Intex Excursion Pro Kayak

Is the Intex Excursion Pro Kayak worth buying?

The Intex Excursion Pro Kayak is worth buying at £172.99 for one angler who wants the rod holders, the two skegs and the 3-ply hull to arrive already fitted rather than bought afterwards. It floats a 99.8 kg load in a 3.05 m boat, and 1,169 owners rate it 4.2. The two detachable rod holders and the camera mount come with the boat, not as extras you have to track down.

Skip it if two people share the paddling or if you count kilos rather than features. £172.99 for 99.8 kg works out at £1.73 for every kilo it floats, the steepest figure of any Intex hull you can buy, and 14.1 kg is a single-pair-of-hands job at the slipway. This is a boat bought for the fishing hardware, not for the load.

How much load does the Intex Excursion Pro Kayak take?

99.8 kg is 220 pounds, which is the whole capacity of a one-person boat and quite a lot of it. An adult at 90 kg leaves roughly 9 kg for rods, a tackle box and a dry bag, and the storage space in the bow and stern keeps that weight off your lap instead of under your knees.

Divide the £172.99 by the 99.8 kg and every kilo the boat floats costs £1.73. That is the highest figure in the Intex range, against £0.94 a kilo for the Explorer K2, £0.89 for the Challenger K2 and £0.80 for the Challenger K1, so what you are paying for at this price is the 3-ply laminate hull, the spring-loaded valves and the fishing kit, not extra carrying capacity.

What comes in the box with the Intex Excursion Pro Kayak?

The set is complete enough to launch on day one: the boat, a carry bag, two 86 inch paddles, a high-output air pump and a repair patch. The two detachable fishing rod holders and the adjustable GoPro and mobile phone mount are part of the same package, so nothing on the fishing side needs buying in.

Inflated, the hull measures 3.05 x 0.91 x 0.46 m, which is 10 feet by 3 feet by 1.6 feet, and it weighs 14.1 kg on its own. The carry bag swallows the hull, the paddles and the pump together, which is the whole point of a 3 m boat that has to live in a car boot. Budget separately for a buoyancy aid and a dry bag, and note the stainless steel D-rings at bow and stern are there to take the dry bag.

What are the downsides of the Intex Excursion Pro Kayak?

One seat, and that is the end of the sharing. A partner either paddles their own boat or stays ashore, and a tandem hull like the Explorer K2 floats 180 kg between two people for £3.04 less. At 14.1 kg the Excursion Pro is also 6 kg heavier than the Challenger K1, which shows up on a long walk from the car park to the water.

The 4.2 rating from 1,169 owners is solid rather than sparkling, and it trails the 4.6 of the Explorer K2. Cost per kilo of load is the other soft spot at £1.73 against the Challenger K1's £0.80, so a paddler who never fishes is paying for hardware that will sit unused in the bag.

Is the Intex Excursion Pro Kayak better than the Challenger K1?

Only if the fishing gear earns its keep. The Challenger K1 costs £79.99, which is £93.00 less, carries 100 kg against 99.8 kg, and arrives with its paddle, pump and repair patch. For a solo paddler who wants a lake boat and nothing more, that £93.00 buys exactly the same afternoon on the water.

For two people the answer swings to the Explorer K2 at £169.95, which is £3.04 less than this boat and floats 180 kg across two seats, with a carry bag thrown in. Buy the Excursion Pro when the trip is a fishing trip, because the two rod holders and the camera mount are what separates it from the Challenger K1 and the Explorer K2.