Flying underwater — that’s how its makers describe the experience of riding an Abyss Board. Of course, being dragged by a boat just a feet or two below the surface is a more appropriate description, but it does look like a fun way to spend an afternoon at the beach.
Attached to a boat, the board lets you drop down beneath the surface, swimming underwater with the agility and speed of a half-man, half-fish sea creature. Okay, that’s a little too much, but it does let you dive, rise, bank, carve and barrel roll your way through the current without putting in as much effort as you would normally do when diving all on your own.
The Abyss Board has a pair of side-mounted rotating fins with hand grips and openings for resting your forearms on. Moving the fins allow you to control your actions in the water: point down to dive, spin one side down to bank in that direction, rotate on opposite directions to spin, and bank then rotate down to carve. Deck features three fins on the bottom for stability, with foam filling to give it just the right amount of bouyancy.
The deck can’t move on its own, of course, so it needs to be attached to a boat or a jetski just like a wake board. Maximum boat speed is only 10 mph, though, so tell your friend not to go nuts on the Iguana 29 lest leave you careening out of control under water (or better yet, just take the slower Waterbuggy instead).
I can’t lie — the Abyss Board looks fun. But $395 fun? Up to you. It’s available now.
[Abyss Boards via Gizmag]