Surf’s SUP in Phuket: Island gears up for 5th annual Thailand SUP Festival

Sure, Instagram and travel inspo channels are full of people riding off into sunsets and across open seas on SUP (stand-up paddleboarding) boards and even performing yoga on the floating platforms. If you’ve ever given the sport a try — especially in a choppy sea as opposed to a placid lake — you’ll know that it’s nowhere near as easy as it looks.

Some of the best-of-the-best SUP athletes will descend on Phuket on April 7 for the 5th annual  Thailand SUP Festival, an annual showcase of Stand Up Paddling (SUP) brands and names that brings together SUP enthusiasts from around the world for a fun and spirited weekend of networking and competition at one of Thailand’s most beautiful beaches.

The Thailand SUP Festival will take place at LUX Beach Club on Bang Tao Beach. With activities for the whole family including a six kilometer run, two kilometer technical SUP races, a team relay, 200 meter sprint, fun, family and kids races, SUP Yoga, and SUP lessons.

The last event brought together 80 competitors and around 300 spectators from Thailand, Singapore, Australia, Hungary and Japan. This year, the event organizers expect to attract up to 100 competitors, with paddlers from Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, China, and Australia already registered to attend.

The SUP races will start at 9am on Saturday April 7, so that it won’t be too hot for the competitors. There’s a lunch break before the afternoon races kick off again at 2pm, followed by SUP Yoga and SUP lessons with a buffet dinner and awards presentation at LUX Beach Club in the evening.

There’s a great prize pool on offer to the winners and participants with the total prize pool valued at THB150,000 (US$4,812).

Trash Hero Phuket will also be leading a beach clean up at Bang Tao Beach on the same day, starting at 4pm in front of the Beach Club. The first 100 people to register for the event will also receive a free Trash Hero 750ml stainless steel refillable water bottle plus free water refills on the day.

Stand Up Paddleboard brands Starboard, Sunova Surfboards, and BIC SUP will be at the event. Some of these companies manufacture Stand Up Paddleboards here in Thailand, and they hope to see the sport grow in popularity as it has done in other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the USA.

Story: The Phuket News



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