Best Longboard For Land Paddling: An Obvious Choice

Land paddling, aka street SUP is an alternative longboarding style that mixes longboard skateboarding with elements of water-based stand up paddleboarding. With land paddling, you propel your longboard by pushing on the ground with a land paddle stick that you hold in your hands as if paddling in water – as opposed to kick pushing with your foot.

What is the best longboard for land paddling? Though many larger longboards can be used for land paddling, Kahuna Creations makes the most popular, functional, and beautiful longboards specifically designed for land paddling. Here are some of the best longboards for land paddling:

• Kahuna Creations 43″ Drop Deck
• Kahuna Creations 46″ Shaka
• Kahuna Creations 47″ Haka
• Kahuna Creations 48″ Pohaku
• Kahuna Creations 59″ Bombora

Ranging from 43″ to 59″ in length, these longboards have distinctive designs and features, varying in shape, width, rocker, platform drop, and concave. All of them, however, are built specifically with land paddling and surf-style street carving in mind. These longboards also stand out by the level of craftsmanship and the gorgeous designs Kahuna puts into them.

With prices ranging from $200 to $270 for the bigger boards, Kahuna Creations longboards are reasonably priced given the high quality, durability, and meticulous design/artwork. I’ve been able to find some good deals for these boards here on Amazon though, so be sure to check it out if you’re looking to get one.

So let’s take a closeup look at Kahuna Creations’ five longboard models and what makes them top longboards for land paddling and soulful street cruising and carving. But first, what makes a good street SUP longboard?

Features of a good longboard for land paddling

Longboard land paddling is based on ocean stand up paddleboarding and surfing, so longboards used for this style are primarily designed for flowy and reactive riding using a land paddle for pushing and for turns.

A good land paddling board needs to provide ample foot space for you to move on and easily reset your feet when paddle pushing and carving on it. Unlike other longboarding styles, when you land paddle you may adjust your stance and shift your feet based on how much you lean on the paddle.

So when making a tight carve, you can use your land stick as a lever into the ground and shift some of your body weight around it. As a result, you often find yourself shuffling your feet around before and after a turn.

For faster carving, a good land paddling longboard should ride relatively low to the ground to give you the stability you need – though not too low to avoid wheelbite in turns. Land paddle longboards meant for faster riding typically have some amount of rocker or a drop deck for a lowered center of gravity. This gives you more control when steering and pushing with the land paddle.

Land paddling longboard decks designed for intense carving also often have some concave for comfort and more secure foot grip as you lean onto the land stick during carving maneuvers. The concave should not be so deep as to restrict free movement of the feet when carving though.

Well-designed land paddling longboards generally have responsive and smooth carving trucks for a fluid and flowy feel, making up for the board’s generally long wheelbase (which tends to result in slower turning). They typically come with big soft wheels with wide contact patch for fast rolling, comfortable cushioning on rougher ground, and good grip in tight turns using the land paddle.

Now that we have an idea of the features to look for in a land paddling longboard, let’s turn our attention to Kahuna Creations’ dedicated street SUP longboards.

Best land paddling longboard: Kahuna Creations Drop Deck

Kahuna’s Drop Deck land paddling longboard is a 43″x10.5″ cutout shape with a large 2″ drop near the truck mounts. The drop makes the foot platform on this deck very low to the ground (2.5″ height). The shape is asymmetrical with a wider front nose and tapered rear. It has two small tips, a diamond tail tip and a rounded nose tip resulting from the large wheel cutouts that provide maximum clearance.

The Kahuna Drop Deck is relatively short for a land paddle board, and is built for performance land paddling and snappy SUP-like maneuvers. The big platform drop results in a very stable and controllable longboard for fast freeriding and land paddling and carving on moderate hills.

In addition to being a performance freeride and street SUP board, the Drop Deck is also a very good option for newer riders and/or land paddlers because of its low center of gravity which creates a very safe and stable riding experience at moderate speeds, with or without a land stick. The moderate size also makes it a good all-around board for beginners as well as newer paddlers.

The wide W concave adds to the secure feel by cuddling your feet, and also gives more advanced riders a stronger foothold for performing tight turns and cutbacks using a land stick.

The Drop Deck comes with smooth and flowy 180mm Grizzly Bear RKP trucks, famous for being great carving and pumping truck. I have been personally pumping on these trucks for months on my Landyachtz pintail and truly love them!

The board is fitted with larger 70mm Kahuna Creation wheels with 82A durometer, soft enough for comfort and shock absorption but hard enough to maintain good speed under the solid 9-ply deck.

The Kahuna Creations Drop Deck comes in four cool graphic designs, Island Lifestyle (above photo), Seeker, Natural (my personal favorite with ethnic art) and Black Wave.

Click on the images below to see the dozens of positive reviews on Amazon as well as pricing.

Best land paddling longboard: Kahuna Creations Shaka

The Kahuna Creations Shaka is a 46″ long, extra wide at 14″, and looks a lot like a fishtail surfboard. It has a heavy surf style rocker running the whole length of the deck and upward curved nose and tail. It’s designed for deep carving using a land paddle stick. Being this wide, the wheel wells are actually large pits cut out in the deck bottom as opposed to on the sides as is the case on most longboards.

The heavy full-length rocker allows for really deep smooth carves and maneuvers similar to wave paddleboarding. The rocker also lowers the board to the ground from its maximum 6″ height at the upward edging tips. The upcurved tips also act as functional kicks for quick turning and radical SUP carves and snapbacks.

The Shaka is a big, impressive-looking 13lb longboard made of 9-ply Canadian Maple. Like all Kahuna Creations boards, it comes with the 180mm Bear Grizzlies and 70mm wheels. These combined with the deep rocker gives the Shaka a nice turning radius and make it a super responsive great carving board that rides a lot like a paddlesurf board.

Like all Kahuna Creations land paddling longboards, the Shaka is quality-built with beautiful artwork that reminisces of ancient Hawaiian history and culture – Hawaii being the early birthplace of surfing and paddleboarding. The Shaka comes in 3 designs, the Surf (above picture), the Kahili, and the Su’a.

Click on the above links or below images to view the reviews and pricing on Amazon.

Best land paddling longboard: Kahuna Creations Haka

At 47″x10″, the Kahuna Creations Haka is a long, lean and narrow longboard for land paddling. It has a pintail shape for the most part but ends with a tiny narrow swallow type tail. Built from 7-ply maple, its relatively lightweight for very smooth riding.

A distinguishing feature aside from the shape is the Haka’s mild taco concave runs along its length and flattens out on the tail. The subtle concave gives you comfort and control when carving with a land paddle, helping secure your feet in deep turns. The deck also has grip grains that give you extra foothold when carving.

The sleak narrow shape and the Grizzly Bear trucks make the Shaka fast, responsive and stable. It rides very smooth, namely when surfed with the Kahuna Creations bamboo paddle stick, which complements the board very well. Both products are high quality and well-crafted, and everyone agrees street SUPing with them is a true pleasure.

As for most Kahuna Creations land paddling longboards, the Haka have beautiful artwork, some of them performed by world-famous Hawaiian artists. Besides the Sea Dragon version (above pic) hand painted by Hawaiian artist Dennis Mathewson, the Haka comes in a Neo version and a cool Rasta version:

Best land paddling longboard: Kahuna Creations Pohaku

The Kahuna Pohaku is similar in shape to the Haka though with some subtle differences. First, the Pohaku is 1″ longer at 48″ (same 10″ width as the Haka). Second, the Pohaku’s nose is rounded vs pointy for the Haka. Also, the tail is closer to a fish tail than a swallow tail.

More importantly, though, the Pohaku has more rocker than the Haka, making it slightly lower to the ground. It also has more flex than the Haka. Rocker and flex are the main things that differentiate the two, as well as the amount of concave – slightly stronger “spoon” concave on the Pohaku vs milder “taco” concave on the Haka.

So what does that mean for you in terms of land paddling and carving experience? Thanks to its flex and rocker, the Pohaku is a super fun and flowy board for carving and cruising at lower speeds, while the Haka may be more responsive and comfortable at higher speed due to the stiffer deck.

Being slightly higher up, the Haka can also respond a bit faster in turns, while the Pohaku gives you the best feedback when pumping and carving hard using your land paddle because of flex and low height. The deeper concave on the Pohaku also offers more foot hold for radical carving.

Both come with the same Grizzly Bear trucks and 70mm 82A wheels. Overall, which of the two Kahuna Creations longboards for land paddling you choose is largely a matter of personal preference and riding style – e.g. fast carving vs slow technical SUP maneuvers.

In addition to the Surf Rider design you see in the above picture, the Pohaku also comes in the Wahine Rider version which is specifically designed for female riders:

Best land paddling longboard: Kahuna Creations Bambora

The Bombora is the biggest of Kahuna Creations’ longboards and is the closest to an ocean SUP. This huge deck, almost 5 feet (59″) long and 14″ wide, made of 15 plies of Baltic Birch wood, is widely considered as the ultimate street SUP longboard.

Its surf shape and sheer size makes the Bambora super stable and best-suited for surf style carving and SUP-style riding with a land paddle stick. The deck is flat for easy moving and stepping, and is ungripped for a natural and pleasurable board walking experience, including barefeet. The Bombora has very deep wheel wells on the bottom to avoid any wheelbite when performing land paddling carves.

The Bombora is ideal for longboard surfers and ocean SUPers looking to cross-train, as well as riders in their 40s and 50s looking for to stay fit with a bigger board that handles well, feels solid, and looks beautiful. Many of the people who opt for the Bombora also get the bamboo 6-foot stick to go with it – those who are new to land paddling, including older and bigger riders, are able to learn very quickly.

In short, riders agree that Kahuna Creations has taken land paddling to the next level with this board, which typically triggers a lot of interest and even admiration on the street. Besides the blue version, the Bombora also comes in a Coral and a black version:

Final words

When it comes to land paddling longboards, Kahuna Creations remains the undisputed leader. The longboards they create are simply awesome, both in terms of street SUP (land paddling) functionality and experience, and in terms of craftsmanship and visual style. The Kahuna Creations longboards reflect the Hawaiian soul spirit of ocean surfing and SUP and carry that spirit to the streets.

If you talk to street SUPers, including many older riders in their 50s looking to perpetuate the spirit of soul surfing – or if you read through the user reviews on Kahuna Creations’ website or on Amazon, you’ll be amazed by the amount of enthusiasm and happiness riders are expressing with regards to these beautiful land paddling boards.

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Photo credits:
Featured photo: Kahuna Creations