Looks and Size

Intex Excursion 4 Inflatable Boat

Mostly gray with a black underside and streaks and swoops of blue on the sides makes the Excursion 4 a good-looking inflatable boat. It has seats with backrest and enough space for four to fit comfortably. On the other side, I don’t find the forest green and yellow Seahawk four very attractive. Green and yellow, no thank you!

Camera angles can sometimes cause the perception of size or dimensions to become a little off. But when you look at pictures of both of these products it seems that the Excursion 4 is wider than the Seahawk 4.

This assumption is backed up by the numbers; the Excursion is about 15 inches wider. The Excursion’s dimensions are 124″ long x 65″ wide x 17″ tall while the Seahawk measures 133” long x 50” wide 19.5” tall. You’ll also notice that there are no backrest on the Seahawk.

These boats aren’t very light in weight. According to some, the Excursion weighs around 35 pounds while the Seahawk weighs about 25 pounds.

Capacity

These boats have surprisingly high weight-limit capacities. The Seahawk 4 can hold up to 880 pounds and the Excursion can hold 1050. That means that between your gear and buddies four average sized people can fit it either of these boats. The Excursion’s weight limit does give you a little more room for flexibility.

Now, you might be thinking, “can I have more than 4 people on this boat at once as long as the weight is under the weight limit?” Well, I wouldn’t do that – but I am rather conservative and head the majority of safety recommendations for products. The truth is that these machines were designed for four people for safety reason.

Also, I probably wouldn’t try to push the limits as it relates to the weight capacity.

Get more details on the Excursion 4

Get more details on the Seahawk 4

Built-In Features

Both of these boats have a lot of built-in features. In fact, they share most of the same features, including: a grab line for support, 2 fishing rod holders, motor mount fittings (you will need to purchase the motor mounts separately), and oar holders. Both of these models also include inflatable seats, but only the Excursion has an inflatable backrest.

Both of these models come with two aluminum oars but the dimensions are different; 48 inches for the seahawk and 54 inches for the Excursion. You will get a high-output air pump with either of these boats which is pretty standard for most inflatables.

Construction and Durability

Intex Seahawk 4 Inflatable Boat

A thick plastic is used to make either of these boats and that’s what makes these boats able to be used near rocks. The plastic itself is durable and listed as being puncture resistant. But what about the seams? That’s where the air would escape from.

I have some experience with inflatable products, for a while I used an air mattress on weekends. On top of being uncomfortable, it eventually started leaking air. In the end I would wake up on a saggy air mattress that left my back sore. I also have experience with inflatable toys that would gradually lose air in a period of time that I felt was too short.

That’s not to say that all inflatable products are bad. It’s just that most product categories have a very strong cost-to-quality ratio – a higher cost usually means better quality. So, when I see products like the much more expensive Intex Mariner 4 or the inflatable boat by New Port Vessels, I tend to think that the same rings true for this category.

At the same time this doesn’t mean that either of these inflatable boats are of poor quality because they aren’t very expensive. However, after looking at customer reviews for these products, I found that the Excursion had many issues concerning durabilty – these issues would make me uncomfortable if I were purchasing.  These negatives were mostly customers complaining that the seam(s) failed. There were so many of these that cropped up over and over again.

Note: For best safety practices, you should definitely check the boat for leaks before you take it out on the water.