REASONS TO BUY
Stable
Tons of capacity
Glides fairly well
REASONS TO AVOID
Heavy
Maneuvers like a boat
Pau Hana Endurance XL Review
If you want a stable platform for fishing or carrying cargo, this board is hard to beat
Credit: David Wise
RELATED: Best Stand Up Paddle Boards of 2024
Our Verdict
Large and in charge, the Pau Hana Endurance XL is an absolutely massive SUP. This board is one of our favorites for fishing and longer expeditions. Styled more after an actual boat than a traditional SUP, the Endurance is exceptionally stable, with a ton of options for lashing down cargo. It glides well and handles waves and boat wakes with aplomb, though it might be a bit of a stretch to call it nimble. If you are searching for a SUP to use as a fishing platform or you want to transport tons of cargo, this is the board we recommend.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Endurance XL immediately distinguished itself from the rest of the group thanks to a flat aft section that resembles a boat more than a board. It has a ton of threaded cargo mounts and through holes for attaching tons of different gear and has the weight capacity to hold it. Pau Hana also makes various accessories that attach to these threaded "Sea Mounts," such as a fishing pole holder, paddle holder, and camera mount.
Performance Comparison
If you need a SUP that can haul a huge amount of stuff, then the Endurance XL is the perfect choice.
Credit: David Wise
Glide Performance
To compare and rate the glide performance of all our tested boards, we took each one out in a variety of different conditions, ranging from completely flat water to over 30 mph winds and waves. We then scored each board on how efficient it was to paddle, how fast it could accelerate, and its overall top speeds.
The Endurance XL does decently here, strongly helped by its longer length. This board cruises and glides a considerable distance with each paddle stroke, tracking extremely well. You can traverse fairly long stretches at a comfortable pace without feeling too fatigued, or you can actually get the Endurance going surprisingly fast with a bit of effort — though you probably aren't going to be winning any races on this SUP due to its bulk.
Unfortunately, the Endurance XL takes quite a bit of effort to get it going from a stationary position, and paddling can feel quite arduous until you get some momentum behind you. Overall, this board feels a bit more like a boat than a board, offering plenty of glide performance and speed once you get it there, but it can feel quite sluggish before then.
The Endurance has excellent glide once you get it up to cruising speed.
Credit: David Wise
Stability
To rate and compare stability, we took each board out on the water in a ton of different conditions ranging from completely still to just shy of gale-force winds and scored based on how easy it was to stay upright, both while moving and at a standstill. Unsurprisingly, the gigantic displacement and large size of the Endurance XL lend it exceptional stability.
The Endurance XL handled rough and choppy water with relative ease, crashing through considerable waves without slowing down or rocking too much, even when hitting them head-on. The board can get a little wobbly if you get hit broadside by a wave or wake, but most intermediate and more advanced paddlers should still be able to remain standing unless the wave is absolutely giant. This makes this board a blast for a novice paddler — even if it is their absolute first time on a SUP — as the supreme stability really instills confidence if you don't quite have your SUP legs and balance down yet.
It is hard to get the Endurance XL to rock even when throwing your weight around on waves. But we managed to get a little crazy.
Credit: Adam Kern
The Endurance XL is designed with fishing in mind and has the payload capacity to carry plenty of gear. It's super stable even when loaded to the max, easily making it one of our favorites for SUP camping, fishing, or carrying a cooler.
Novice and intermediate paddlers had a blast on the Pau Hana with its supreme stability.
Credit: David Wise
This payload capacity also applies to the paddler, so this board is also a great choice if you are big and/or tall, as it can carry a substantially heavier person while still remaining stable than almost any other board we have tested. Unfortunately, we wouldn't really recommend this board if you are hoping to go SUPing with your pup. The nose of the board is a little convex, which leaves a furry friend struggling to find traction, and their claws will most likely scratch up the board quite badly unless you add additional padding or other modifications.
The Endurance XL is covered in threaded mounts, letting you fasten on all sorts of gear, should you so desire.
Credit: David Wise
Maneuverability
The Endurance XL struggled in this metric, which was primarily based on how easy it is to steer the board around obstacles and how quickly it could complete a U-turn.
While this board's boat-like stature benefitted its performance in our first two metrics, it solidly hurt it in this group of tests. The Endurance doesn't respond to leaning and shifting your weight to turn faster like the vast majority of other boards, requiring a much larger area and more paddle strokes to effectively execute a U-turn. In fact, we found ourselves forced into doing a three-point turn on more than one occasion in narrower channels. That said, it remains fairly flat the entire time you are turning and is much slower to maneuver out of the way of something, so you will definitely want to stay vigilant and keep an eye out for any obstacles ahead to allow plenty of time to correct your course.
Agile isn't necessarily the first word we would use to describe this SUP.
Credit: Adam Kern
Ease of Transport
Next, we looked at how these boards handled out of the water. For being such a large SUP, the Endurance didn't do all that bad in this metric, though it still scored lower than most others. This score is based on how hard the board is to carry on land, its weight, the location and ergonomics of the handle, and how difficult it is to load on a car's roof racks.
This board can be quite a pain if you have to haul it for long distances, especially if there is any wind. The handle for carrying is fairly well placed and keeps the board balanced, but the length can easily act like a sail if the breeze picks up.
The internal handle is decently comfortable and isn't too bad to hold, but we found we much preferred using the padded fore and aft handles with a second person to lug this SUP around. This is also true when it came to loading it on a car, as we found we almost always added a scuff or a scrape to the Endurance XL if we were loading it solo.
The aft handle makes it much easier to carry this board with two people.
Credit: David Wise
Construction Quality
While we can't comment on the overall durability of the Endurance XL as our testing period is just a few months, we did notice a difference in the amount of wear and tear each board sustained throughout our review process and awarded points proportionally. The Endurance didn't come out perfectly unscathed, but it had no major injuries either.
The Endurance ended up with the standard scrapes and scuffs on the top deck and the base just from scraping obstacles and loading it on and off roof racks, but it also had a non-trivial amount of surface damage on the side. This came from relatively normal use, as we never dropped or crashed this SUP too hard in our testing process.
Should You Buy the Pau Hana Endurance XL?
Regrettably, the Endurance XL by Pau Hana is not a great value for most people, having one of the highest price tags of the entire test group and a design for a relatively niche paddling audience. That said, if you are angling for a new angling board, then we highly recommend the Endurance XL. It has a ton of capacity to haul all your gear and glides well enough to carry it for long distances, all while being stable enough to keep you and your stuff dry — most of the time, at least. The integrated tie-down system is quite handy, though this board can be a bit unwieldy for the solo paddler, and you will definitely be thankful for a buddy to help you load or carry this behemoth of a board around.
What Other Stand Up Paddle Boards Should You Consider?
If you don't need a giant board and want to save some major bucks, check out the SIC Maui TAO Fit AT, Tahe Beach Performer, or Pau Hana Malibu Classic. Our favorite all-around board is the Surftech Catalyst Tuflite V-Tech, which, while still expensive, is still a bit cheaper than the Endurance and is more maneuverable and with better tracking.
—
Marissa Fox
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