Sevylor Riviera Two Person Kayak

Nice bit of kit for £100...not sure what the difference is with the more expensive ones but this seems to be more than adequate for the job. Well made and easy to use. Weighs 18lb. Needs pump to inflate [2.8 litre hand pump works well] and takes only 10 minutes or so to get up and running. Valve caps are difficult to grip and undo on main boat but that might be a good thing half way across a lake. The seats though are ****. Absolute waste of time. Very hard to inflate and valves don't self-seal so when remove pump they deflate and are pretty useless to sit on even when you manage to get some air into them....don't sit high enough in boat and not enough room for backside. Make your own seating arrangements but otherwise good canoe and definitely seems value for money...comes with lightweight paddle as well.

I have now had this boat for a year and a half and have had many hours in it on the non-tidal River Thames, the River Itchen, a couple of Welsh lakes and (very cautiously) the sea around Jersey (staying close to the beach). It has been pretty reliable. I find it reasonably easy to handle, and I haven't yet bought a skeg. I might at some point. I generally have no difficulty getting from one lock to another on the Thames (downstream and or upstream), at least in normal river conditions.I have had two significant leaks in that time - one of which was on the inflated hull after having been dragged over the river bed (which I have done many other times without problem). Another leak was due to over-inflation. The first one I fixed with the included puncture repair kit. The over-inflation leak which happened three months ago after I'd owned it for about 16/17 months, I repaired using Stormsure glue and a patch (Stormsure glue is a very good product available on Amazon), and have since been out on the water for a number of hours. In general, for the price, this has been a great boat. I intend to make it last at least another couple of years!I would like to stress that I have really had a lot of use out of it (including a fair bit of dragging it over the ground), and only two punctures which were straightforward to repair.

The delivery was very quick but as it was in the normal box showing the product this spoilt the surprise for my son. The canoe is very good; the fact that it can be stored in the boot of a car makes it extremely useful. In some reviews there is criticism of using it without the skeg I have used it with (more stable when you have a child on board) and without (turns quicker, more responsive) and would say that it is not essential. It is easy to inflate with the Sevylor pump (which you will need to purchase separately) but inflating the floor and seats is extremely difficult as they have beach ball type valve that let the air out instantaneously which is really annoying, hence only 4 stars. I find it better to not fully inflate the floor when you have a child on board as the canoe can roll a bit which can be off putting.I did not realise that the seats are inflated which have the advantage that you can place them where you want but the disadvantages of giving no support and they keep moving. If I had realised this before purchasing I would have bought the Tahiti.The instructions are virtually none existent so inflate the floor then sides, spay decks and then clip the spray decks in place. I also find it easier to fit the skeg when the canoe is partially inflated (again poor instructions).I have purchased an alternative paddle for myself but the included paddle is a good size for small children to use. In all a very good product which has been used a number of times and I am glad I purchased it.

It's probably very good for the price - I inflated it on the grass but didn't think it was quite what I needed for a regular canoe, I need something with firmer sides and a stronger paddle. For occasional leisure use for fun, this would be absolutely perfect. If you want to canoe regularly, you'd need to add the skeg and buy better paddles - then it's only marginally cheaper than buying a better canoe in the first place. What I do love is the spray deck seems much longer than the more expensive version, so more likely to stay dry, and the backpack system is just so simple to use.... I'll miss both those elements with my new boat.

This was an impulse purchase I admit..... We were going to some lakes on holiday and I thought this would be a fun way to explore - and it was! We pack light so 1 of our our luggage allowance was dedicated to kit, and this kayak easily fitted into the bag along with the oars that came with it and the 2 buoyancy jackets we bought separately. We bought some other additional oars but they didn't come apart (they didn't fit in the kit bag...) The ones supplied with the kayak slot together (so they are great for getting into the luggage) and we used them as 2 single rather than a double ended. I'm really happy and will take it on holiday again. Its easy to inflate and deflate and seems to be really sturdy.

I knew i wanted to start kayaking this summer and after reading into various types the cheapest and easiest category to use and transport and store were the inflatable ones. I looked at various ones and settled on the riviera with the £100 pricetag. Having used it down at the river today it was very windy and it performed admirably, even though it was my first time ever paddling, i didnt have too much problems keeping it straight. The seats arent amazing but do the job well enough, I was afraid i would have to buy a skeg to keep it tracking, but I personally feel the more time you spend on the riviera the more you get accustomed to it, and you learn to paddle in such a way to keep it tracking well even in windy situations ( such as today) But yeah, fantastic product for the price! i do hope it is durable! today was its first trip as i said, fingers crossed itl last :)Sevylor hats off to you i love the riviera-Edit- so far its had pretty much non stop usage for a week now with an average of 4-6 hours on the river a day with both one, and 2 people aboard, its showing no sign of trouble, so am very happy indeed that it seems up to the task durability wise.