Riviera Brand SUPs

[Weeble]

One of our local surf shops had a sale/clearance sale/used surf and SUP board sale this past Saturday.  My girlfriend and I checked it out.  They had all kinds of sales going on and a bigger turn out than we expected.  So much so that we had to suffer walking in a LOT of people were walking out with some really nice used boards that they picked up at great prices...oh well, next time...we'll be there early!

Anyway, there were some board demos going on for Riviera boards and we always jump on a chance to try new boards.  We paddled a 12.6 Riviera "Voyager" out on a lake behind the shop...no wind that day, no current....just calm smooth water.  It was a nice board to paddle in those conditions, and the first time I got to paddle a touring style board other than a Naish Demo that I did on the beach on a day that was so &$^#%@! that there was no way to stay up on any type of board, so it didn't really count that I tried to stay up on a Naish Glide!

Has anyone used this board?  Own it?  Know anything about the Riviera brand?  I can’t seem to find anything other than websites selling them…ie, no sites where people praise the brand or hate on it.  I ask because I see Naish Glides going for about 1600 bucks,  NSP touring boards going for around 1500, and Tahoe’s that go for about 1700.  I was told that the Voyager line from Riviera goes for 1100 and it seems to be quite a bit cheaper than other similar brands of the same board style.  Not looking to buy right now, but always trying to educate myself of brands and boards so that I can keep my eyes open for good deals down the road.

[DESUP]

I have a Riviera Voyager. The board is super stable and has decent tracking and glide.  As you saw the rails are super boxy throughout the whole board.  I got it because of the pricepoint and I wanted a touring board that I would enjoy alone or paddling with my 4yr old son on board. I'm looking to upgrade the fin that came with it though. 

[Easy Rider]

We have sold a bunch of the Voyager.

It is a great touring board for flat water - at a decent price.

All customers have raved about how stable it is - and how they are faster than their friends on big surf style boards.

[Tom English]

The Riviera Voyager is my go to board for people over 180lbs people learning to SUP.  
The floatation is great for paddling with your kids or pets too.
Rentals available "Try before you buy"
www.AlohaStandUpPaddle.com

[TN_SUP]

That's good info. I figured I'd have to buy a thin surf style board to carry my 4 yr old, but this may be more enjoyable on flatwater.

[gorgebob]

The Riviera Voyager is a thick touring board. Not really a displacement hull but a flat boat shape. It is quite stable and turns super easy when you step back even just a little. For the price and weight it is hard to beat, not a racer .

[Weeble]

Thanks for the info!  My GF and I currently have two NSP all purpose boards, the ones with the rounded noses.  They can do a little bit of everything, but nothing great.  Basically, decent boards for us to start with and begin building our skills.  We are now looking to get second boards and this price point is nice since we have to buy two of whatever we get.  I think the touring style will do great in our back water paddles so that we can go longer distances.  Right now we do about 6 miles or so on ours, but it is big workout and I'd like to get some boards that get better glide so that we can do further before we are worn out.

We also paddled off shore this past weekend and while the boards did great on Saturday as it was calm and smooth, on Sunday we had winds and a 2-4 chop.  We went against the wind and chop, and it was a hell of a workout, but it really made us work our balance.  The way back though was no fun as those boards aren't fast enough to ride with the swells and chop and we were getting knocked off like crazy and it seemed worse to come back than it did to go against.  Has anyone used the Voyager for something like that?  I know it's not a race board or downwinder, but I am wondering if it would at least perform better in that secenario than our current all purpose boards.

[1medic]

Buy a Voyager you will not regret it. I have used mine in all conditions. While it's not a high performance board it's the best design for anyone who wants to do anything but surf it. I love mine.

[Montster]

I narrowed my recent purchase down to the voyager and the bic 12.6 touring. Both similar in shape and they paddle about the same. Bic is a little narrower so it is a bit faster. I ended up getting the bic touring. Then 2+ weeks later I got to try the voyager. Well I wished I had spent less money and picked up the voyager.

Paddling is much the same. I did only paddle it for 1 mile in calm conditions. The Bic could be a little faster but I didn't have a gps to measure. Weight they felt the same. Bic might be a pound lighter. No scale around to measure. In general they paddled and handled the same. Now my board was only 2 weeks old and has a number of slight cracks in the shell from paddle bumps. The voyager was a month old and was in pristine shape. The board owner was visibly a lot rougher on the board than I am and he knocked it several times while we were out paddling with the blade or shaft. Just a few surface scuffs on the voyager. My board would have had a few quarter to half inch cracks in the shell. I was convinced the voyager is a durable construction.

[Weeble]

Good to hear about how tuff the board seems to be.  When we got into this "hobby" we were terrified of wrecking our boards.  We bought them used an they were in great shape.  Still are, but I am amazed as we have had some ooooopsses between paddle strikes, banged into doorways, dinking them on the ground...hell, one time I got pushed hard from a boat wake into dock and nothing happened to the board.  Once a month, I go over them and put clear epoxy patch in any new scratches and such just to be safe and weigh them, and so far, they are holding up great.   Yet, when I research them online, other than finding comments like "they are a middle grade entry board", I don't find them slammed or praised.  Honestly, other than outgrowing their shape and what they are capable of doing, I have no complaints.  This is great to learn about the Voyagers as this hobby is expensive!

[CMC]

Good to hear about how tuff the board seems to be.  When we got into this "hobby" we were terrified of wrecking our boards.  We bought them used an they were in great shape.  Still are, but I am amazed as we have had some ooooopsses between paddle strikes, banged into doorways, dinking them on the ground...hell, one time I got pushed hard from a boat wake into dock and nothing happened to the board.  Once a month, I go over them and put clear epoxy patch in any new scratches and such just to be safe and weigh them, and so far, they are holding up great.   Yet, when I research them online, other than finding comments like "they are a middle grade entry board", I don't find them slammed or praised.  Honestly, other than outgrowing their shape and what they are capable of doing, I have no complaints.  This is great to learn about the Voyagers as this hobby is expensive!

Why don't you check the NSP 12'0 Flatwater or 12'6.  Strong, light, high value.  Same bullet proof construction as your SUP's.

[Weeble]

Trust me, I do think about the new NSP shapes.  Right now though, I haven't found one locally to put my hands on yet.  I have seen only one shop that carries NSP, and right now they have seem to be focussing on the higher end boards such as the Starboards, Tahoes and Barks and they don't have any NSPs in stock.  The other shops are heavy on the Naish.  I have had a chance to demo some of the Naish's, but it was on one REALLY bad day out front so there was no way to tell how much I liked them.  If I get a chance to demo an NSP touring board I sure will.  However, since I got a chance to demo the Voyager and I saw the price point....which down in here south Florida has it running about 400 bucks cheaper than the NSP price I see online and 500 cheaper than the Naish Glide, I am going to do my best to find out about the Riviera!  I just couldn't believe it is so much cheaper and was wondering how it has held up for people who have them.

[CMC]

Trust me, I do think about the new NSP shapes.  Right now though, I haven't found one locally to put my hands on yet.  I have seen only one shop that carries NSP, and right now they have seem to be focussing on the higher end boards such as the Starboards, Tahoes and Barks and they don't have any NSPs in stock.  The other shops are heavy on the Naish.  I have had a chance to demo some of the Naish's, but it was on one REALLY bad day out front so there was no way to tell how much I liked them.  If I get a chance to demo an NSP touring board I sure will.  However, since I got a chance to demo the Voyager and I saw the price point....which down in here south Florida has it running about 400 bucks cheaper than the NSP price I see online and 500 cheaper than the Naish Glide, I am going to do my best to find out about the Riviera!  I just couldn't believe it is so much cheaper and was wondering how it has held up for people who have them.

Like Forest Gump would have said if he had a chance.  'Cheaper is as cheaper does.'

[Weeble]

Oh man, for sure....you get what you pay for.  But like I said earlier, whatever I buy, I gotta' get two because of my girlfriend!  LOL.  And, right now the next big ticket is a ring for her finger!  So...if I can squeeze in another board type in the meantime...I gotta' do what I gotta' do!

BTW...has everyone seen a rise in board prices?  It seems to me that down here boards went up about 200 bucks on average.  When we were shopping around back in January, one of our local shops had 3 Tahoes that were going for 1500 bucks.  Then, suddenly I went in there and the same boards were 1700.  They weren't a newer model, they were the exact same boards, not same model that was replacing one that were sold, but same boards that were there when I first priced them.

[PaddleCrazy]

And, right now the next big ticket is a ring for her finger! 

Yikes!!  The worst day SUPing, is better than the best day of.......ah, never mind.