Best Tandem Kayak

Tandem kayaks are simply kayaks that house more than one seat. These are enjoyed by many people that prefer a more social experience on the water, rather than people who like to spend time with their own thoughts. Kayaking with another friend or family member can amp up the experience and give you some unforgettable memories together.

Tandem kayaks are larger than singular alternatives, as they are designed to fit two people and both of their equipment within. Some even have extra space for a pet or a child, which are therefore three-man kayaks.

Below we’ll be looking at the top tandem kayaks that are currently available on the market, as well as some benefits and drawbacks for you to look over to see if tandem kayaking is the right option for you. You don’t want to invest in a tandem if it’s not going to be enjoyable for you, so we’d recommend taking a look at this before committing to your purchase.

Best Tandem Kayak – Comparison Table

Image	Product	Features	Price
Our Top Pick	Advanced Elements StraitEdge2 Inflatable Kayak	Color: Yellow/Gray. Length: 13′ Width: 35″ Weight: 41 LBS. (18.6 KG) Persons: 1 or 2.	Check Price On Amazon
	Sevylor Coleman Colorado 2-Person Fishing Kayak	Dimensions (Inflated): 10 feet 9 inches x 3 feet 3 inches Weight (Deflated): 41 lbs. Weight Capacity: 470 lbs. (213 kg.) Materials: 840D Nylon Cover and 1000D Tarpaulin Bottom Construction: 18-gauge PVC (ideal for lake use)	Check Price On Amazon
	Driftsun Voyager 2 Person Tandem Inflatable Kayak	Inflated Dimensions: 10ft. x 35” x 16” Deflated Dimensions: 26” x 16” x 8” Kayak Weight: 27lbs Recommended weight limit: 400 lbs.	Check Price On Amazon
	Intex Excursion Pro Kayak, Professional Series Inflatable Fishing Kayak	Length: 12 ft. 7 in. Width: 3 ft. 1 in. Height: 18 in. Weight of Kayak: 43.57 lbs. Person Capacity: 2	Check Price On Amazon
	Vanhunks Voyager Deluxe Kayak 12ft (Blue)	Length: 370cm/ 12ft width: 81cm/ 32inches height: 37cm/ 15inches weight: 35kg/ 77lbs maximum weight capacity: 250kg/ 551lbs	Check Price On Amazon
	Lifetime Manta Tandem Sit on Top Kayak with Paddles	Weight: 73 lb (33,1 kg) Color: Yellow Draft: 6 in. (15,2 cm) Paddle Length: 86.6 in. (220 cm) Width: 36 in. (91,4 cm)	Check Price On Amazon

Best Tandem Kayak – Reviews

Best Tandem Kayak – Buyers Guide

Why Choose a Tandem Kayak?

When deciding whether or not to purchase a tandem kayak, it’s best to know both the benefits and drawbacks. There’s no logic in only knowing the advantages before buying one, only to discover the disadvantages when you’re out on the water!

Whether or not you should get a tandem kayak is simply up to your personal preference and individual lifestyle. You should look through our benefits and drawbacks and see if a tandem sounds like the right choice for you. As long as you can withstand the not so great aspects of double kayaks, we’re sure you’ll have a great experience on the water in one.

Benefits

Let’s start off by talking about the benefits of tandem kayaks. These are plentiful and really great if you like quality time with your friends and family. Moreover, they can be excellent for beginners to get the hang of kayaking before they are confident enough to embark on their solo kayaking adventures.

Four arms are better than two!

Kayaking is a fun watersport, but it can also be taxing and challenging after a while. When two people use a tandem kayak, one person can take a break while the other takes the reigns for a little while. This way, you can keep moving while resting your arms, as opposed to having to stop and remain still if you were on your own.

If you’re sat in the back chair, you may even be able to get away with taking more frequent breaks as you’re out of sight from your partner – just don’t get caught!

Another benefit to take advantage of is the fact that you’ll be able to multitask as long as one person keeps paddling. For instance, one person can keep the kayak moving while the other opens drinks for the two of you, take some pictures of the idealistic scenery, or lays out the picnic.

Fishing with a tandem kayak can also be better than a solo alternative, as one person can keep the vessel steady while you’re reeling in the big ones. This sure beats fishing alone in a kayak and finding yourself capsized due to a large bite.

Share the fun

If you’re a social butterfly and love spending time with friends and family, you may find that your kayaking experiences are just much more fun when there’s someone there to share it with! Instead of being separated by two individual kayaks, you can use a tandem alternative and remain close so that you can really share the experience together.

You’ll be able to have a chat about the experience as you go, rather than having to appreciate it alone. You can bond with your partner much more than if you were to use your own separate kayaks.

Tandem kayaking can also be a romantic experience if you were to share the vessel with your partner or loved one. There’s not much romance to be had if you’re sitting in a single kayak alone, so choose a tandem option and enjoy your date night!

Contingency planning

If you’re going out on the water with two separate kayaks, or perhaps going as a group, a tandem kayak is a great vessel for one of you to take. Even if only one person is using the tandem, one of your group can use the extra seat in case they’re involved in an accident or need a break from paddling.

Watersports are sometimes difficult and dangerous. Moreover, if you’re spending lots of time under bright sunshine, you may find that it gets too much for some people. If one of your group becomes ill from sunstroke, or needs a rest from the arm workout, they can reside in the extra seat and rest up without having to put themselves at risk by struggling too much.

The person operating the tandem would have to do all the work and this may prove harder than a solo kayak, and the other kayak would have to be towed by someone, but this is still very beneficial and allows you to have a back-up plan, should something go wrong.

Extra stability

Beginners to the world of kayaking may not be aware of how difficult it can be to keep your kayak stable at times. If you don’t want your vessel to be flipped over every couple of minutes, you may want to start off with a tandem kayak to learn the basics of how to control the boat.

Two people working to keep the kayak stable will certainly be more effective than one. This is particularly important if you’re going to be kayaking with newbies or children who are more likely to struggle with the water.

Water can be temperamental and so you may want to take the safer route here. Working your way up to a solo kayak may be preferred than being thrown into the water time and time again while in your own vessel.

Family time

A tandem offers family time and bonding that solo kayaks simply cannot. If you have small children and you want them to experience the watersport, a tandem is the only safe way to get them out there with you. Sure, you could keep them on your lap in a solo alternative, but this may affect your stability and make it more likely that you’ll capsize. With a small child, this is obviously something that you’re going to want to avoid.

If your child is slightly older, you can both paddle and have fun on the water. It is advised that you keep the child in the front of the kayak and you, the adult, sits in the back seat so that you can see them continuously. You’ll also be able to see potential hazards and avoid them swiftly, so you don’t hit anything.

If you have an odd number of people, such as two adults and one child, or one adult and two children, you may also get a solo kayak along with the tandem. You can either have both the children in the tandem, or the older child in the solo option. Only do this if you consider the older child to be responsible enough to have their own kayak.

Younger children should never be left in a solo kayak alone, no matter how close they’re going to be to you. Safety comes first, especially in the water in which you have less control. Make sure everyone is aware of the rules to ensure you have a fun family day rather than one full of worry and lifeguards.

A lot of tandems on the market have extra space for a small child. Some of these can be fitted with seats, whereas the others cannot. You can always sit your small child in here, however, they may be more exposed to the water splashing up onto them as this is not an optimal seat for your kayak. Obviously, this is something that you want to avoid for a child

that cannot take care of themselves just yet, so be careful.

Pets welcome

Kayaks with removable seats can be optimized for a dog to sit in. Simply take the seat out and make sure your dog sits comfortably in the space. As long as your dog is happy and enjoys the water, then this can be an excellent way to keep some company while you’re out on the water. They may even jump in for a quick swim while you paddle around, as well!

Of course, you could try this with a cat, although they have a tenancy not to enjoy the water as much as dogs. However, as long as your pet is completely happy and feels safe, then why not?

More spacious than a solo kayak

A good rule of thumb when it comes to tandem kayaks is that they can carry around one and a half times more gear than a solo alternative. This offers a lot more storage space for you and your partner. Having said that, two solo kayaks often end up with much more space than one tandem, so you’re going to have to weigh up the space required.

One important thing to remember is to not bring too much gear if you’re going to be using a tandem. Just because your double kayak can take a lot of weight, doesn’t mean it has to. You’ll find that the more gear you bring, the harder it will be to control your tandem and find a faster speed. This is fine if you just want to bob around on the water all day, but if you actually want to travel, this is going to make your day much harder.

If you must carry a lot of gear with you, solo kayaks are considered better as you’ll be able to maneuver it easier despite the extra weight. However, if you can carry less gear you should. You’ll have a more enjoyable time and won’t worry so much about flipping your kayak over and having to retrieve all your sodden belongings.

Your speed has no limits!

Well, this isn’t exactly true, but you can get a lot higher pace with two people rather than just one. Working cohesively together will enable you to reach higher speeds than you could if you were paddling alone, so if you really want an exhilarating thrill ride, grab your most adventurous friend and get out there!

Not only will your speed increase because of the doubled power within the vessel, the longer length and wider width will also allow you to travel through the water faster. This means that you and your partner actually won’t need to put as much effort in to reach these speeds, compared to if you were in two solo vessels.

We know that speed isn’t everything to everyone, and some people will prefer to paddle slowly through the water to take in all the scenery and relax. However, it’s always helpful to have the option of speeding through the water, as you always want what you don’t have. The fact that you have the potential to go faster is definitely a benefit in our eyes, even if you don’t use it.

Drawbacks

Now let’s look at the drawbacks of tandem kayaks. There are definitely less of these than there were benefits, but it’s still important to be aware of them to ensure you make a well-rounded decision. The drawbacks are more targeted towards independent people or individuals who don’t have much storage space in their homes.

Less independence

Kayaking together can be taken one out of two ways – sharing is fun and a bonding experience, like we mentioned earlier, or sharing is annoying and argument-inducing. If you go into the adventure thinking that you’re both going to take on the same amount of paddling, that you’re both of similar fitness levels, but this turns out to be far from the truth – your relaxing adventure may turn frustrating rather quickly.

You may find that you’re fighting over all sorts of things, such as how fast you want to go, who’s paddling the most, when you want to stop. This can dampen your experience and fun, and you may find yourself wishing that you just came alone in the first place.

Kayaking alone allows you to call all the shots and determine how you want to tackle the water. Tandem kayaks mean that you have to work as a team, so if teamwork is not your strong suit, you may want to mull this one over before jumping into something that may cause friction between you and your friend or family member.

There’s less room than two separate vessels

True, tandem kayaks are larger and therefore have more room, because they need to fit twice the amount of people and equipment within them. However, if you have too much equipment to bring with you, you may find that this room is quickly taken up and therefore two single kayaks may actually prove to be roomier for you.

On the other hand, you may find that both of your gear fits better into a tandem kayak. It really depends on the individuals and their gear, so just make sure to measure up the two options to see which will be better for you both.

Portability and storing

As expected, tandem kayaks are going to be larger and harder to maneuver than their solo counterparts. As solo kayaks can be carried by one person without much hassle, tandems almost always need more than one person to transport it anywhere. This is obviously going to affect the portability of your model.

Are you going to be able to fit a tandem onto your car? How are you going to get it to the water safely and easily? These are among the questions that you have to ask yourself before choosing to purchase a tandem kayak. While the advantages may be impressive and enticing, you have to consider the usability due to the transportation factor.

Moreover, once you get your tandem back to your house after a full day of kayaking, where are you going to store it? As tandem kayaks are larger, you’re going to need a lot more space to keep it. Also, you’ll need a larger kayak rack for a tandem, which will cost more money.

Tandems will also weigh more than solo kayaks. Will you be able to lift this easily, especially once it’s wet from being in the water all day? Is your rack strong enough to hold your beast of a kayak? These are important factors to consider before committing to a tandem kayak.

With this being said, you can also purchase inflatable tandem kayaks. These can be inflated and deflated right at the water’s edge, so you don’t need a massive car rack to transport them around. Instead, you can simply fold the material up and store it in the trunk of your car. Moreover, these don’t need much space to be stored as they can fold up into a rather small size.

Inflatable tandem kayaks also weigh less than non-inflatable alternatives, so you’ll only need one person to lift it or carry it around. Inflatable tandems are very beneficial for people who don’t have the storage space or transportation capabilities needed for a plastic tandem, but still want to enjoy the two-person activity.