A wake surfer rides the powerful waves behind HeyDay’s H22.

Thirsting after the adrenaline rush that accompanies extreme water sports used to mean cramming into a tow boat with its minimal seating and pointedly narrow bow. But along with sweeping technological advances in powerboats that can create and control their own wave patterns comes luxury boats designed for maximum comfort and vast passenger capacities.

Known as wakesurfing or wakeboarding boats, these new hybrids are made for the pontoon buyer seeking more performance and versatility and the surfboat buyer looking for comfort and stability. Here’s what to expect from just a few of the major players.

Wave Technology

In stark contrast to waterskiing, which requires the smallest, flattest wakes possible, wakesurfing is an exciting sport that calls for giant wakes so riders can surf, ollie, and spin 360s. If you’d love to surf perfect ocean waves from any lake available, wakesurfing boats have the technology to create wakes of any height, length, or break frequency.

But don’t feel that wakesurfing is only for 20-somethings. Wakesurfing is easy and low impact enough that 7-year-olds and 75-year-olds can join in the fun.

“If you go even once, wakesurfing is so addictive,” said Trevor Miller, the corporate sales manager at Gull Lake Marine in Michigan. “The feeling you get is amazing once you let go of the boat! And that’s why surfing is taking the world by storm. Also, you’re only going 11 miles per hour, so you’re at a minimal risk of injury,” he said.

The Auto Wake system from Moomba sets up and maintains the perfect wave with the touch of a button. Kyle Rau, head of sales at Apollo Marine in Michigan explains, “Simply push the button and go surf. Even as passengers move through the boat, the Auto Wake system will compensate for the movement by adjusting the ballast.”

A wristband-controlled system from Malibu allows the rider to adjust the waves as they surf. With the Surf Band, riders can simply tap the intuitive interface to control and fine tune all aspects of the wave from their wrist. Additionally, boats such as Malibu and Tige have hydraulic actuated gates at either side of the stern that can move and change the waves, allowing you to transfer from side to side while surfing.

“Malibu’s SurfGate in 2013 changed the entire pro boat industry for wakesurfing because it allows you to throw a large wave behind the boat and let go of the line, all with the press of the button. These large paddles work like pop-out tabs to significantly shift the wave while allowing the boat to stay completely level,” added Trevor. “Without the SurfGate, the boat has to list heavily to one side to create that same kind of crisp, cool surf wave.”

With customizable profiles, Paradigm’s Damascus 296 Surf has presets that you can personalize to your riders for their favorite individual setting preferences for speed and trim. Malibu and HeyDay also offer advanced technology with rider profile presets, saving the driver from the guesswork of helping riders find the perfect wave.

Inboard Motors

All of the new wake-loving water sports such as wakesurfing, wakeboarding, and wake foiling, require the rider to closely follow the boat. This makes inboards the safer and more intelligent option over outboard motors.

“You have to have a specialized boat to surf so that the prop is under the boat,” Trevor said. “You would never surf right behind the boat with an outboard and the prop staring you in the face.”

Paradigm Boats has eliminated propeller exposure at the rear by shifting to a forward drive on the Damascus 296 Surf. By relocating the sterndrive’s props to the front, two forward-facing, counter-rotating props pull you through the water instead of pushing you. The Forward Drive from Volvo also means less noise and exhaust, and offers one of the cleanest propulsion engines on the market so you can enjoy reduced emissions. Paradigm’s Tow Mode option automatically accelerates to your pre-set engine speed and will adjust for your load.

Moomba’s Tykon is powered by the Raptor 575 engine from Indmar and is designed to optimize oil pickup at steep boat angles and high G turns. The oil pan is built to control how the oil moves around while towing riders and takes away the worry of oil starvation.

Tige’s motor drops the exhaust into the water below the surfer and the boat, making for a quieter, more pleasant ride. Tige’s engine also has a thruster for maneuvering to tight spaces and offers sports car-like stability while driving since it doesn’t bank with sharp turns.

Ballast

Rolling, perfect waves require a heavy boat that can quickly and easily take on ballast, and these wake boats are designed to do just that. Inside the hull, ballast bags or hard tanks are made to quickly fill with thousands of pounds of water, dropping the back of the boat lower into the water to create massive wakes. Anthem’s patented V3 Ballast System fills and drains 3,600 pounds of ballast in just 3 minutes. The Montara Surf Boss can pull 4,200 pounds of ballast, the Axis A245 can add 5,300 pounds, and the Tige Ultre ZX can take on a massive 7,000 pounds. All of this added water weight can be adjusted to help you create the perfect wave.

Seating

Aside from making splendid waves, comfortable and social interiors are a main feature on these hybrid boats. Straddling the line between the best of pontoons and sport boats, this new category of lifestyle boats is made for families and large groups of friends wanting to make memories and have fun on the water.

Mark Overbye, CEO and founder of Anthem Boats said, “Our patented Aura Concept Layout is the most social and comfortable interior available: it’s spacious like a pontoon and removes the sport boat headache of having to crawl all over the engine.” Another feature unique only to Anthem is the Sport Ramp—an entire front-end ramp that folds open and reinvents boarding by allowing guests and pets to walk onto the boat with ease.

Models across all manufacturers have pontoon-level seating capacities, and most have room for at least 12 passengers. The walk-through lounge design of the Axis A245 can comfortably seat up to 18 people. Montara’s spacious layout is wide open in the front and has luxurious seating for passengers. HeyDay boasts flip up seats that can face either forward while driving or back while watching surfers, as well as high gunnels for extra seating space in the bow.

The Axis A245 has room for all of your friends with an 18-seat capacity, plus the AW tower with speaker packages and your choice of board racks.

Tower For Towing, Storage & Tunes

All wakeboarding boats feature a tower with a high point to attach a tow rope. This tower will pull the rope upward instead of just forward, which raises the fulcrum to help you get up and out of the water faster. And it certainly makes wakeboarding and wakesurfing easier for beginners and younger riders.

Beyond just a place for a tow rope, these impressive towers have massive speakers as well as storage racks to keep wakeboards and surfboards from underfoot. Some have swiveling board racks, others side hooks for beginning surfboards, and some clip-in racks to securely stow the boards. Moomba’s tower has side hooks for smaller boards needed by beginning surfers. HeyDay’s tower comes standard with a go-pro mount so you can easily film your best surfing moves.

Decked Out Transoms

With wakesurfing, most of the action happens at the back of the boat, and the transoms on these models are suitably designed for a party. Tige’s level-up power platform can lower into the water. Anthem’s transom board storage provides easy access for surfers and doubles as a transom step and seating. Montara’s wide open transom has a tow point, a swim step, and a camera to record your surfers. Paradigm’s open deck space on the swim platform provides a seat to strap on your board. Moomba’s rear-facing seats provide the best place to interact with surfers.

“It’s a blast to be so close to the boat as you surf that you can interact with the passengers. They can even toss you a bottle of water if you need one,” Kyle said.

Anthem’s wake boats are built in a military shipyard to military-level specifications and are designed to be super rugged and durable.

“These boats are designed to last decades instead of years,” Mark said. They’re also made entirely of aluminum, eliminating fiberglass failure and allowing you to pull up directly onto a rocky beach.

Investment

Starting prices for wake surfing boats can range anywhere from HeyDay’s $67,000 H 22 model to Malibu’s 2025 premium M242 for $400,000 as well as everything in between. It’s a significant investment, but one that promises deluxe seating, hull designs that cut crisp waves into the water, and wave-making technology to satisfy the most particular of surfers. Gone are the days of needing to own a pontoon for leisurely sunset cruises AND a powerboat to take your kids on thrilling rides. Wake boats merge the outstanding qualities of both.