Hoping for your expert advice on kayak selection for Maui

Hi folks,

Long time lurker, and even though I'm now in Maui I have truly appreciated all the information found in this community. With that said, I'm hoping you can help me out with a kayak selection. This will be used around Maui in open water, to fish, dive, free dive, snorkel and do photography from (whales mostly), as well as some overnight trips. My main concern is stability and tendency to tip, though I do want something that isn't a barge. I'm 6'3", 190#. Anyone have any experience with any of the following?

1) OK Scupper Pro. From my reading, sounds like a great kayak, but it's pretty narrow at 26". There is a clean tankwell version for sale on CL at the moment.

2) Prism Aquaterra. Apparently it comes in a couple designs, and this is the newer, 4 scupper hole version with the flatter bottom. It's similar to the Scupper Pro but wider and flatter. I read a couple of reviews that the flat bottom is a detriment and that it might not be appropriate for open ocean. There is one for sale locally with a lot of accessories as well.

3) OK Prowler 13 or 15. I haven't seen any of these pop up for sale, but this is the kayak I kind of set in my mind as the ideal one.

Any and all input appreciated!

Mahalo,

Lyle

I have a Prowler 13 and use it mostly to bottom fish the OR and WA coastal waters.  Plenty stable, paddles well, hauls a decent load.  Once you know what you're doing with self rescue it's reasonably easy to get back in without flipping the kayak all the way over, though I did manage do exactly that my first time practicing the self rescue.  It's a wet ride, but if you're going to be diving that probably doesn't matter too much.

Never played with the others so I can't help you on them.

Ocean Kayak doesn't make the Prowler any more.  I believe that the equivalent kayaks which Ocean Kayak is currently making are the Trident and the Trident Ultra.  I have a 13' Trident, and use it in Montana both for fishing and for snorkeling while spearfishing for pike.  I wear a drysuit with a lot of layers under it when snorkeling, and to keep my fins underwater for stealthyness I wear about 16 pounds of weights in a free diving backpack and about 3.5 pounds on each ankle.  I don't have any trouble getting back into my Trident when wearing the weights.  I like my Trident a lot, but I'm an inland boater, and can't speak to how it handles going in and out through the surf, or how it handles big waves out in the ocean.  However, it seems to be a popular kayak for ocean fishing.  If I was buying another Trident, I'd spend the extra money and buy an Ultra rather than the standard Trident.

However, I bought a 13' Hobie Revolution last year, and find that I prefer it to the Trident, because it's a lot faster, it's a lot less work because my legs are stronger than my arms, it allows me to use both hands for fishing while moving from place to place, and it allows me to hold myself stationary over the bottom when jigging even in significant wind and waves.  So I suggest that you try out a Mirage Drive kayak such as the 13" Revolution or the Adventure and see if you like the pedal drive.  I find that the pedals only get in the way a little bit when climbing back into the kayak.

I started with a T13 Angler and the next year bought a Revo13.  My friend's use the T13.  I've not used it  myself in 4 years.  I've fished Maui in a Hobie Oasis, which is basically a 2 seat Revo. It was a rough day of Kona winds with 5 foot swells and the boat rode them well.

There is a VERY active Hawaiian kayak fishing community you may want to plug in to their forum at:

http://www.aquahunters.com/

I would suggest you demo some boats. You may want to contact the guide below, Jon Jon Tabon.

http://www.localfishingknowledge.com/home

Mahalo for the replies all, I think I've settled on a used Prowler 15T