Floating Mats

[Chase Worthington]

Was out at Egmont this weekend and saw a couple boats with the floating mats. Anyone have one of these? They look nice but looked online and they aren't cheap! Worth the money?

 

[Ilmmct]

The Lilypad showed up at Costco a few weeks back and were $299. Not sure if your Costco carried them or if they are still in stock locally, but worth a shot.

 

[Chase Worthington]

The Lilypad showed up at Costco a few weeks back and were $299. Not sure if your Costco carried them or if they are still in stock locally, but worth a shot.

I just called and they don't have any. They have floats but nothing like the pad I am looking for

 

[scokill]

We've considered. Looks like a PITA to deal with though.

 

[Coheeba]

A friend has one and it wasn't cheap, but his is huge I think it is 20' long and it is great. (http://floatingmats.com/shop/oceanmat/) It is a central point where everyone congregates. It rolls up and he has straps that hold it together. It ends up being about 6' tall by 4-5' in diameter. He has 4 pieces of pvc the he drives in and has lines that attach to the pvc.

 

[Chase Worthington]

Yea I am just trying to think exactly where I would store something that big on the boat...

 

[jcyamaharider]

I know a couple of people that have had them and how big of a pain they were so we ended up buying this. Much easier to deal with, not as sturdy as the foam mats but still plenty sturdy for what we do. Mainly a place to have the kids play. Also in our group we have about 4 mats and they all zip together.

 

[Chase Worthington]

I know a couple of people that have had them and how big of a pain they were so we ended up buying this. Much easier to deal with, not as sturdy as the foam mats but still plenty sturdy for what we do. Mainly a place to have the kids play. Also in our group we have about 4 mats and they all zip together.

How much is one of these?

 

[jcyamaharider]

These are the same thing.....I paid a little more because I wanted mine to say Yamaha.

https://www.amazon.com/WOW-Watersports-12-2030-Inflatable-Floating/dp/B007CISS2A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494865920&sr=8-1&keywords=wow+floating+mats


Yamaha mat:

https://www.shopyamaha.com/product/details/yamaha-gang-plank-float?b=Boat&d=13|13

 

[Beachbummer]

I have one from sun and ski. It's HUGE 18ft long. And a pain to roll up, but the kids have such a blast.

It's in the swim platform while under way. I keep it inside the boat once the boat is lifted, right before I put the cover on. No way I could tow and haul this thing at the same time, it being so much on the way in the swim platform until it's deployed.

Ours is the cheaper foam style. I think I paid 320 on sale

 

[Wayloncle]

They are definitely fun, we had one at a cabana we spent a day in at Son's Island
http://lakeplacidisland.com/
It was fun to run across and lay on and such, but I would never buy one of the mats for my self, unless I owned land on a lake, it's just too huge to carry around and to store. I am looking at the inflatable ones though

 

[Detonate]

These are as nice as the foam mats, but as portable as the inflatable.

https://www.missionboatgear.com/collections/reef-mats

Also, super pricey... But I believe they are worth it. I've had the inflatable ones like the Yamaha above, and they aren't as firm, and in my experience, don't last very long.

 

[jlcj7]

Wow that mat looks awesome... i just cant bring myself to spend that amount of $$$ for a mat that floats on water...

 

[Rod5]

These are the same thing.....I paid a little more because I wanted mine to say Yamaha.

https://www.amazon.com/WOW-Watersports-12-2030-Inflatable-Floating/dp/B007CISS2A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494865920&sr=8-1&keywords=wow+floating+mats


Yamaha mat:

https://www.shopyamaha.com/product/details/yamaha-gang-plank-float?b=Boat&d=13|13

I've looked but don't see what the approximate deflated folded/rolled dimensions are for storing in compartments?
Amazing how fast our boats fill up fast once you put 3 fenders, various size life jackets, 2 tubes, BBQ, ice chests, ropes, towels, etc...

 

[buckbuck]

 

[RiverRat]

I was just going to mention yours @buckbuck . It has to be pretty durable if it's lasted a few seasons with your crew.

 

[CDENsomnia]

We have a mat from Liquidforce. It is enormous and yes its pretty hard to deal with but I wouldn't trade it for anything as it gives the children and adults separate areas for play. Sometimes the kids are jumping from the boats and adults are bellied up to the mat drinks in hand hanging out...then usually switch at some point. I will say the good ones are not cheap. We looked at the orginal lillypad brand as thats all we see around here but I wanted something really durable. The dealer we bought it from at Table Rock said that they use to carry Lillypad brand but people were putting a foot through them...first I don't buy that completely because what are they jumping from and how much did these people weigh!? Anyways we got this one because of durability. My buddy @Ronald has a lillypad and it is much more comfy than mine and maybe a tad easier to roll up. Regardless what ever version you get, they are well worth the money if you boat with any kids at all.

On a side note, I like @jcyamaharider yamaha blow up mat since they zip together and are more compact...but I do question durability of anything that blows up. I am also not as fortunate to have a lot of other yamaha owners I boat with so it just wouldn't make sense for my group of boaters. We have one mat (mine) that we roll out for about 8 kids usually.

 

[RiverRat]

After our first time at Shelbyville, my Mother in Law has been looking for one of those mats. They are a ton of fun. I'm not in any rush to get really only because of all the other stuff going to Shelbyville has made me stuff onto my 19 ft boat.

 

[buckbuck]

Just make sure you leave room for your paddleboard.

 

[RiverRat]

Still brainstorming some sort of rack for it...