Thanks to famous fans such as Rihanna, Kate Hudson and Jennifer Aniston, stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) has quickly gone from obscure to ubiquitous. But now SUP is taking on a whole new glow — literally — thanks to the recent emergence of nighttime paddleboarding.
Like in its original incarnation, SUP’s nighttime version features ram-rod paddlers atop floating boards. But, in this case, powerful LED lights are strung beneath the paddleboards to illuminate the water, allowing boarders to see 15 feet deep and 50 feet around them. The resulting glow spotlights the nocturnal antics of sea critters like stingrays and nurse sharks.
“It’s like you’re engulfed in a giant ball of light,” says Billy Rossini, a championship kneeboarder who invented the idea of this Nocqua board lighting system while watching predators feast on baitfish drawn to lights on yacht sterns in the Keys.
The sport is popular from New Zealand to Hawaii, but as far as the continental US is concerned, most of the nighttime paddleboading action takes place in the Florida Keys, where the calm, warm, clear waters are ideally suited for the pastime. In Key West, for instance, Ibis Bay Paddle Sports offers a “Nightrider” paddling tour ($45) that kicks off just after sunset and lasts 90 minutes. The experience is as unique as it is invigorating.