Top 5 Paddleboarding Non-Essentials
There are great paddleboarding non-essentials that make your life easier or are just fun to have! Below are my top 5 paddleboarding non-essentials.

Photo: Tony F Photography
My Top 5 Paddleboarding Non-Essentials
1. River Fin
A shorter flexible fin gives you the ability to paddle in shallow water worry-free. You can be more confident that you will not be taking a dip when snagging a sunken log with a larger touring type fin.
This is the fin I use in my US fin box: VAMO (10% discount with code PaddleAdventurer) or get from Amazon
For more info see the blog post on Paddleboarding Fins.

2. GoPro Pole Mount
Taking people on adventurers virtually is what I love to do and it’s important to capture my paddle from various perspectives and angles with ease. Attaching my GoPro to my paddle with the handle bar mount is my most used perspective and is one of the top questions I get asked.
See the blog post on Capturing Content While Paddleboarding for more info.

Photo: Tony F Photography
3. Carabiner
Carabiners border on essential and non-essential paddleboarding items for me. There are a ton of uses for having a carabiner or multiple carabiners.
They make it super easy to attach things to you or your board, such as securing your dry sack or keeping an extra hair tie handy. In the summer they are useful to attach your flip flops to your board.

Photo: Tony F Photography
4. L’il Sucker Ring
This neoprene ring easily goes around your water bottle/thermos and suctions to your board.
These work really well in the summertime to help keep your water handy to stay hydrated. It also makes bringing a morning coffee or tea on a sunrise paddle a breeze! Tip: get the ring wet for better suction.

5. New Day Different Hat (NDDH)
Arguably a hat is an essential item when out on the water in the sun. However, I wouldn’t consider all my hats as essential (like the one below 😆). Wearing a different hat each time I go out is 100% not essential, it’s just my way of having fun!
Check out my blog post on NDDH for how many hats I’ve worn and why it became a thing!


Photo: Tony F Photography
6 Comments
Alan Drummond
Must have been hard to whittle down the 100’s of ideal non-essentials to just 5 haha
Marybeth
Always! But I think these are the top things I talk about and almost always take! I bet you have some goodies you take too!
Tony Felgueiras
For those without a GoPro, maybe a waterproof case or floaty to keep the phone safe and allow for phone photos/video 📱
Marybeth
Yes, good one! It’s fun to capture the moment and have your phone for safety reasons too!
Nicole Reiss
The carabiner is definitely essential! I also think having your phone in a waterproof case (and car keys) is pretty crucial… :o)
Marybeth
100%! You don’t want to be stranded or locked out of your car! I know some folks have a lockbox with a magnet that attaches to their car!