Review Detail

NOTE: I am not a professional paddler, diver or reviewer. I have paddled and dove off various brands and models of kayaks from 9 to 15 foot lengths, at a variety of dive sites from Carmel to Humboldt, but the report below is merely my opinion based on my personal experience.

Jim Martin of Santa Cruz Kayaks contacted me to see if I would be interested in trying out one of his Raptor Sit-On-Top Kayaks as a dive platform. My answer…Hell Yeah!

Went over to his shop (aka the Madman’s Laboratory) and picked up the sexy looking red-yellow two tone boat.

http://www.santacruzkayaks.com/raptor-sit-on-top.html

Yak was easy to pick up and carry around by myself, and strapped onto the top of my car nicely. Once at home I busted out my dive gear and started playing around getting it set up.
First up, I threaded my bow line (a 4 foot long bungie) through the bow handle and secured my kelp clip to it. No surprises there.
Next, I explored the front hatch. Cool design on the strap here gives easy access to the paddler without making you reach all the way forward to the center of the hatch. The buckle is positioned on the cockpit side where you can easily reach forward and unclip it. The hatch cover is secured to the inside of the yak via a sturdy strap, so no danger of losing it once you pop it open.
Long blade fins, Hawg Trough and 27 inch Riffe Comp 00 with floatline fit easily into the hatch. At first, I could not get my Rob Allen 70cm gun to fit into the hatch, but once I unloaded the shaft it fit in fine. Two floatlines also fit in there easily as well, along with my drybag of emergency supplies (first aid kit, flares, airhorn, and strobe). Awesome. I love being able to store all my gear inside a yak in case of nasty launches and landings. For those that like filling their yak with pool noodles for extra flotation, you could easily shove a bunch of noodles down into the hull through this hatch without compromising the amount of storage up at the front of the bow.
Working my way down the boat I came across the adjustable foot braces. Very cool, but I’m 6’4” and was worried because at max length my knees were still bent when sitting in the yak. Turns out that length was perfect for me, but if you are taller than me you may consider taking them out…there is 6 inches of space between the end of the foot braces and the end of the “foot-wells” so most folks should be all good. This extra space in front of the foot braces actually worked great for me to keep my kelp clip tucked away and secure.
In the center of the Raptor I found another hatch. This hatch did not give access to the center of the yak, but was big enough to hold my mask and snorkel, dive light, GoPro, standard ab iron and 9 inch gauge. The cover of this hatch also has a molded in beverage holder. Perfect to keep that post dive can of beer from spilling while paddling back to shore.
Moving down the yak I came to the seat area. Jim loaned me the yak with an awesome high backed Surf to Summit seat that I found really comfortable and that gave plenty of back support (I have bad lower back problems so this is important to me), ample butt cushioning, and was easily adjustable. The seat also came with a zippered pouch on the back where I put my Nalgene bottle (where I keep my license, ab card, zipties and pens), VHF Radio and a hand full of clif bars.
Behind the seat is the tankwell that comes with two straps with buckles. I liked these straps because the end of each one had a little loop sewn into it where I could clip off a stringer. That way even if the strap was unbuckled my stringer would always be secure. I have recurring nightmares of losing a fat stringer full of fish on the way into shore. The tankwell is plenty roomy and I threw my weight belt, and some bottles of Gatorade and water in there. A limit of abs, rockfish and a goodie bag full of urchins would also fit back there nicely.
Finally, along side the tankwell are built in grooves and straps to secure guns or poles. Both my Riffe and Rob Allen fit in these grooves nicely.
Launching was a breeze, and as soon as I hopped onto the yak I could tell how stable it was. I also found the Raptor to paddle very nicely. It tracked well, kept a straight course and was easy to turn and maneuver. I paddled 2 miles to my dive site and had to cross some very large thick kelp beds along the way. The yak glided nicely across the kelp and did not get bogged down and stuck as much as some other boats I have used.
My one concern while paddling was that I seemed to be riding a little low in the water. I weigh 245ish and with my dive gear on board (weight belt, etc.) I seemed to be pushing the weight limit of the yak a bit…however, the stability and ease of paddling the yak did not seem to be effected and I was still very impressed with its paddling performance.
Once at my dive site, reaching into the front hatch to get my fins and gun was very easy, no struggle to reach my gear at all. Jumping off the yak to dive and back on when I was done was also super easy, and I even stood up out on the water just to see if I could. I have never felt like I could do this before (mostly due to my lack of balance and coordination) but had no problem doing it on the Raptor.
Landing back at the beach was a piece of cake and I had no problem carrying the yak back up the stairs to the parking lot by myself.
In summary, I found the SOT Raptor to make an excellent dive platform. It has enough interior storage to keep your dive gear stowed safely, and it combines outstanding stability with paddling performance to get you to your dive site quickly and without using up all your energy on the way out. Bigger paddlers (250+ pounds) may want to demo one first to see how you feel about the weight capacity, but for folks under 240 or so I think you will have no problem with this boat.
I want to thank Jim Martin for giving me the chance to try the Raptor out, and I hope I get the chance to paddle and dive off one again in the future.