We Review The 5 Best Floating Island Rafts For Summer Fun!

Author: Emilia R. Published: June 8, 2016 0 comments

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You’ve probably seen people at the beach floating on any number of things, from tubes, to rafts, to inflatable animals, bananas, unicorns, and the list goes on…

But have you seen these things called “floating islands”?

A “floating island” will allow you, plus several friends to float in the body of water of your choice, whether it be lake, ocean, inlet, giant swimming pool, etc.

Giant Floating Island Raft 8-Person Capacity review

No two ways about it, these things are impressive, not only due to their size, but also because of some of the great features which are built in to some of these giant rafts, from reclining seating, drink holders, and much more.

To our great pleasure, we are here to review the best floating islands that will make your beach vacation or trip to the lake one to remember!

Table of contents:

[ps2id url=’#1′ offset=” class=”]SPORTSSTUFF Fiesta Floating Island Raft – Review[/ps2id]
[ps2id url=’#2′ offset=” class=”]Intex Pacific Paradise Relaxation Station – Review[/ps2id]
[ps2id url=’#3′ offset=” class=”]Cabana Islander Floating Party Raft – Review[/ps2id]
[ps2id url=’#4′ offset=” class=”]Tropical Tahiti Inflatable Floating Island Raft – Review[/ps2id]
[ps2id url=’#5′ offset=” class=”]Island Hopper Gator Monster Water Park – Review[/ps2id]

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We’ve done the research, so here we go!

SPORTSSTUFF Fiesta Floating Island Raft

The SPORTSSTUFF Fiesta Floating Island Raft is one hell of a way to make a splash this summer!

SPORTSSTUFF, an offshoot of Airhead, is a well known brand when it comes to things that float, big and small.

Customer ratings from around the web are very impressive for this large floating island, particularly on Amazon where it has garnered some acclaim.

The aptly named “Fiesta”, is a seriously heavy duty floating raft, which can comfortably support 8 people (meaning you can pile more people on, but that’s not recommended), and comes complete with a mesh bottom and 16-quart cooler, which inflates for your beverage sipping pleasure.

sportsstuff fiesta island raft review

The biggest selling point to us with the SPORTSSTUFF Fiesta is the seating design, which is carefully contoured for maximum comfort, as well as cup holders and arm rests for everyone.

There’s no way you can’t be comfortable in this thing, provided it’s a nice day and there’s no storm clouds on the horizon.

Made in an almost jacuzzi-style, you can decide if you want to sit higher up in the seats, or let yourself slide into the water a little bit to cool off.

This is an epic floatation device, and it’s perfect for families or groups of friends, who want to have a day at the beach.

Also, obviously not every seat needs to be filled, so if you want to be the person who is out on the lake by yourself with the Fiesta, people might call you crazy but who cares? This thing goes better with company, though.

Overall, the SPORTSSTUFF Fiesta is very stable and is designed not to tip, since it’s so wide, and the weight is evenly distributed.

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Everyone loves it, including us!

Intex Pacific Paradise Relaxation Station

If your budget is more restricted, or if you simply don’t need a giant island raft with 8 seats, you could go for the more economical, but equally fantastic, Relaxation Station Water Lounge by Intex, who are also known for making fine airbeds and above ground pools.

Yes, this is a smaller raft, but the previous SPORTSSTUFF island is quite mammoth, so we think it’s fair to say that this smaller raft is still quite large, with measurements of 120 x 120 x 26 inches.

With a weight of just 34.5 pounds, it is able to support a full 704 pounds at a time.

In addition, the material of this island raft is made from a durable 18-gauge vinyl, so you know it’s sturdy.

Your feet do dip into the water, which has a strong mesh base, but if you want to actually be fully in the water, you need to get out of your seat to do so.

We must add, the seats are very comfortable, and customers generally do agree.

As with the Fiesta, the Intex Relaxation Station is equipped with cup holders, so you can bring a cool beverage along with you for the ride.

river tube raft 4 person

As far as squeezing two people into one seat, we don’t really recommend it, although the seats are indeed generously wide.

This product is very popular right now, and customers report that it is great for a relaxing trip down the river, in a pool, or a lake.

It is your option to bring along paddles, which makes this island raft a lot easier to steer.

The Relaxation Station is also easy to access by way of a provided rope ladder, and easy-to-use steps.

This way you can take a dip in the lake, and climb right back in, for more time to hang with your friends or family.

We love this thing, and it’s a great addition to any cottage on the lake situation.

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Click to read our full review of this product

Cabana Islander Floating Party Raft

Let’s kick this mini-review off with a video this time, of the SPORTSSTUFF Cabana Islander.

This is definitely something different, in a cool way! How can you not love this raft?

If you are a fan of cabanas, well then, whoa nelly…. this cabana floats.

The only thing missing is the classic cabana boy serving you, but that could be arranged too, with some effort.

In all seriousness, this is a true original, which can easily hold up to six people, and it’s really heavy duty.

SPORTSSTUFF 54-1920A Cabana Islander

Made from K80 PVC, the Cabana Islander has a nylon cabana top, made of wind-resistant nylon, allowing you to keep out of the sun if you plan on being out on the water for extended periods.

On the other hand, if you’re tanning, the top pops right off, and you can take in all the sunshine you like. We do love the color scheme as well – very tropical looking!

The Cabana Islander is like a small ship, with its own porthole for swimming in the center, as well as a platform for boarding, not to mention an anchor system to keep you floating in the same spot, if you so choose.

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To top it off, you get a 16-qt cooler to bring along some beverages. A must have!

Tropical Tahiti Inflatable Floating Island Raft

Feature Pick

Tropical Tahiti Floating Island (8 Person)

Here comes another floating island raft that’s really large and in charge – the Tropical Tahiti, capable of supporting up to 8 passengers at once.

The interesting thing about this raft is the design, with 3 different styles of seating, including 4 proper inflatable chairs, a two-person raft area with padded backing, and two lounge chairs for getting that perfect tan.

Depending on where you decide you’re going to use this raft, this thing could easily be used by family and friends all day long for hours of quality relaxation time.

Tired of socializing? Catch some rays? Tired of tanning? Cool off in the lake or pool. This thing has “Let’s party” written all over it.

As with some of the other floating island rafts we’ve mentioned, you have a boarding platform, which makes coming and going quite easy, not to mention not one, but two built-in coolers, so that you’re never without a beverage in hand.

Tropical Tahiti Floating Island review

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Complete with 8 cup holders, we think that the Tropical Tahiti is the ultimate party barge, and perfect for taking with you on your next vacation getaway!

Island Hopper Gator Monster Water Park

Well, we’ve saved what might be the best for last. Don’t look now, but it’s the Island Hopper Gator Monster Water Park!

If you normally have fear of gators, maybe this gator-shaped water park, that actually floats on the water, will alleviate your fears.

You know, that if there is a family vacation planned, and you show up with this, you will be the hero of the century for bringing this along.

inflatable gator review

So what is it exactly? Nothing less than a 30 foot long, 13 foot wide, 2.2 foot high gator-shaped trampoline that floats.

Although it may take time to inflate, once it’s set up, everyone’s going to have fun with this thing.

But the manufacturers, Island Hopper, didn’t just make a gator-shaped floating island trampoline water park so that kids couldn’t play on it.

This Gator Monster is made to be heavy duty, complete with 30 oz 1000 denier UV resistant PVC material, with durable honeycomb cross-member construction.

From these stats, you can see that the Gator Monster was made to take some abuse on the water.

The point here, is for kids, and anyone else to bounce and jump all over it, as it holds up to 1200 pounds of weight.

floating gator device As well, the material of this floating island err.. gator has an advanced UV coating to prevent fading and/or weather damage.

It comes with a full one-year warranty, and delivery of this literal beast comes to your nearest international airport, which could be a slight downside, but no, you’re definitely not getting this thing delivered to your door.

It does come with a bag, repair kit, and instruction manual, so the folks at Island Hopper have really thought of everything.

We think the most fun part of this floatin’ gator, would be to see kids doing a high dive, after getting some impressive air from the trampoline.

You could also play with the tail and head of the gator too.

This water monster is as fun a water toy as you’ll ever see, and if you want your kids to remember all those summers spent bouncing off that gator, (with you as sort of a hero figure in there somewhere), then this might be worth the hefty pricetag!

Thanks for reading!