Our country boasts a wide variety of white water paddle boarding rivers to suit all skill levels. From easy Grade 1, to highly technical and complex G5, meaning you’re sure to find something that’ll float your boat. Whether you’re a whitewater virgin or an experienced daredevil, we’ve got you covered. If you fancy jumping in (not literally) then here’s the McConks guide to WW SUP.
This is a long article, filled with tons of info. To help you navigate it efficiently click one of the header links from the dropdown below to jump to that section. Or grab a cuppa and read as a whole piece. Plus, it’s always there for reference later.
If you’re new to the sport, we recommend starting out on calm, flat water to ease you gently into things. White water paddling is not for out and out beginners. However, if you’ve got the basics nailed, and you’re looking for a heart-pumping challenge, nothing beats navigating fast-moving rapids and standing waves. And, for those of you who are looking for an even bigger thrill, we highly recommend trying white water SUP – a rapidly-growing discipline that’s taken the paddling world by storm.
At McConks, we’re proud to be at the forefront of the white water SUP movement, helping paddlers across the UK to experience the ultimate adrenaline rush. We work with a number of key providers within the river paddling space which you can see here. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a nervous beginner, we’ve got everything you need to get started and ride the waves like a pro. So, why wait? Check out our article for all the details and let us help you take your paddling game to the next level. (River) surf’s up!
There is still a mystique to whitewater paddling for lots of people. Many folks still think it’s about big bouncy, scary stuff, and that it’s a bit ‘macho’ and can put some paddlers off. But if you look at some of the new whitewater paddlers over the last three years, there are more new female paddlers than males, and there are even a few paddlers with disabilities who’ve taken to the frothy stuff.
And that’s not to say that the ladies and less abled paddlers take on less difficult challenges – that’s definitely not the case. So the only conclusion is that white water SUP isn’t as macho as you’d expect – despite some appearances
White water SUP is not just for pro-level riders. While certain spots in the UK can challenge even the best paddlers, there are also super mellow and easy runs available for beginners. If you have good foundational skills in stand up paddling, transitioning to white water can be smooth and simple. Of course, there are certain skills required and safety considerations to take into account, but with the right approach and guidance from a qualified and experienced guide, even a beginner can quickly master the whitewater ropes.
Don’t let myths about the intensity of white water SUP discourage you – it’s all about your confidence and ability.
UK white water river SUP is a thriving niche that’s accessible and open for exploration. It’s a natural progression for downriver paddling, empowering paddlers to navigate rougher terrains. The UK has a passionate and growing community of white water paddlers who welcome and support new members. Rivers are plentiful and accessible, making them easier to access than coastal venues. With this supportive community and abundance of rivers available, an exciting journey awaits those ready to explore the dynamic and challenging world of UK white water river paddleboarding.
So take the (literal) plunge and give it a try. With confidence, the right preparation, and the right guidance you too can experience the exhilarating rush of white water SUP!
At McConks, we’ve truly embraced the spirit of river paddling since we were founded in 2015. Our passion for this incredible activity is fueled by the amazing paddleboarding locations we have access to, some with amazing white water and others offering the perfect dose of tranquility.
We’re beyond lucky to have the Cotswold Water Park on our doorstep, and in less than an hour’s drive, we can reach the Upper Thames, Severn, Avon, Frome, and Wye rivers. We are extremely grateful for the riders who have come our way and shared their feedback, design knowledge, and love of river SUP.
We recognise how fortunate we are to have had the support and expertise of freestyle Canoe and Kayak expert, Matt Stephenson and whitewater paddleboarding pioneer Ant Ing, who have both played a key role in the development of our inflatable SUP range. And the whole whitewater paddling community have been amazingly supportive.
Over recent years, we have collaborated with countless whitewater enthusiasts and experts in the field, including the experienced safety advocate Barry Hughes, to perfect our whitewater paddleboard designs. We have recently been working alongside one of the top female whitewater paddlers, Beth Kirby, to create an exciting new addition to our already extensive whitewater range. Drawing from this wealth of knowledge and experience, we are proud to offer one of the widest ranges of whitewater paddleboards by any company outside of the USA. We channel our passion for river paddling into every single one of our Go Wild products – and can’t wait to share that passion with you. We are thrilled with the updated 2024 Go Wild range, taking our whitewater offerings to the next level and showcasing our confidence and dedication to excellence.
If you have aspirations of being a white water paddle boarder you need to first get those initial SUP skills dialled in. The quickest way to begin is to get a lesson or two. A qualified SUP instructor will show you the ropes and have you well on your way much more efficiently than going it alone. You’ll learn all those important paddle strokes and braces, how to control your board, how to read the river, understand SUP safety and be given plenty of essential knowledge about your surroundings and how to interact with them.
Following on, there’ll need to be a period of consolidation where you practise everything you’ve been taught and really get everything deeply embedded. That’s both in terms of muscle memory and putting your newfound SUP knowledge into practice – and that’s best achieved by paddling with an experienced group.
In tandem with your stand up paddle boarding water drills, there’s no harm genning up on advanced SUP. As long as you use reputable sources (such as McConks.com) you’ll discover a whole load more info about the sport you love. In particular, researching river info and location data is a good idea. Then it’s back to your coach for more advanced paddling know-how.
White water paddle boarding can take on a few different guises. Depending on what you’re after and the area you’re going to be paddling different ways of tackling the spot can be varied.
For instance, you may be a white water rider wanting to cover distance. Over the length of your journey you’ll face rapids, obstacles such as weirs and drops and maybe even chutes. River surfers meanwhile are usually after standing waves which they then ‘surf’ as you would an ocean wave. Only in this instance, you and the rider are static. Taking things to the extreme waterfall drops (or hucks) are available in some areas, for those with a high level of competency. This is obviously the extreme end of white water SUP and certainly won’t be for everyone.
This may sound like a long-winded approach but trust us when we say having an experienced rider guide you is much more efficient and safer than going it alone. And it won’t take that long – with practice and perseverance – to reach a competent level ready for moving water.
When you’re at that point a SUP guide/coach will (again) be your best bet. (Our friends at Stand Up Paddle UK are a good choice as they’re the original whitewater SUP company. But other instructors and guides are available!). The McConks Knowledge Hub details all our partner coaches, instructors and SUP schools which is worth a look.
Having chosen your instructor they will take you to a white water SUP venue they’re familiar with and safely help you navigate the area. It will be a safe and accessible location because you need to build your skills in a safe environment. But this will open your mind further to paddle boarding know-how. And then from this, it’s a case of building up to more challenging conditions. Just slowly slowly. There’s no need to rush and we urge safe stand up paddle boarding at all stages. Machismo leads to accidents and mistakes – and this is true for all paddle boarding disciplines, not just whitewater.
It’s not a bad idea to identify and join a white water paddle boarding group if you can. White water river paddle boarding is really a group activity. Paddling as a pack (as long as the other group members or skilled and knowledgeable) will give additional eyes and ears to each SUP session. Whitewater paddlers tend to be pretty motivated, totally inclusive, and all about sharing the stoke. Paddling with others is also essential for your safety on the water and is so much more fun than soloing.
Hit up social media channels, such as Facebook, where there are plenty of SUP groups to join in with. Here you can chat all things white water paddle boarding and connect with fellow river runners in your area. And from that, you’ll be able to arrange meet-ups and regular sessions. And as we say, learning the terminology only comes from spending time with experienced paddlers.
Click this link join an active and friendly WW paddlers Facebook group. They’ll be able to hook you up with your nearest local group and sessions.
You can find an overview of river grades here.
Different parts of rivers will be affected with different types of flow, and this may all sound like jargon to the non-initiated white water paddle boarder. But the terminology is key to effective communication with other paddlers, and it’s critical for safety. This again demonstrates the importance of getting some lessons and paddling with experienced groups. Check out the kayaking vid above for an example of what a grade 2/3 river looks like.
You don’t necessarily need a specialist paddleboard for whitewater. For anyone getting into the sport a standard short touring inflatable at least 32″ wide will work just fine, as long as it’s a premium touring inflatable with two skins or layers.
Of course, beginner whitewater specific paddleboards will be easier to get to grips with, but that can be a substantial outlay, which you might not want to spend until you’ve at least found a group you feel comfortable with and feel safe paddling with.
At McConks we sell a variety of award winning specialist SUP boards for different types of white water paddling – from park and play, to beginner whitewater to river running. We could suggest you buy this gear as a necessity for river SUP fun. But that’s just not the case. Only once you’ve chosen to focus specifically on WW SUP then should you be aiming for kit designed around white water.
If you are already looking for a whitewater paddle board that’s designed to get you down grade 1 and 2 rapids without getting wet, then our award winning Go Wild 9’3i is currently on clearance as we now have the new designs in stock. See above featured product.
Some folks have been known to run rivers on hard shell stand up paddle boards. But with rocks and hard hazardous objects ever present there’s a real likelihood of dinging a hard board. Or even snapping one!
If you get a hole in your inflatable then it’s not quite the same drama to get it fixed. You can often fix an iSUP on the fly so as to not have your session disrupted too much. Plus, an iSUP is much softer should you land on it when falling. Or alternatively, if it clobbers a fellow paddle after being jettisoned mid wipeout. Hard boards certainly have their place in terms of pushing the boundaries of surf performance, but in terms of whitewater, they probably only have a place in park and play river surfing. Until someone creates a light indestructible hardshell that is!
Specialist white water paddle boarding equipment isn’t just limited to river surfing and ‘play boat’ style shapes (that have much in common with kayaks of the same ilk). You can also get hold of white water touring boards and race SUPs created with navigating white water in mind. Whilst McConks’ white water specific inflatables are designed with rivers in mind they’re also versatile enough to accommodate other areas of SUP such as surfing and coastal paddling.
Should you want to specialise with your gear then that’s fine, but it’s nice to know it has broader user appeal giving much better bang for buck.
Your SUP paddle should be a robust type, able to handle knocks and scrapes. Again, rocks are often in abundance when river running (particularly in the UK). And you’ll most likely clunk your paddle into one at some point.
As with all SUP disciplines, your paddle is extremely important. A paddle constructed in a more bombproof manner may be a little heavier (because of all that extra material) but it will stand up more to the rigours of white water paddle boarding a lot better.
Fins should also be given due consideration. With the risk of bottoming out and scraping the riverbed, or clunking those pesky rocks, fibreglass or full carbon fins are probably out, as are fixed fins. You need to be able to run really shallow rivers with no fins, less shallow rivers with shallow fins, and more technical rivers with specific technical fins.
Easily replaced plastic fins work fine (just make sure to take your rubbish home if you damage the kit). Or even better, gummy flexible fins with river paddling specifically in mind are great. These will flex according to what you run over. But will always return to their natural shape and keep your directional stability intact. But cheap fixed fins or rigid fins could see you damaging your fins or fin boxes unnecessarily. Check out this article for more about SUP fins.
Usually, the best white water paddle boarding conditions occur in the UK’s winter. Off-season months are more guaranteed for rain. And you need rain to increase river flow. During summer, when it’s dryer, rivers can empty considerably leaving exposed riverbeds and not enough depth for paddling.
The downside of winter is, of course, cooler air and water temperatures. As we all know it’s not uncommon to have single digit thermometer air temperature readings. Combine this with cold river water and you have a very chilly scenario indeed.
A good quality drysuit will stand you in good stead whatever you choose to do with it. Most white water paddlers opt for a good quality drysuit. But a drysuit is yet another significant investment. Scrimping is not worth it as a cheap version won’t last and could potentially fail when you’re afloat. This will cause all kinds of hassle and even impact your SUP safety. When considering a drysuit look to one of the reputable brands who have a pedigree in river paddling sports –
And don’t forget your base layers! If you do opt for a drysuit you’ll also need a good quality, fleece base layer. A drysuit alone isn’t enough to keep you warm. In fact, you’ll end up with hypothermia should you choose to paddle without additional layering. A fleece onesie base layer will keep you nice and toasty inside your suit.
You could go for a two piece base layer but one single garment is better as there’ll be no gaps. You can buy expensive thermal layers from the canoe and kayak brands. But this is less essential than a dry suit, and fleecy onesie from a lower priced source might do you well enough. But layers, as always, are your friend if you feel the cold.
Do wetsuits work for white water paddle boarding? For those not going down the drysuit route a good quality wetsuit with a cag and wind cheater trousers can be ok. One plus point of a wetsuit is the ability to vent it if overheating. But wind chill and evaporative cooling can take their toll on wetsuit wearers if they’re damp. Hence the need for additional layers on top.
Wetsuits can work fine for white water SUP. As always, choose something that’s durable and fit for purpose. Your wetsuit of choice should also be thick (at least 5mm) and manufactured from hard-wearing neoprene. Wetsuit technology these days is tip top but you do get what you pay for. And it’s very much the same with cags and wind-cheater trousers/leggings. Do your research and choose wisely!
Gloves and boots will be required for your white water paddle boarding adventures. As with drysuit and wetsuit choices they should be hard wearing to cope with the river environment. Wetsuit boots with thick, grippy soles are a good choice. This will help if needing to scramble up the river back when portaging or a sharp exiting of the water. Gloves are a personal choice. They need to be robust, yes, but whether you plump for open palm gloves (so as to retain feedback from your paddle), mitts or more traditional styles is down to you. Some paddlers actually wear washing up ‘Marigolds’. These are often just enough to keep those painful hot aches at bay but avoid ‘arm pump’.
You may choose to wear gloves for river running (or maybe not – depending on how hardy you are). ‘Arm pump’ is when wetsuit gloves combine with wetsuit/drysuit seams and constrict wrists. This often results in numbness, fatigue and pins and needles. Checking ALL your white water SUP clothing BEFORE going afloat is key to minimising any discomfort. You may need to try a variety of glove types before finding that ideal match.
White water paddle boarding is way more accessible than you’d image – as we said at the start of this article. You don’t need to be ‘hardcore’ as it were. Instead, if you’re looking for a way to evolve your SUP, a focus for those winter months, or just another way to enjoy the sport then WW SUP may be the right choice.
For the full list of McConks SUP and outdoor adventure gear that’ll aid your river paddling journey head over to the online shop here.
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