Advice on buying a paddle board

Hi! I’ve paddle boarded about a dozen times in bays and harbors, and want to buy my own board. I guess I am technically a beginner, but I have some decent whitewater canoeing background which seems to help as well as good balance from yoga so it doesn’t seem too mysterious. I would like to train for and participate in the Montauk to Block Island 18 mile open ocean paddle next summer. I live on long island near the water.
Also wanted to know if anyone has heard of, or purchased from this site? https://watersportequip.com/
They are located in Singapore, but seem reputable – and their prices are unbelievable, 40% less than other retailers, with free shipping. Wondering that the catch is.
I am on a budget, but I would like to try and get something that could get me through that long distance ocean paddle and training for it safely.
Thank you so much!!
Isabel

Personally I would not even consider buying a board from a vendor in another country. What will you do if there are shipping damages? Or warranty issues? Beyond that, what board you get depends on your weight and most frequent use goals. Consider demoing boards if possible. Work with a reputable shop. I just ordered a board by SIC but also looked hard at Infinity and Starboard. Prepare to wait on most rigid boards right now. Perhaps many months.

I wouldn’t trust them.

No don’t purchase from them. Keep an eye out on craigslist for a board suitable racing on open water. I would see if there is a facebook or meet up group of open water paddlers who have done this paddle. You would get the best information about where to get a decent used board, it’s likely that with affluent paddlers like that , several would be selling off old boards. I looked at some youtube videos of the paddle and it looked pretty much like intermediate paddlers not SUP atheletes so you would not need to get a high performance racing board. My brief experience with Long Island sound is that it can be really choppy, so make sure you make a point of paddling in those conditions a lot in training and not sticking to bays and harbors.

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Thank you so much!! That is great advice.:slight_smile: