Travel typically requires money and time, two things everyone seems to be short on these days. But it never hurts to dream! As stand up paddlers we are always in search of the next amazing waterway to explore. And what could be better than gliding across crystal blue lagoons in one of the world’s most exotic tropical destinations. So start saving those pennies and keep the dream alive – a paddle in paradise awaits !

 

#1 TAHITI

 

Located in the Society Island Chain of the southern pacific, the Tahitian islands are a handful of large island atolls. These islands are ringed by reefs with magnificent dormant volcanoes in the center of the atolls shooting out of the pacific. I had the good fortune of actually visiting Tahiti (I didn’t have a paddle board at the time, just my trusty surfboard) and it was an amazing experience. Endless waterfalls, beaches, lagoons and reefs to explore. This is a must do on any paddle board bucket list.

 

#2 THE REPUBLIC OF MALDIVES

 

The Maldives is a chain of atolls located in the Indian Ocean just southwest of Sri Lanka. With the average ground level on all the islands just 4ft 11inches above sea level it’s the world’s lowest country. Unlike Tahiti its made up of hundreds of tiny atolls clustered together. When viewed from space it an amazing collage of super tiny ringed island atolls sprouting out of the Indian ocean. The rising sea levels due to global warming threatens to wipe this tiny country of low lying atolls off the map in the next 100 years. So hurry up and visit as it could all be underwater soon!

 

#3 MAURITIUS

 

Located off the east coast of Africa this tiny island nation surrounded by water received the World leading Islands Destination award for the 3rd year in a row for its amazing beaches and Worlds Best Beach at the Word Travel Awards in 2012. With awards like that you can bet on amazing natural beauty and paddle spots galore. One other interesting note is Mauritius was home to the now extinct dodo bird The dodo bird was a large flightless bird inhabiting the islands that became extinct sometime around 1600 when man introduced dogs and pigs on the islands. So long dodo!

 

#4 FIJI

 

Anytime i think of Fiji i conjure up images of sailboats, perfect waves and palm trees swaying in the wind. That pretty much sums up this tiny island nation is located in Melanesia in the Southern Pacific ocean. The archipelago contains more than 332 islands and 500 islets but most Fijians live on the 2 largest islands Viti Levu & Suva. With so many islands you can only imagine the paddle potential. This one is not too miss.

 

#5 SEYCHELLES

 

Northeast of the island of Madagascar of the east coast of Africa this island paradise consist of 115 islands. Much of the Seychelles islands are granitic islands composed entirely of granite rock. The Granitic Seychelles are fragments of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana and due to continental drift separated and drifted away over 75 million years ago. This is a unique feature not found on any other island chains in the world! So you can bet this destination will surely offer paddle exploration at its finest.

 

So now you have the Top 5 Tropical Paddle Board locations in the World all that’s left is to start saving and visit one. Or why not visit them all! Happy dreaming and paddling.

 

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