ROC Stand-up Paddleboard Review 2024

The other Saturday afternoon, I found myself on Irogami Lake in Wisconsin, lying on my paddleboard reading The Guest as the water lapped against the dock I was tethered to near a friend’s family lake house. My head was resting on the mandatory life jacket I’d attached to the board — water cops don’t make you actually wear it unless you’re a child. I was floating, but things felt sturdy. It was my reward after paddling for an hour and a half around the lake in a meditative state. I’d done a full-body workout and barely broken a sweat: My core, legs, and arms felt ever so slightly sleepy.

There’s still more than a month of summer left, and it’s not too late to invest in an inflatable stand-up paddleboard. You don’t need anything fancy. In fact, Amazon’s inexpensive best seller will do just fine — and if mine is any evidence, it will last you a while and save you expensive SUP rental fees.

I purchased my white-and-turquoise ROC board in April 2021. Unlike with some other foolish height-of-COVID acquisitions, I have never regretted the decision (getting a wet suit for paddling in the spring and fall was perhaps overkill). It has been with me on crystal-clear lakes upstate and on leafy, luscious inlets in the Midwest, on a Maryland bay where wild ponies grazed on the shore, and the gentle ocean of Brooklyn’s very own Brighton Beach, the nutcracker guy’s calls bouncing across the water.

(A note: Much like the nutcracker guy’s business, paddleboarding is not allowed on NYC beaches, but the only time I’ve gotten in trouble was when a lifeguard noticed me paddling out to Manhattan Beach to spy on the rich people’s houses.)

Paddleboarding is a simple pleasure. You just stand (or sit or kneel) in the middle of the board and push off like a Venetian gondolier (look up a YouTube tutorial for an efficient stroke). When inflated to the minimum required 10 PSI, the ROC is shockingly solid. You can plop a friend, child, or dog in front of you (the board has a 350-pound weight limit).

I got mine while living in Brighton, determined to be a surfeuse without the necessary upper-body strength or steep learning curve. In the summer, I would keep it inflated on my balcony and walk four city blocks with it hanging from a special shoulder contraption I’d purchased. I lugged it to the beach out of laziness, unwilling to take the approximately seven to ten minutes and moderate arm exercise to blow it up with the included high-capacity pump. In retrospect, this didn’t make any sense because the ROC board, pump, and paddle packs down to a comfortable — and, crucially, included — backpack. It’s easily subway-able, and I’ve traveled with it on a plane (as checked luggage, but it’s 100 percent worth it) and road-tripped 1,000 miles with plenty of other bags and people in a Prius.

You don’t really need anything else other than the kit the board comes with — except a life jacket, and a cheap one will do. ROC even includes a waterproof dry bag so you can take your keys and phone. But learn from my mistakes: Collapse your paddle as soon as you’re finished to prevent the sand and saltwater from making it irrevocably stuck. Also, when you’re traveling, make sure you’ve packed the detachable fin — it’s a must if you don’t want the board to just keep spinning in circles.

You could get a fancier board. One that will go faster and be more nimble to steer. But this one is less than $300 and relatively compact, and you can even get a seat to convert it into a kayak.

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