Any spare Saturday morning that I’ve got, more often than not you’ll find me getting up at the crack of dawn and dragging my sore and sorry head down to the river. When I get there, instead of quietly nursing a bacon and egg roll and a coffee to will away the hangover from too many lemonades the night before, I get out my Kings Inflatable Standup Paddleboard, pump it up and float myself out onto the water. Why? Because without a doubt, standup paddleboarding has become my new favourite obsession. I just can’t wait to get out on the water!

If you haven’t tried it yet, it’s easy to miss just how good getting out on the water on an inflatable standup paddleboard can be. It sort of looks like a combination between surfing and kayaking, and the true is it’s probably somewhere in between the two. The first time I floated out on my Kings paddleboard, I was deadset hooked. Here’s six reasons I am addicted to standup paddleboarding!

1. IT’S SO DAMN QUIET AND RELAXING OUT THERE ON THE WATER

Seriously. When you push off from the shore and start paddling just that little bit away, you realise just how nice and peaceful it is on the water. It’s ridiculously relaxing just bobbing around on your inflatable standup paddleboard letting the world float on by. At least until some boofhead in a jetski rips past, but no biggie – these Kings inflatable standup paddleboards are super buoyant and stable so all I do is point the noise of the SUP into the wake of a passing boat or jetski and it’s no big deal. I even find myself getting out somewhere nice and private and quiet, and laying down on my Kings paddleboard for a bit of a sunbake and a snooze. At 10’6” in length, there’s plenty of room to do that, legs and arms dangling in the water!

2. YOU GET TO ESCAPE THE CROWDS AND LEAVE THEM BEHIND

I don’t know about you, but I like my leisure time to be nice and leisurely, and there’s nothing leisurely about battling the crowd for a bit of space at a busy beach! I love being able to pull up at the river, pump up my Kings inflatable paddleboard and just paddle on away from the crowd, leaving them behind to fight over a patch of sand. 10 minutes of lazy paddling later and I’m out there on the water in my own world, with no-one bothering me. Trust me, this is the way to get out and enjoy the waterways, not trying to fight over a busy boat ramp or a crowded jetty to fish off!

3. YOU SEE A SIDE OF THE WATERWAYS YOU JUST WOULDN’T SEE OTHERWISE

Picture this. You’re paddling around on a nice shallow sand bar, lazily pointing the nose of your inflatable SUP anyway you want to. The water is crystal clear and you’re watching a Bream cruise around looking for a feed, and then a little ray glides its way across the bottom of the sand. This seems to happen every time I’m out on my Kings SUP. It’s like you get this whole new appreciation for the waterways when you’re out there just bobbing around minding your own business. It’s totally different to any other way to be out on the water – whether that’s in a boat, or just going for a swim. I love it and it’s one thing that keeps me coming back to my inflatable standup paddle board time and time again.

4. SOMEONE TOLD ME I NEEDED TO GET FITTER – THIS IS THE LAZY WAY TO DO IT!

Yeah, we all know that a diet that consists of beer, meat and more beer is obviously the healthiest possible way to live, but occasionally you get this feeling you should be doing something a little different with your health regime, just to mix things up. Ask one of those fancy scientist types and they’ll tell you that SUP paddleboarding is actually really good for you, doing all sorts of things like ‘strengthening your core’ and ‘working your shoulder and arm muscles’. I don’t know about all that stuff but it definitely feels nice and healthy getting up early and going for a standup paddleboard, and it definitely feels great once you get back in off the board again too! Certainly beats the gym…

5. IT COSTS YOU NOTHING ONCE YOU’VE BOUGHT YOUR BOARD

That’s the really beaut thing about standup paddleboarding – once you’ve got your Kings standup paddleboard, it doesn’t cost you a cent! No need to fuel up the boat tank every time you want to go out, no hassles with spending hours flushing out a motor when you come back in again, it’s all free from here on in. And of course there’s the fact that the Adventure Kings inflatable standup paddleboards are incredible value to begin with – they’re easily Australia’s most affordable quality inflatable standup paddleboards.

6. IT’S A STRESS-FREE ULTRA-FUN WEEKEND ACTIVITY

Overall though, I think my favourite thing about being out on my Kings inflatable SUP is simply how easy it is! There’s no stress anywhere – it’s all too easy to transport the paddleboard, pump it up and get out and use it. And when you’re done for this time all you do is deflate it, roll it up and store it back in its storage bag, in the corner of the garage or the shed. No tripping over big expensive surfboards, no trying to reverse a boat into your single car garage, none of that. An inflatable standup paddleboard is simply good stress free fun for anyone!