There's a question we get asked more than almost any other: why are your boards thinner than most, and if it's better, why aren't they all that way? It's a fair one. Walk into most SUP shops and you'll be surrounded by 6" boards. They're everywhere. So why does Honu go to the trouble of building boards at 5.5", and in many cases, 4.7"?
The short answer: because it's better. But let's explain why.
You Feel the Water, Not the Air Above It
The most underrated thing about a thinner board is how it changes your relationship with the water. When you're standing 6 inches above the surface, you're removed from it. Movements get amplified. The water feels unpredictable. You're reacting to it rather than moving with it.
Drop those inches, and something changes. You feel connected . Not just balanced, but genuinely in tune with what's beneath you. This isn't just poetry. The water is the source of every movement, every push and pull. The closer you stand to that interface, the less amplified those forces become, and the more naturally you respond to them. It's the same physics that keeps racing cars glued to the road and informs why climbers wear shoes that put as little between their foot and the rock as possible.
Stability That Surprises People
Here's the counterintuitive part: a thinner board is more stable, not less. This is the point that trips people up, because instinctively a taller board sounds more stable. More volume, more flotation. But stability isn't just about flotation. It's about centre of gravity.
The higher you stand above the water, the more your centre of gravity works against you. Small movements become exaggerated. Your body has to compensate constantly. A thinner board brings that centre of gravity down and keeps it there , meaning you spend less energy fighting the board and more time paddling.
The Sorrento Proves It
We recently put this to the test in the most controlled way possible. We took the Sorrento 12'6, one of the most award-winning touring boards on the market, and reduced its thickness from 5.9" to 5.5". Everything else stayed the same. Same width, same length, same construction, same rider. Just four tenths of an inch less.
The difference was immediately and extremely noticeable. Not subtle. Not something you'd need to measure. You feel it from the first stroke. A lower, more connected stance, greater confidence through turns, and a ride that just flows better. See the updated Sorrento here.
So Why Don't All Brands Do This?
Some brands will tell you they prefer 6" by design. In reality, the reason most boards on the market are 6" comes down to two things: cost and convenience.
Standard 6" drop-stitch material is cheap, widely available, and can be turned into a board in just a few weeks. The more advanced materials needed to make a thinner board perform properly without flexing, without softening underfoot, are an entirely different proposition. Every part, including the material is made to order. It takes three to four months to produce from the point of ordering the dropstich material. And that material costs 3X the cost of standard off the shelf options.
There's also a technical challenge that most brands simply don't want to tackle: cheaper materials lose their rigidity when made thinner. A thin board built on regular drop-stitch will flex and wobble in ways that undermine every advantage the reduced thickness is supposed to deliver. The Honu drop-stitch is custom-made specifically for this purpose. X-woven, double-layer, produced to a specification that simply doesn't exist in off-the-shelf materials.
The result is a board that costs more to make, takes longer to bring to market.
The Bottom Line
Thickness isn't a spec most people think to ask about when buying a paddleboard. But it might be the one that matters most. A thinner board, built properly, connects you to the water in a way that changes the entire experience. And once you've paddled one, the 6" alternative starts to feel like standing on an airbed.
Why Thinner is Better: The Case for a Lower-Profile Paddleboard
There's a question we get asked more than almost any other: why are your boards thinner than most, and if it's better, why aren't they all that way? It's a fair one. Walk into most SUP shops and you'll be surrounded by 6" boards. They're everywhere. So why does Honu go to the trouble of building boards at 5.5", and in many cases, 4.7"?
The short answer: because it's better. But let's explain why.
You Feel the Water, Not the Air Above It
The most underrated thing about a thinner board is how it changes your relationship with the water. When you're standing 6 inches above the surface, you're removed from it. Movements get amplified. The water feels unpredictable. You're reacting to it rather than moving with it.
Drop those inches, and something changes. You feel connected . Not just balanced, but genuinely in tune with what's beneath you. This isn't just poetry. The water is the source of every movement, every push and pull. The closer you stand to that interface, the less amplified those forces become, and the more naturally you respond to them. It's the same physics that keeps racing cars glued to the road and informs why climbers wear shoes that put as little between their foot and the rock as possible.
Stability That Surprises People
Here's the counterintuitive part: a thinner board is more stable, not less. This is the point that trips people up, because instinctively a taller board sounds more stable. More volume, more flotation. But stability isn't just about flotation. It's about centre of gravity.
The higher you stand above the water, the more your centre of gravity works against you. Small movements become exaggerated. Your body has to compensate constantly. A thinner board brings that centre of gravity down and keeps it there , meaning you spend less energy fighting the board and more time paddling.
The Sorrento Proves It
We recently put this to the test in the most controlled way possible. We took the Sorrento 12'6, one of the most award-winning touring boards on the market, and reduced its thickness from 5.9" to 5.5". Everything else stayed the same. Same width, same length, same construction, same rider. Just four tenths of an inch less.
The difference was immediately and extremely noticeable. Not subtle. Not something you'd need to measure. You feel it from the first stroke. A lower, more connected stance, greater confidence through turns, and a ride that just flows better. See the updated Sorrento here.
So Why Don't All Brands Do This?
Some brands will tell you they prefer 6" by design. In reality, the reason most boards on the market are 6" comes down to two things: cost and convenience.
Standard 6" drop-stitch material is cheap, widely available, and can be turned into a board in just a few weeks. The more advanced materials needed to make a thinner board perform properly without flexing, without softening underfoot, are an entirely different proposition. Every part, including the material is made to order. It takes three to four months to produce from the point of ordering the dropstich material. And that material costs 3X the cost of standard off the shelf options.
There's also a technical challenge that most brands simply don't want to tackle: cheaper materials lose their rigidity when made thinner. A thin board built on regular drop-stitch will flex and wobble in ways that undermine every advantage the reduced thickness is supposed to deliver. The Honu drop-stitch is custom-made specifically for this purpose. X-woven, double-layer, produced to a specification that simply doesn't exist in off-the-shelf materials.
The result is a board that costs more to make, takes longer to bring to market.
The Bottom Line
Thickness isn't a spec most people think to ask about when buying a paddleboard. But it might be the one that matters most. A thinner board, built properly, connects you to the water in a way that changes the entire experience. And once you've paddled one, the 6" alternative starts to feel like standing on an airbed.