal of force to roll it up and get the straps around it, even on land it can be a 2 man job on some of the larger sizes. Now try that while standing on the back of the boat or while in water where you may not be able to touch bottom and it gets real tricky. Once it is rolled up and strapped it is just cumbersome and takes up a huge amount of space. If you attach it to the rear lifting rings on the platform it does not leave much room to get back in the boat. Don't get me wrong, we love having one. It always turns out to be the party spot while anchored, there is just some effort involved in transporting them.

I am thinking about converting to one of the inflatables by Mission or Bote. I am thinking that deflating and storing in a ski locker might be much easier than sacrificing the swim platform. Anyone have personal experience with either brand that they could share?