Purchased an Oru Bay ST to use while traveling in a high roof Sprinter Van. The convenience was great, no roof top loading, and the kayak performed very well. So we bought a second one.

Hi Oru folks: we took our new Bay kayak out onto the waters of McDonald Lake in Glacier NP and it performed really well. It glides thru the water smoothly (which my previous inflatable kayak did not do) and the ease to assemble and dis-assemble it was amazingly quick – even for newbies like me. I think the kayak tracks pretty well, but I’m thinking of buying the fin accessory to help keep it straighter. The kaya does take of getting used to with its rolling action when you get in/out of the kayak – it wants to roll on you and you’ve got to be well-balanced to get in and out w/o rolling over.

The dimensions of the Bay and the width of its cockpit are exactly the same as the beloved hardbody kayak we used to have, so we thought it was made for us. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a shorter cockpit, and getting in and out with bad knees was just a bit too difficult. It also was clearly going to be challenging to carry serious photography gear in the small cockpit. We had to return the Bay models but were impressed enough with the boats to immediately order a pair of the Inlet model instead. I hope they will be just right!

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I learned to kayak using traditional sea kayaks. They are great but they are long and heavy. This means that I don’t have a place to store one, nor do I have a vehicle that is suited for transporting a sea kayak. Rental kayaks, at least the ones available at my local forest preserves, handle like bath tubs. Thus, I was intrigued by the Oru Bay ST and decided that I would purchase one since it would resolve both the storage and transportation issues for me. I’ve been out twice now and love it! So far I’ve only been on lakes but will soon be exploring some of the calmer rivers in my area. I love the flexibility that I have to get out on the water.