Water mat recommendations

[h2oskierfl95]

Trying to figure out a good brand and size of water mat/ floating carpet. My main concerns are durability and ease of storage. It will be brought out to the sand bars and springs for the wife and kids. Obviously I don't want to spend more than necessary, but I don't want junk. Any recommendations?

 

[tkeru408]

If you haven't already, use the search function on the top right to look for posts about water mats, reef mats, inflatable mats, etc. There's lots of good info on here already as that's something people are often looking for recommendations on.

If your main concerns are durability and ease of storage, something like the Mission Reef Mats should be a good bet, and comes in a variety of sizes. They aren't as cheap as the thinner, non-inflatable types of mats but you do get what you pay for. If you're not in a hurry for it, they usually have good Black Friday sales on the Mission website. I'm considering picking one up this year if the deals look good. There are also some other companies that make hard, inflatable style mats like the Mission Reef Mats.

 

[Babin Farms]

I will give you one piece of advice after borrowing two and owning one, the longer the mat the better.

 

[tabbibus]

Here's my journey.
First bought some cheapo floating inflatable things at Costco. Honestly more pool oriented. They were about the size of two single loungers together. Fun times, but too flimsy. No way to attach to boat.

Then we got a WOW gangplank. We loved it for 2 seasons. Heavy when deflated, and kinda annoying to inflate and deflate but lots of fun had on it. Till we killed it. 3 adults jumped on and tore it. It was attached to one of the cleats and the cleat won. Granted, not supposed to be used like that. But bummer.

Now we just bought the rollable foam lily pad from Sam's club. Thing is big! Haven't gone out yet, so jury is still out on this one. Looks durable.

 

[Nfinlay1]

Now we just bought the rollable foam lily pad from Sam's club. Thing is big! Haven't gone out yet, so jury is still out on this one. Looks durable.

We are on our 4th season with the Sam’s Club mat. For $250, you can’t beat it.

 

[tabbibus]

We are on our 4th season with the Sam’s Club mat. For $250, you can’t beat it.

How do you secure it? To the transom?
Any tips?

 

[Nfinlay1]

How do you secure it? To the transom?
Any tips?

 

[Acard7]

We have the roll foam lily pad, a nice expensive one, but any of the nice floating mats are not cheap. I’ve tried to convince my wife with a mission reef mat but she likes to be somewhat in the water. And I’m sure the foam ones will hold up to more abuse when the kids and friends get older. I just hate lugging it around on the transom of boat so I’ve found another option when it’s just adults:

Do you Sunchill?

Forget floaty mats and get ready to chill on your new sun bed for the sea.

sunchill.co

They seem to have good reviews on Facebook so eventually one day we might own it, ofcourse it’s just as expensive as a nice floating mat. Maybe they’ll have a sale someday…

 

[Nfinlay1]

We have the roll foam lily pad, a nice expensive one, but any of the nice floating mats are not cheap. I’ve tried to convince my wife with a mission reef mat but she likes to be somewhat in the water. And I’m sure the foam ones will hold up to more abuse when the kids and friends get older. I just hate lugging it around on the transom of boat so I’ve found another option when it’s just adults:

Do you Sunchill?

Forget floaty mats and get ready to chill on your new sun bed for the sea.

sunchill.co

They seem to have good reviews on Facebook so eventually one day we might own it, ofcourse it’s just as expensive as a nice floating mat. Maybe they’ll have a sale someday…

My buddy has one of those Sunchill’s, it’s really neat and the kids love it but I can’t justify the price.

 

[Acard7]

My buddy has one of those Sunchill’s, it’s really neat and the kids love it but I can’t justify the price.

Good to know, and ya the price is ridiculous to me for an oval-floaty-ring-thingy

 

[tabbibus]

Interesting concept. Not sure if worth 600 bucks compared to a mat.

 

[tkeru408]

@Nfinlay1, in the picture showing your mat, are those the 6ft kids kayaks you have strapped to the tower? I'm curious what they're strapped into exactly, seems like an interesting idea. We have some of those kayaks and it'd be cool to take them out and be able to strap them to the tower so they're not taking up floor space.

 

[Nfinlay1]

@Nfinlay1, in the picture showing your mat, are those the 6ft kids kayaks you have strapped to the tower? I'm curious what they're strapped into exactly, seems like an interesting idea. We have some of those kayaks and it'd be cool to take them out and be able to strap them to the tower so they're not taking up floor space.

Yep, 6’ kids kayaks. I ghetto rigged some racks from Home Depot to the tower and ratchet strap them down. Cost me $20 bucks total. We have way too many toys…

 

[tabbibus]

Do they get wobbly with chop?

Yep, 6’ kids kayaks. I ghetto rigged some racks from Home Depot to the tower and ratchet strap them down. Cost me $20 bucks total. We have way too many toys…


View attachment 161727View attachment 161728View attachment 161729

 

[tkeru408]

Yep, 6’ kids kayaks. I ghetto rigged some racks from Home Depot to the tower and ratchet strap them down. Cost me $20 bucks total. We have way too many toys…


View attachment 161727View attachment 161728View attachment 161729

That's awesome, thanks for the pics and the idea!

I might try to do something similar. We have two of those kayaks and just got a pair of inflatable paddleboards (yup, we have too many toys, too) and I was thinking it'd be cool if we could bring all four out on the boat with us so we could do a family excursion from the boat with the kids in the kayaks and my wife and I on the paddleboards.

 

[Nfinlay1]

Do they get wobbly with chop?

Not at all. We’ve gone across the bay multiple times with them up.

 

[Nfinlay1]

That's awesome, thanks for the pics and the idea!

I might try to do something similar. We have two of those kayaks and just got a pair of inflatable paddleboards (yup, we have too many toys, too) and I was thinking it'd be cool if we could bring all four out on the boat with us so we could do a family excursion from the boat with the kids in the kayaks and my wife and I on the paddleboards.

I’ve mounted our inflatable paddle board up there too but usually just bungie it to the inside and let it hang out the stern.

 

[tabbibus]

I’ve mounted our inflatable paddle board up there too but usually just bungie it to the inside and let it hang out the stern.

wow. do you have any pics of this?

 

[Nfinlay1]

wow. do you have any pics of this?

I’ll be over at the marina later, I’ll take a pic

 

[gallobg]

We have the Aqua Lily Pad mat ( AquaLilyPad – A WATER PLAYGROUND FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY ) and purchased it through Costco. I want to say is was $350-400. It's been the favorite purchase this year for the kids. I echo the comment above about the longer the better.

If you get one of these foam mats, the main thing to look for is the connection between the mat and the cord that you attach to the rear of the boat. On the less expensive mats, the connection is a metal disc that clamps to the mat. But these tend to pull through the foam (metal is too sharp and creates pressure points). On the Lily Pad one, the attachment point uses a plastic interface with foam washers, so it appears to be more forgiving. And the cord is elastic which also helps to reduce the point loads on the mat. So far its holding up really well.

There are two ways we have secured it to the transom. The first way was to simply use a ratchet tie-down across the two rear cleats to hold it in place, but it tends to roll forward/backward a bit more than I would like while the boat was under way. The second (and current) way is to use two smaller straps between the tower and each of the velcro straps that keep the Lily Pad rolled up. This has kept it nicely secured in place on the transom and it doesn't move around.