Sea Gods Skylla CX Review – Drew Brophy Edition

In this Sea Gods Skylla CX Review, we go through the Drew Brophy Edition Cross touring SUP. Is it More All Around or Touring SUP? We answer this question and many more as we test out our findings and talk about who this board’s ideal paddlers are. 

We tested this board back to back on Salt Spring Island with the Sea Gods Carta Marina touring board. 

We did this to get a feeling of how this board performs against a proper touring-style board. We did this to also see how many characteristics this board takes from the all-around SUP side of the equation compared to the touring side of things. 

To see our Sea Gods Carta Marina CX Review check out our review here! You can see our other Sea Gods paddle Board Reviews here.

Let’s get into the review!!

Sea Gods Skylla CX Paddle Board Review Ratings

Below is how we rated the Skylla CX package from Sea Gods. The ratings below are the accumulated ratings below. Click each link below to jump to each section.

Total Score: 8.9/ 10

• On-Water Performance – 8.5
  • Stability 8.5
  • Tracking 7.5 
  • Speed 8.5
  • Maneuverability 9.5
• SUP Construction – 9.5
• Board Features  – 8.8
  • Deck Pad 9.5
  • D Rings 9
  • Deck Bungees 9
  • Action Mounts: 8
  • Handles 8.5
• Accessories – 8.6
  • Backpack 9
  • Paddle 9.5
  • Pump 8
  • Fins 8
• Set-Up/ Take Down 9

Who Should Be Using the Skylla CX Paddle Board?

The good thing about the Skylla CX is the fact that it’s a great board for a wide range of paddlers. The board is ideal for:

• Paddlers who are just starting out
• Intermediate paddlers who want a board that can grow as their skill level improves
• Paddlers who want to use this as a day board or multi-day adventure SUP
• Paddlers who want a more stable alternative to a traditional inflatable touring SUP
• Small paddlers who want a lightweight board to transport

The Skylla CX offers a stable base for paddlers of most levels thanks to the wider tail and a nose that maintains the width of the board until it tapers off with the front bungees. 

The Skylla is a great touring hybrid for smaller paddlers as it won’t be too big and bulky to carry from set-up to the shoreline. This is often a problem with some 12’ – 14’ paddle boards is that they are often a bit heavier than their all-around cousins. 

While I do mention that it can be used as a day touring/multi-day board, this would not be my first choice for this from the Sea Gods Lineup. My first choice for touring would be the Carta Marina CX over the Skylla CX due to the board’s tracking and glide advantage which helps you cover greater distances. 

What SUP Activities Can the Skylla CX be Used For?

The Skylla CX’s added stability gives this board all-around paddle board characteristics. Some SUP activities the Skylla CX can be used for include…

Recreational Paddling

The purpose best served by this SUP would be recreational paddling. This board is great for beginners who want to learn to stand to intermediate paddlers who want to perfect their pivot turns. This board was good to learn pivot turns on thanks to its wider nose that gives you some confidence of stability while learning this more advanced maneuver. 

Family Paddling

While I would not recommend this board as a tandem for two full-grown passengers to stand on it can be used for an adult and a small child or pup. There are handles at the front that your child can grab onto should you encounter some waves. 

Day Paddling

Because this board is a cross-touring hybrid it will do a good job for longer-distance paddling compared to wider all-around boards like the Diatom CX. While I felt the Skylla CX performed more like an all-around board compared to a proper touring board, its pointed nose will help the boards glide and help cut through the wake encountered by boats on your journey. 

Sea Gods Skylla CX On-Water Performance

Rating Factor	Score	Average SUP Score (All Around Boards)
Total On-Water Score	8.5 /10	8.0
Stability Score	8.5 /10	8.3
Tracking Score	7.5 /10	7.8
Speed Score	8.5 /10	7.7
Manueverability Score	9.5 /10	8.1

Below are my thoughts on testing the Skylla CX on Bullock Lake located on Salt Spring Island off Vancouver Island. This is a smaller lake but a good testing spot because the only element I have to worry about is wind. All of the tests I tried to do when the wind died down so I could have accurate testing results. 

Stability 

The Skylla CX has good overall primary stability that makes it an accessible board for most skill levels. Theoretically, this can be a first-timer board and you can learn fairly quickly how to stand and get up to speed with basic paddle-boarding techniques. 

From a stability standpoint, the board feels very rigid and has the same amount of stability as mid-point to advanced SUPs that have the 11’ and 32” or 33” dimensions. 

Out of the Sea Gods lineup the Skylla won’t be the most stable board out of the lot (that would go to the Medusa and Diatom boards) but it is a good board that you can grow with as your skill level improves. 

Tracking

The tracking performance of the Skylla mimics more of an all-around board with the board tracking 5 strokes per side. I was expecting a stroke or 2 more on each side before I hopped on and tried the Skylla CX out. 

Tracking Factor	Paddle Strokes	Average Paddle Strokes (All Around)
Paddle Strokes To Keep Straight Course	5	5.8

I do feel from a tracking/ glide perspective that the Carta Marina CX is the better board for this purpose. In my mind, the Skylla CX acts as more of an in-between between their stable All Around board ranges (Medusa, Diatom Ten6) and the Carta Marina CX. 

I couldn’t help but think that the Skylla CX would benefit from having 5” removable side fins to aid in tracking performance. It also gives the paddler a more custom experience with the board. If they favored speed they could take the side fins off, if they wanted better tracking they could keep the side fins with the center fin. 

Speed

The Carta Marina did feel a bit quicker compared to other all-around SUPs I’ve tested throughout the year. Most notably, its acceleration was excellent due to its 19.5 lb weight. 

The glide, while pretty good, does feel like it lacks compared to the Carta Marina CX though. But this does not surprise me. I look forward to taking both these boards out and putting numbers to each board’s speed next time I go out there. 

I could not this time due to the constant wind which would only add inconsistencies to the readings. 

Maneuverability 

This is the one that surprised me the most as soon as I hopped onto the board! Even from paddling on my knees, it was apparent how maneuverable this board was. The board also offered some better maneuverability scores than some All-around ISUPs I’ve paddled!

Manueverability Factor	Paddle Strokes	Average Paddle Strokes (All Around SUP’s)
Paddle Strokes for Reverse Sweep Stroke	3.5	4.2
Paddle Strokes for Reverse Side Paddles	12	13.3

Perhaps the most shocking revelation in my on-water tests was this board’s reverse sweep stroke rating. I was able to do 3.5 reverse sweep strokes which is one of the better readings we’ve gotten! 

Our average stroke score is 4.2 from mostly all around boards! This is especially impressive considering the board is 11’3” and 33” wide. It’s not the widest board out there by any means. 

The reverse side paddle rating was a bit more in line with my expectations as when I was doing it there was wind that decided to flow in which disrupted the test a bit. I cut a stroke out because of the fact and gave it a 12 reverse side paddles rating. It is still just over a stoke less compared to other all around SUPs I’ve tested. 

Maneuverability was the most surprising aspect of this paddle board. This is interesting because when you have a first look at this board it’s the area you feel it would have compromised on due to its touring shape. 

Sea Gods Skylla CX Stats Deconstructed

• Type of Board: Recreational/ Touring Hybrid
• Length: 11’3″
• Width: 33″
• Thickness: 6″
• Volume: 319 L
• Weight: 19.5 lbs
• Maximum Capacity: 350 Lbs
• Materials: Cross Weave Drop Stitch (crisscrossed layers of drop stitch that are fused from upper and lower layers), Welded Seams

The Skylla CX is made of very high-quality materials. The Skylla was the first board from the Sea Gods lineup to be made from the cross-weave drop stitching process. So what is cross-weave drop stitching and why does it matter? 

Rating Factor	Score	Average Score (All Around)
Construction Score	9.5 /10	8.3

Cross Weave that is represented in all the Sea Gods CX paddle boards is crisscrossed reinforced threads that are fused to the upper and lower layers of the PVC. These crisscross threads give the board more reinforcement which means fewer threads of drop stitch need to be used. As a result, you get a board that can be 2-4 lbs lighter in weight.

The Skylla much like many of their boards uses a fusion PVC for the exterior of the board as well as a heat welding process to fuse the upper and lower layers of the dropstitch to the PVC as well as to seal the seams to give the structure some extra reinforcement. 

The seams on the rails are often where a lot of the failure points happen on ISUP’s so adding heat welded seams helps ass extra protection and sealing to prevent damage to that area of the board. 

This is one of the lighter-weight SUPs we have tested and we found it gave the board good acceleration in the water. Its lightweight design also makes it an ideal pick for smaller paddlers who don’t want to lug a 28 lb board to the shoreline. The 8.5 fewer pounds make a big difference, especially when you have to walk out to the tide!

Sea Gods Skylla CX Board Profile

The Skylla CX is meant to be a cross-touring board. In my testing, its characteristics matched more of an all-around board. It’s tempting to label any board as a “Touring board” looking at its more pointed nose. But we found the Skylla to have a wider tail compared to many touring boards. This wider tail helps make the board more stable and gives average paddlers the confidence to try more advanced maneuvers such as pivot turns. 

Skylla CX Board Features (What’s On Deck) 

Rating Factor	Score	Average SUP Score (All Around Boards)
Board Features Score	8.8	8.1
Deck Pad Score	9.5 /10	8.3
D-Rings Score	9 /10	8
Deck Webbing Score	9 /10	8.1
Action Mounts Score	8 /10	7.8
Handle Score	8.5 /10	8.2

Another thing I like is the thoughtfulness and placement of items located on the Skylla CX deck. From well-arranged deck bungees and handles to action mounts and spare D rings the Skylla can be used for a bunch of different SUP activities and purposes. 

Skylla CX Deck Pad

One of the onboard features that I like a lot is the deckpad. As you can see from the above image the deckpad has distinct edges to it which gives you the maximum amount of grip on your feet. I stood on the deck with both surf booties and bare feet and I felt that the deck pad had more than sufficient grip with both. 

One of the unique things with Sea Gods Paddle Boards is that it has a spliced deck pad. This means the different colors on the deckpad are different pieces, it’s not just painted over. You can see this with the original Carta Marina as well. 

Skylla CX D-Rings

The Skylla CX has 17 D rings on the board with 4 that are free for whatever you can conjure up in your mind! The ones that are occupied are:

• 8 D-Rings for Front Deck Bungees
• 4 D-Rings for the Back Deck Bungees
• 1 D ring for the Ankle Leash

Skylla CX Deck Bungees

In our minds, the Skylla offers a good amount of deck bungees. Most All-Around boards come with 2-5 rows of deck bungees. The Skylla goes the extra mile and adds 6 with 4 tightly positioned bungees at the front and 2 at the rear. 

I like the positioning of the front bungees especially as they can fit a variety of different sizes and are not widely placed like your standard deck bungee pattern with run-of-the-mill all-around SUPs. 

I like to put items that I use most at the front. Things like water proof phone cases, water bottle, and dry bags with less important items to name a few. Just keep in mind this is the area that will get more water on it than the rear deck bungees.

On the rear, I like to put Water Proof Speakers, a dry bag with wallet and car keys, or perhaps even a cooler for those days when a bevy is calling. 

Skylla CX Action Mounts

The Skylla has 2 action mounts which are placed in good areas. If it was up to me though, I would put an action mount on the nose of the board. This is a better area to film from as you can get more of a wide angle of both you and the board. 

The action mounts are M6 threaded and can hold accessories such as:

• Waterproof Marine Lights
• Action Camera Mounts

That is what Sea Gods currently carries. We do hope they add rod holders, phone holders, and speaker mounts in the future though!

Skylla CX Handles

The Skylla offers 5 different handles with 3 related to carrying the board and 2 for extra support for those who are onboard. 

We like the fact that the Skylla offers these “child handles” as not only does it help you are a passenger hold on during wavey conditions. But it also can be used to support the board when you are carrying it to the shoreline. This is especially handy if you have gear strapped onto the board and need to support the weight. 

Sea Gods Skylla CX Accessories 

Not only does the Skylla have well-thought-out onboard accessories, but it also comes with well-thought-out accessories in almost every way. 

The small everyday details of these accessories are very well thought out and helpful when you get to situations that warrant them. 

Rating Factor	Score	Average SUP Score (All Around Boards)
Accessories Score	8.6	7.9
Backpack Score	9 /10	8.1
Paddle Score	9.5 /10	7.8
Pump Score	8 /10	7.6
Fin Score	8 /10	8.1

Sea Gods Backpack

First off, the bag is very well designed with little swoosh wave patterns on it which makes it look surprisingly stylish layered on the black. But most importantly, this backpack is very well thought out and heavy-duty. This is key because you would be surprised how many paddleboard packages get thrown around!

The Sea Gods bags that come with the board come in a canvas construction which makes them supremely durable. You won’t find rips on these bags!  Another small detail I appreciate is the size of the zippers. These are big heavy-duty zippers that can easily be grabbed to open the bag and aren’t chinsey little ones that could break off at any time. 

The bag also has spacious room inside for the Skylla, pump, paddle, blanket, and any other small to medium to small accessory you may want to bring. 

Of Course, it wouldn’t be a high-quality bag if it didn’t have wheels! Because there are a few things to this package it is nice to have the capability of having a package you can drag as opposed to having to be forced to carry it on your back. 

I also really like the fact that the bag has 5 handles that give you multiple options for grabbing the board. This doesn’t sound like a lot but when you have a bag squished in a trunk you need to get it out.

The backpack also offers bungees on the front to stash some bigger items such as life vests etc. 

While this is a really good bag and I’ve been raving about it for the past few paragraphs, I would say that I do wish this back had some more pockets. Pockets are a nice way to organize your things, especially small odds and ends. I’d ideally like to see a front pocket on the bag. 

Sea Gods Carbon Hybrid Paddle

The paddle is one of my favorites to come with the package. And unlike a few of the previous packages over the past few years, I had no problems with using it out of the gate!

I do like that the Sea Gods blade is angled at around 10 degrees. It’s something you don’t see very much with paddles that come with board packages but it’s something I do appreciate because it makes paddling strokes easier. I also liked the fine details on the paddle blade at the back of the blade which helps guide and displace water more easily when paddling. 

The paddle also feels very lightweight when paddling the board around. It weighs 1.7 lbs (800 grams) which is one of the lightest paddles that comes with an ISUP package. It also feels sturdy when paddling thanks to its strong carbon fiber hybrid shaft. 

Another thing I liked was the fact that the handle has a groove that keeps it in its place no matter where you decide to lock in the handle. This prevents the handle from moving around while paddling which can happen with some other ISUP brands. 

Skylla CX Double Chamber Triple Action Pump

If you feel this pump has a familiar look to it, you’re right it does! The dual chamber triple action pump design is the same that is used by Nixy and Thursosurf. 

While admittedly I’ve never been a fan of manual pumps (you can find it almost anywhere on this blog) I do think that this design is one of the better ones. The two chambers allow you to get the pumps to the first few PSI in quickly on the up-and-down pumps. 

As the pumping motion gets harder you then switch to the 2nd stage where you get pumps out on the down motion of both chambers. After switching to the last stage you use one chamber to pump air on the up and down motion which gives you less volume of air into the board. But it also makes pumping till the last 7-5 PSI a bit more manageable. 

Sea Gods also offers an electric pump to get things going more smoothly. I have yet to test it out myself but I plan to this summer!

Sea Gods Bendable Touring Fin

Admittedly before I even tried this board out I had some experience with this fin as I bought it separately from Sea Gods a few years back. The fin has a click-in fin system which means that you just need to slide the fin in and click it down thanks to the rubber knubs in the fin. 

I recommend having 1-2 rubber knubs in the fin. Anything more and it’s a lot harder to install the fin into the fin box.

This model of Skylla has a 2 piece fin box. The separated pieces allow you to fold the board much easier, especially at the end of the roll. There’s not much worse than going along a perfect fold only to have to do it over because the fin box is in the way of the bend. This doesn’t happen any more thanks to this design. 

Sea Gods Skylla CX Set-up/Take-Down

Setting up and taking down the Skylla was pretty straightforward. First off one of the accessories that came with the board came in handy! The board comes with a soft landing mat that allows you to set up/ take down the board without it getting dirty. Which is exactly what I used to lay it out and blow it up with one of my electric pumps. 

Rating Factor	Score	Average Score (All Around)
Set-Up/ Take Down Score	8.5/10	8.2

The beauty of Sea Gods paddle boards is that you can blow them up to 20 PSI and the materials will hold strong thanks to its reinforced woven drop stitch core. When I’m testing my boards I usually go to 15 PSI as the baseline for all SUPs (unless the manufacturer specifies otherwise). 

Carrying the Skylla CX to the dock for testing I found the board to be very lightweight and I was able to navigate the hills of the property quite easily. 

After using the board We carried them back up to where we were staying and deflated them on the road with the mat. I like to use either the electric pump or the manual pump that comes with the board to deflate it so that it folds more easily. After the board is folded I add it to the bag, put the pump, paddle leash as well, and the fin in the fin pocket, and place it in the back of the truck. 

About Sea Gods

Sea Gods is a Canadian Paddle Board company from my home town White Rock B.C. . It is run by founders Mandy and Ryan who I have gotten to know over the past few years. I was even lucky enough to get invited to a paddling clinic that was partially run by them. 

Of course, what makes these boards unique is their designs done by real artists based on canvas or paintings they have done. If you get one of these boards you are sure to be the talk of the shoreline. 

Sea Gods Returns and Warranty

Sea Gods offer a “Life Time Warranty”. However, digging deeper into this it’s the lifetime of the product. Not your lifetime. They now have an approximate period for this which states “approximately 5 years” which is one of the longer, but becoming increasingly common warranties in the ISUP industry. 

I have also personally talked to Many and she has mentioned that they have had hardly any manufacturing defect claims against them. 

As with most ISUP manufacturers, these warranties do not cover defects caused by exterior elements (like sharp rocks, etc.), overinflation, or product misuse. 

The Return Policy for Sea Gods is a 30-day return policy that has a 10% restocking fee added to it as well as you having to pay for the return shipping yourself.

Where to Buy the Sea Gods Skylla CX Paddle Board

You can purchase Skylla CX Drew Brophy Edition from the Sea Gods website. 

Should You Buy the Sea Gods Skylla CX?

This would be a yes from me if:

• You are looking for a board that has more all-around characteristics 
• A stable touring board that you can use for recreational to-day/ multi-day paddling
• A board that offers good maneuverability for its length
• A SUP that has a beautiful design on the back of the board
• A well-made board that is supremely rigid and made of some of the best materials in the ISUP industry

What do you think of the Sea Gods Skylla CX? Let us know on our Facebook page!