Ocean Kayak Malibu Two Tandem Sit-On-Top Recreational Kayak

This is my go-to kayak! I own a total of 3 sit on top kayaks and one moderate quality inflatable two person kayak. The Malibu Two is the Swiss Army Knife of kayaks; it does just about everything, though it's not necessarily the best at any of them. The basic design provides a stable platform, a versatile deck, and a hull that tracks true and helps handle the wind. Although this kayak is a bit on the heavy side I can cartop it by myself and lug it to the water. I've paddled this kayak as a single along the Florida coast, tandem along the slow lazy Florida rivers of the panhandle, and as a single/tandem in Monterey Bay (California). Now I use this primarily as a solo kayak lightly modified for mountain lake fishing (additional padeyes, a fishing crate with rodholders, etc) in Colorado...for that it works well as there is ample deck space to stage rods and hold gear. I've fished tandem out of the kayak with my sons, but it is a bit cramped for 2 with my configuration. I do paddle this with my wife for enjoying the water and without the additional gear it makes for an enjoyable tandem outing. I've owned my Malibu Two for 18 years, and before that it was a rental in Monterey Bay for 2 years, and it's still holding up fine (though it's important to keep all these "plastic" kayaks out of the sun and stored on their sides). The fact that the basic design remains popular after 20+ years is a testament to this great kayak! I installed three 8 inch hatch covers (available at any boating store) on my boat instead of the very pricey Ocean Kayak rubber push on Gaspachi hatches, and I'm very satisfied with this easily installed modification. The hatches allow access to some internal storage and access to the underside of the deck for install of additional hardware. Newer boats have the two round hatch mounts (bow and stern) and one oval hatch between them (this is a great mod since the larger hatch gives you more access to internal space). If you're looking for only 1 kayak to fulfill multiple purposes, then look no further than the Malibu Two! If you found this review helpful, please vote "yes" below.

Absolutely love this kayak. I have gone out with one other person and used the two person configuration and I also take my two large dogs with me and use the center configuration. The kayak is very stable. I added one of the hatch covers for storage as there isn't much room on top when you have a person and two dogs. One of my dogs sits behind me and the other stands up front. I added some grip to the front to help my dog have better footing. The extra loops used for the other seat configurations works great for me to attach the dog beds I made to hold them in place. I am able to get this kayak on the roof of my car by myself but it isn't super easy. I started just putting it inside my car. So much easier to load and unload. I use a kayak cart to move the kayak from one place to another. The handles in the middle work great to loop the cart strap through to keep it from falling off. If you are shorter than 5 foot, you will have a tough time reaching the foot Wells in the middle seat position.

These are nice kayaks! We bought two for my husband for Father's Day and they're perfect for our family of four! Totally recommend!If you need paddles, we're really happy with  SeaSense X-TREME II Kayak Paddle, 84-Inch, Orange and Yellow .As far as car racks, we don't love what we bought. The kayaks are really solid and heavy, so the dual rack we got feels a bit flimsy for them. When you find a better solution, leave it in the comments for me. ;)

My husband, myself, and our 55 lb dog fit in this. Seats are a little flimsy, but this is a great recreational kayak.

We only buy Malibu kayaks for our vacation rental in Roatan and this one does not disappoint. Seems sleeker in the water than our older one. Rally nice colors, easy to spot in th water when u r snorkeling too. Arrived on time, in great condition. Don't know what is with th one we replaced - it just kept developing leaks. We ar still sold on th Malibu though.

My wife and I bought this for kayaking in Puget Sound. It's solid, easy for two people to carry, stable, simple to set up, and has surprisingly comfortable seats.

So I bought this thing hoping my wife and daughter might enjoy floating the near by river. neither had ever been in a boat and are not so "outdoorsy" . delivered to my very rural door step, unbelievable. Took it out, pretty tame small river (Tallapoosa) but not without some minor challenges. This thing is very stable, tracks very well. My daughter loved paddling and quickly learned how to steer it Great experience for her. But here's the kicker. I was lazy tying it into the back of the pick-up and sure enough, on a roughly paved country road, at 45 mph we lost it! POO! Stopped to gather the pieces and low and behold, other than a few minor scratches it was undamaged. Have used it several times since. Pretty impressive as far as I am concerned. jm

Like the Kayak. It's stable and easy to maneuver. Easy to get in and out of the water. East to put up on top of the Subaru on our Thule basket rack with Dock glide saddles. My first Sit On Top kayak. Exceeded my expectations.