10 Best Boats for Wakeboarding 2024
Last Updated on June 27, 2024 by Boatsetter Team
You say you love watersports, and you’re thinking about checking out wakeboard boat rentals, or possibly even buying one of your own? We say you’re thinking along the right lines — wakeboarding and watersports, in general, is a great way to have endless fun out on the water.
Different wakeboard boats will prove ideal for different people, and choosing the best one for you and your family is no easy task. Well, we’re going to make it just a bit easier.
Here’s a list of 10 best boats for wakeboarding for 2023:
- Axis Wake T235
- Chaparral 30 Surf
- Four Winns Surf Series
- Heyday WT-2DC
- Malibu 26 LVS
- Mastercraft XStar S Piranha
- Moomba Mondo
- Nautique G25 Paragon
- Supreme S240
- Yamaha Wake Series
Keep reading—we bet you’ll find one (or more) among our list that is perfect for you.
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1. Axis Wake T235
The T235 was introduced just last year by Axis, and it has all the latest tech to turn rides into thrills. It’s designed specifically for both wakeboarding and wake surfing, with the ability to adjust and shape wakes via the Power Wedge III tab (which generates up to 1,500 pounds of displacement) and the Axis Surf Gate (equipped with hydraulic actuators to shift the wake from side to side in a blink). It also carries up to 4,780 pounds of factory-installed ballast, so those wakes can be big—really, really big.
- Estimated MSRP:$129,000
Visit Axis Wake to learn more.
2. Chaparral 30 Surf
A 30-foot surf boat?! Well, yes and no. This won’t be the choice for wake sports connoisseurs, but if you want a mega-monster bowrider and you also enjoy watersports, no surf boat gets more mega than this Chaparral 30 Surf.
It’s also one of the few surf boats around that has twin engines, a pair of Volvo Penta or Mercury V-8s hitched to Forward Drive units, which places the props far forward of the transom to allow for safe wake surfing.
For many people size will matter, and in this case, the extra space nets you a roomy enclosed head compartment with a vanity, sink, and pull-out freshwater shower; comfy seating for a dozen people (note that the boat is yacht certified, so it doesn’t carry a maximum on the number of passengers); and 7,200 pounds of mass that will squash the waves of all those other boats without effort. Plus, it comes with a slew of comfort features that will make your day on the water enjoyable, like a premium Bluetooth sound system with six speakers and a four-channel amp, USB charging ports, and 1,080 pounds of wave-boosting ballast.
- Estimated MSRP:$250,000
Visit Chaparral to learn more.
3. Four Winns Surf Series
In the case of Four Winns we’re not going to focus on one single boat but instead on their Surf Series model line, because these 22’ to 26’6” boats are essentially Four Winns runabouts tweaked for watersports with a Volvo Penta Forward Drive. They also feature ballast systems, ski tow eyes, and wake enhancement tabs.
Are they hard core wake boats? Heck no. Do they deliver all the versatility and family fun of a bowrider? Heck yes. Any of the boats in this lineup will score high among families with boating interests that go beyond wake sports alone, but still make a great beginner boat for those who love the sport.
And you beginner boarders — check out Wakeboarding Basic Tricks before you step aboard and you’ll have a few stunts up your sleeve from day one.
- Estimated MSRP:$93,460 to $143,500
Visit Four Winns to learn more.
4. Heyday WT-2DC
The Heyday WT-2DC is one of the few dedicated watersports boats that offers fans a way to get into the game without blowing the budget. It is priced 30- to 50 percent below many competitors but has a hull designed to maximize wake-throwing displacement with an angled transom that adds curl to the wake. It also has an interior layout designed purely for watersports lovers, with a walkthrough transom for easy access to the swim platform, a tower with board racks, an integrated ski locker, and two big aft-facing loungers for watching the action.
Standard power is a potent 350-hp Crusader inboard, standard ballast is 1,800-pounds (an additional 650-pound ballast system is optional), and up to a dozen people can jump aboard for the ride. Heyday also equips the WT-2DC with a removable swim platform and the tower folds down, for easy storage.
- Estimated MSRP:$70,345
Visit Heyday to learn more.
5. Malibu 26 LVS
The biggest boat ever built by Malibu, the 26 LSV, was just introduced last year and is one of the largest dedicated wakesports boats around. You want to be king of the lake? Here you go. The 26 LSV has an amazing 18-person capacity, carries an eye-popping 6,100 pounds of ballast, and powers across the water with a 607-hp 6.2L direct-injected Monsoon LT4 engine.
Additional wake-shaping abilities come via the Surf Gate and Power Wedge II. Meanwhile, you control all the boat’s tech via a touchscreen at the helm, which also allows you to save the settings for individual rider preferences so everyone always gets the wakes they were hoping for.
A cool perk found on the 26 LSV is the “Max-Pivot” seat in the stern, which converts between a rear-facing seat and a sunlounge.
- Estimated MSRP:$250,000
Visit Malibu Boats to learn more.
6. MasterCraft Xstar S Piranha
Mastercraft made a number of improvements to their NXT for the 2024 model year, including a helm upgrades and redesigns like adding a seven-inch touchscreen display with integrated stereo controls and an updated SurfStar interface, bringing three Rapid Surf wave options to the table.
The Icon version (available on the NXT22, NXT23, and NXT24) gives the boat an all-black color scheme including a black Z6 tower and black SeaDek. It also boasts cool underwater lighting and RGB tower light rings to go along with the cockpit lighting.
Estimated MSRP:$125,000 to $190,000
Visit MasterCraft to learn more.
7. Moomba Mondo
The Mondo is Moomba’s smallest boat at 20’ of LOA, and with a trailer length of 23’9” and a height of fewer than eight feet with the tower folded down it gives watersports fans the ability to step into a top-quality wake boat that fits into many garages. Despite the relatively compact nature of this package, however, it can seat up to 13 people. It also has the tech that counts, like a seven-inch touchscreen interface that delivers complete control of wake-shaping and navigational functions.
Storing a boat indoors extends its lifetime and boosts resale value tremendously, so this can be a make-or-break characteristic. Additional features of note include 3,700 pounds of ballast, and options for the Flow3 and Smartplate tabs for enhancing wake-shaping abilities even more.
- Estimated MSRP:$96,800
Visit Moomba to learn more.
8. Nautique Super Air Nautique G25 Paragon
If you’re searching for the wake boat that delivers the maximum in luxury, the Nautique Super Air Nautique G25 Paragon will doubtlessly be a top contender. The bow has recliner-size seats with armrests and a drop-in insert turns the entire area into a huge sun lounge.
The stern has a center three-position seat that can face either way or join the side loungers to span the entire width of the boat, and the actuated helm seat adjusts at the press of a button. The stereo system is another highlight, boasting six speakers in the boat, four on the tower, a pair of subwoofers, a monoblock amp, and a JL Audio MM100 head unit plus a transom remote. Whew! But don’t think performance takes a back seat to luxury—this model also has full wave-sculpting abilities thanks to the Surf Select 3.0 system, which riders can use to adjust the waves as they ride via Garmin smartwatch compatibility.
- Estimated MSRP:$375,000
Visit Nautique to learn more.
9. Supreme S240
Supreme’s S series is intended to deliver a top-end wave-making machine at a lower-than-expected price, and the S240 is the largest model in the line. It comes with the boarding perks you expect in a top-shelf wakeboarding boat, like up to 4,800 pounds of ballast pumped into six individual locations, a stainless-steel tower, and an optional Stinger wake plate and/or QuickSurf system.
What’s surprising, however, is the boat’s capacity for its size: it can hold a whopping-big crew of 16. It has plenty of luxury touches, too, like ergonomically angled seating backrests, a three-position slide seat with reversable backrests, and two-layer foam decking. If you like to hit the lake with all your friends and their friends too, this one is the ticket.
- Estimated MSRP:$128,285
Visit Supreme to learn more.
10. Yamaha Wake Series
This is another case where it makes sense to look at the entire model line as opposed to a single boat, because Yamaha’s Wake Series is the ideal pick for watersports lovers who also love jet boats.
Available in 22’ and 25’ sizes in multiple levels of trim and wakeboarding tech, these boats run on a pair of Yamaha 1.8L high-output or supercharged engines blasting H2O through 155- or 160-mm high-pressure waterjet pumps. Not only will you never have to worry about having a propeller spinning beneath the surface, these boats offer all the fun and maneuverability of jetboat-style handling. They also offer Yamaha’s Connext touchscreen control, integrated ballast systems to boost the wakes, and “Wakebooster” tabs.
- Estimated MSRP:$82,889 to $116,799
Visit Yamaha Boats to learn more.
Are you ready to try an Ollie or learn the tail grab? We sure hope so, because any of these boats can make it happen — it’s time to get out there and ride. And, if you don’t feel like investing in a boat of your own, you can always rent a wakeboard boat right here on Boatsetter.
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With over three decades of experience in marine journalism, Lenny Rudow has contributed to dozens of boating and fishing publications and websites ranging from BoatU.S. Magazine to BDOutdoors.com. Rudow is currently the Angler in Chief at Rudow’s FishTalk, he is a past president of Boating Writers International (BWI), a graduate of the Westlawn School of Yacht Design, and has won numerous BWI and OWAA writing awards.
