Can You Paddle Board If You Can’t Swim? (6 Tips)

So is it true that you can’t Paddleboard if you can’t swim?
While the likely hood of falling into the water on a standup paddleboard is much more likely than kayaking, the answer isn’t black or white. It’s a bit nuanced and depends on a few factors that we’ll cover below. But if you’re adamant about paddleboarding but can’t swim, there are 6 tips below I highly recommend you do.
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6 Paddle Boarding Tips If You Can’t Swim & Alone
1. Life Jacket & SUP Ankle Leash
You 100% absolutely need a life jacket on a paddle board without question. Losing your balance and falling into the water is extremely high. The questions you need to ask yourself are; How well can you stay afloat with a life jacket? How comfortable do you feel in deep water with a life jacket?
Also, if your paddleboard has one, you also need to wear the paddleboard ankle leash in case you fall, the board won’t get away from you. Now, if you don’t feel comfortable in deep water with only a life jacket, that determines how close to shore you need to be. This brings us to the next tip.
2. Stay Relatively Close To Shore
Depending on how far from shore you go depends on how comfortable you feel swimming in deep water with only a life jacket. Because for a lot of us, the question isn’t if you’re going to fall into the water from an SUP, but when. I personally recommend you to stay close where it’s shallow enough for your feet to touch.
3. Find Still Water
Rivers, lakes, and especially the ocean with a lot of choppy water increase the likely hood of falling off the SUP. Regardless of how secure your life jacket is, the goal is to prevent you from falling off the board. This leads to the next tip.
4. Rather Than Standing, Kneel Or Sit
Including myself, most people fall into the water from losing balance while standing. Sometimes it’s caused by waves, choppy water, getting tired, or just randomly losing balance from being human.
While kneeling or sitting on a paddle board isn’t as fun as standing, it’s still a lot of fun. And safety always comes first. So if you can’t swim and aren’t sure if the water below you is shallow enough to stand, I recommend kneeling or sitting down.
However, if you enjoy standing, it will be best to kneel down if you encounter boat waves.
5. Bring An Emergency Whistle
I think everyone needs to bring an emergency whistle. Not only would you need it in case of an emergency, but also to warn boats or jet skis that are getting too close and don’t see you. I highly recommend the LuxoGear whistle since it’s made for survival, watersports, etc. It’s incredibly loud getting up to 120 decibels. It’s best to tie it on your life vest.
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[@thebitterhiker]

Good video, solid tips

[@Running_with_Faith]

I have water phobia so anytime I do any type of water activities (after I freak, yell and talk to myself about whatever I am about to do) I always wear a vest. There is no such thing as being too embarrassed about wearing one because I would rather be alive than dead. I loved all your tips. Well done. Stay blessed.