FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

You'll be amazed. Once you get used to the slightly different feel (they're 'shock absorbed', like using a mountain bike with shocks), you quickly forget that you're on an inflatable. They are fast, manoeuvrable, and perform just like a normal paddleboard.

Sure - they're a whole lot of fun to surf. OK, you can't slash them around quite like a 'solid' surfboard because the tail is thicker. But otherwise they surf surprisingly well - and have the huge advantage that they don't hurt when you take a tumble! If you're specifically wanting to use them for surfing or paddlesurfing then make sure you book the right model of board.

We're totally happy for the boards to be used by anyone in anything up to 1m surf. Using them in bigger, more powerful surf must be at the discretion of the rider. If you know what you're doing and are comfortable in bigger surf then you'll be fine. We don't recommend using them in much more than 2m surf (i.e. overhead) even for experts as they're quite a slow ride by nature, so they're not ideal for coping with really fast sections. Most importantly though, any surfing activities are at your own risk. If you damage the board then you will be charged. So it's probably not a good plan to use them for surfing large waves over shallow sharp coral reefs!

The Red Air 9'4 is absolutely ideal for youngsters. It is small enough to be easy for them to manoeuvre, yet with plenty of buoyancy and a really nice ride. (Obviously, it also means that there's a full-on surfboard available for Dad too!

That depends a little on your other plans. Spring can be a bit random - it's often a fairly windy time. Summer is obviously the best time for weather, particularly if you're looking to explore fairly far south. January is the national holiday month, so the touristy sites are at their busiest (and the accommodation/camping/vehicle rental prices are at their highest!). February is generally a pretty good month weather wise, March can often be good too. After that, it really depends on what else you're wanting to do. In the north of New Zealand you'll find relatively warm water and weather pretty much all year round. It can get cold at night but normally in the day there's good warmth in the sun. And there's enough superb coastal, harbour and surf on offer north of Auckland alone, to keep any SUP enthusiast happy for a few months!

Further south, it does get much colder and wetter in the winter months (June-September). However, if you're coming for some winter sports too, then you'll be in your element - NZ has plenty of fantastic skiing and boarding to offer. But you'll probably not want to be in the water too much without full winter rubber.

Quite possibly, yes. We can supply very good photographers in the Northland, Auckland and Christchurch areas, who will be happy to be your local guide for a day and document your water time. They can shoot from land or in the water. Obviously there will be a fee, but what price getting those fabulous pix to remember your great holiday!?

No problem at all. Up until one month before the commencement of the booking, you can change dates, locations and quantities as often as you like online via your control panel. Once into the final month it gets a little more tricky as the logistics of ensuring that your equipment is in the right place at the right time will already be under way. However, if you contact us in person we will do what we can to help. If equipment has already been sent out, there may be a surcharge to redirect it, should you wish to change pick-up location.

Sure. There will obviously be a somewhat higher cost, particularly if you want to collect from one place and return to another. But we can certainly put bespoke packages together for you; contact us with your requirements and we'll sort something out!

The costs of sending the board package out for less than 3 days duration are quite considerable. We have to charge a higher rate for the shortest hire.

Not that we don't trust you, but because the equipment we are renting you is small, easily portable, untraceable, and above all, really great gear - we do need to take a security deposit. We take a credit card bond for the full value of the equipment, before the booking starts. In effect, it's like we're giving you a guaranteed buyback. This is really the only practical way that the system can work, seeing as so many people choose to take the boards overseas. However, should you wish to keep (any of) the gear, do let us know in advance, don't just not hand it back in. If you warn us in advance we will probably be able to let you have it for a much better price!

Sure! Just let us know before the rental is finished. The price for the gear will be minus the rental fee you've already paid, and a further discount acccording to how long the board has been in the rental fleet. So if you've booked the board for a reasonable length of time you're actually a good way to owning it already!

Because we have to juggle a lot of equipment in a lot of locations around NZ to meet all our customers' demands, the logistics of ensuring that what you need for your booking is in the right place at the right time commence quite some time before the actual collection date. Because of this, cancellations do cause us problems. As a result, we do have to charge cancellation fees.

• Bookings cancelled prior to 1 month before rental commencement date, but more than 10 days after initial placement, will incur a 5% cancellation fee.
• Cancellations between 1 month and 1 week before rental commencement date will incur a 10% cancellation fee.
• Bookings cancelled less than 1 week before rental commencement date will incur a 20% cancellation fee.