Denver is not known as a “top ten” boat show destination by any means, but considering we have (2) young kids at the house and I live 20 minutes from the Colorado Convention Center I figured I had better take advantage of the situation and check out all of the new boats for this year! Here are a few highlights from the Denver Boat Show! Please note this website is www.pontoonboats.org so I concentrated on pontoon boats while visiting the show even though there were quite a bit of wakeboarding boats and others!
Pontoon Boat Manufacturers and Dealers at the Denver Boat Show:
Trifecta – Horizon Motorsports (Sterling, CO)
Avalon & Tahoe Mfg., Inc. – Sterling Marine Center (Longmont, CO)
Bennington – Colorado Boat Center (Johnstown, CO)
Lowe Boats – Valentine’s Marine (Sheridan, CO)
Landau – Rocky Mountain Boat Company (Pueblo West, CO)
Escape by Larson – Rocky Mountain Boat Company (Pueblo West, CO)
Sylvan – Crowley Marine (Denver, CO)
Crest – Island Lake Marine & Sports (Fort Collins, CO)
Sweetwater Pontoons – Island Lake Marine & Sports (Fort Collins, CO)
It was great to see so many different manufacturers represented and local dealerships in for the show. Greater Denver only has a few marine dealerships in town but the folks north and south of us have some great boating locations so it was refreshing to see them come into town and show us what they offer!
This was my first boat show ever so I didn’t know what to expect! The last time I was at the convention center for an event was the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) so I was expecting to see “acres” of boats similar to the “acres” of beers at the GABF but I was definitely not disappointed in being able to see so many manufacturers up close. Here are the highlights of what I came away with in no particular order!
Pontoon Boats with Upper Decks!
The two boats that caught my (and my daughter’s) eyes right off the bat were the two pontoon boats with upper decks on them! We first came across the 250 Atlantis Cruise. Looked like it had a sweet lighting package, and dual Suzuki 150 outboards. Sweet Ride!
The second one was a Sweetwater SWPE 235 SDP with a single Mercury 150 outboard. These boats definitely got the attention of all of the young families at the show (including mine) and there was always a line of people waiting for it!
The “If Money Were No Object” Boats
When I came across the Sweetwater SW 2286 WB I couldn’t help but take a few photos of it right away. This boat just oozes “cool”. It had a sweet bar, a cool LED lighting scheme, a sink, and a nice barbecue grill to top it off. I know that I am a sucker for “gadgets” on a pontoon boat but I could definitely see our family cooking up a nice barbeque lunch on this bad boy! List price for this particular model was around $53,000!
When you think about a pontoon boat you think big, roomy, comfortable, and relaxing. The Sylvan S3 Port is a behemoth of a boat and it really looked like a boat you could “chill” in. With it’s long length it appeared to be two living rooms situated lengthwise back-to-back. I didn’t hurt that it had a legitimate bathroom in the back as well as a double bimini. List price on this model is about $70,000.
The Trifecta 25 Sport C9 3.0+ looked like the “cool” boat of the show. I could totally picture it on the ocean, and with the double Mercury 300 hp engines you KNOW it’s going to be fast! Color scheme was super sporty, LED lighting scheme was just as cool as the color scheme, and the tritoon was the finishing touch! This one was “definitely” the “money is no object category at a list price of $151,500!
The “Best Pontoon Boat for the Money” Boats
Bennington 20SSRX – Bennington makes a helluva boat. When I got to their section I asked for their “most economical” boat and this is what they showed me! Upholstery looks very nice, layout looked nice, and the styling of all of the Bennington’s is awesome. This boat was no exception! It took a little bit of time for me to get my daughter from the steering wheel of this one! I know which one she liked the most! List price for the Bennington 20SSR is approximately $37,000.
Lowe SS 210 – I think Lowe makes a quality boat. It may be because their pontoon boats were sitting next to all of their fishing boats, or that I know Lowe as a fishing boat manufacturer, but I got the feeling that this boat had a little less features than some of the others I had looked at this day, and finishes were a little lower standard. Boat looked great though, and the list price was reasonable at around $30,000.
Sylvan 820 Cruise – I didn’t have Sylvan pontoon boats on my radar before the Denver boat show but I certainly do now! I really liked the look of these boats and after walking past the Sylvan S3 I was definitely interested in taking a look at their smaller versions. I came across the Sylvan 820 Cruise and DEFINITELY liked what I saw! Flooring was great, the seats were very plush, and I loved the styling and the color of the boat. The list price was really reasonable too at around $33,000. If I ever got the chance to pick up my own pontoon boat this one would be at the top of my list!
That’s my quick, non-expert review of some of the pontoon boats that caught my eye at the Denver boat show! It was definitely a great time hanging with my daughter and dreaming of warmer weather and calm water in the middle of the winter. It was great to be able to compare a bunch of different pontoon boat manufacturers at one time and at one place. I am definitely going to try and make it a habit to go to the show every year! Please feel free to comment let me know if you agree with my thoughts or if I missed something that I should have seen there!
