Surf / Wakeboard Boat Rentals

To get a big wave you need the boat to displace A LOT of water. Some boats do a better job of designing their hull to “channel” the flow of water across their surf plates / tabs, and don’t need as much ballast as others, such as a Nautique. For comparison a stock pre 2021 Nautique G23 has about 2,800 lbs of factory ballast in it, where their newly designed hull for 2021 only has 2,200 lbs, and puts out a bigger, better surf wave. One that arguably is better than a similar sized Centurion with 5,000 lbs of factory ballast. Typically the more ballast the better, but there is more than just raw numbers sometimes. Don’t settle for less then 2,200lbs in most boats if you have a small group. Ideally you also want the ability to easily fill the front, and each side rear tank individually to better adjust for varying sized groups. 

Surfing and Wake Boarding are extremely speed sensitive sports, where even .01 MPH difference in speed can be all it takes to turn a frothy white water mess, into a sharp clean, curving wave. This makes automatic speed control a MUST. This is usually referred to as “Perfect Pass” in most makes and models. Surfing is virtually impossible without some form of speed control.

To get a nice clean, smooth wave that has a lot of push, you need more than just filling the boat full of ballast. You need to be able to shape the water. This is done by introducing individually controlled hydraulic plates/tabs/gates (varies by manufacturer) into the flow of the water behind the boat. This gives the driver exceptionally fine control over the wave shape while in motion, as well as easily switch what side the wave is on. (Saves setup time when swapping between normal/goofy foot riders, and allows for wave transfer tricks.) From our experience in testing out and owning multiple brands over the years, Nautique’s NSS side displacement style plates offer a superb surf wave, with virtually no tinkering with settings required.

This is very similar to surf tabs, but where they more specifically form the wave by tweaking the side to side roll or displacement of the boat, a wake plate adjusts the pitch of the boat (bow to stern height). For surfing, this gives the driver control over how steep the wave is. By lowering and raising the plate, you can make it either steep and rampy with more push, or make is less steep, but longer giving you more space to do tricks in. Wake plates also aid the boat in getting on plane quicker (saves fuel), as well as ride smoother over choppy water. Some manufacturers have different names for the system that controls this adjustment such as Surf Wedge, Surf Plate, Trim Plate, etc. Nautique calls it NCRS, and we’ve found it to be the simplest system to adjust.

When you are wake surfing you spend the majority of your time in what is called the “pocket”. This is a space that runs about 3 feet to 15 behind the boat that has the best wave “push”.

It is also where most boats dump their engine exhaust. It can be loud, smelly, and dangerous from CO2 exposure in some scenarios. A lot of riders will get nauseous if they ride too long unless the boat has an exhaust pipe that extends below the water line, forcing all those gasses into the water to bubble up safely behind them.

This pipe is commonly referred to as a “surf pipe”, or “exhaust dump”. It does make a HUGE difference in reducing sound levels for both the rider, and for the passengers, as well as eliminates the possibility of CO2 flowing back into the boat, or at the rider. All of our rental Nautique G21, G23, and G25’s come with this as a standard feature.

We cringe when we hear this one. It is EXTREMELY dangerous to wake surf behind anything other than a direct drive or v-drive boat*. Yes, technically you can get a decent wave behind an old I/O, but surfing has you 2 to 15 feet from the back of the boat typically you are not always where you want to be exactly. Add this to the fact an outdrive of an inboard / outboard extends a solid 3 feet past the stern of the boat. You would be literally staring at the prop at times. A lot of people get injured trying this.

A direct drive is an older style boat used mainly for skiing where the motor sits under a hump in the middle of the boat, and the prop ends at the end of a shaft 1 to 2 feet short of the stern. Essentially tucked safely out of the path of a rider. With some ballast and add-ons, you can get a decent surf wave out of these kinds of boats. It’s work, but doable, and it’s safe since you can’t physically hit the prop while the boat is moving away from you with how hidden it is.

A V-drive is what every modern dedicated wake surf boat is whether it’s a Nautique, Malibu, Tige, Centurion, Mastercraft, Moomba, Supra, Axis, etc, you name it. They are similar to a direct drive, except the engine is in the back (adding more weight where you want it) making a “V” with the transmission and driveshaft, placing the prop also a couple feet short of the stern. Keeping you safely away from it.

*There are manufactures that have made variants of “surf boats” using jet drives as well as I/O’s with reversed outdrives that are also safe to surf behind. They are typically clearly designated as a “surf package”, but are nowhere near the wave quality of a v-drive that is setup for surfing though. We refer to them as “sporks” not quite great at surfing, or at being a runabout, but they do an ok job at both.