Gili Komodo 11’ iSUP: Overview
The Gili Komodo 11’ is a new twist on an old favorite. With this slightly longer version of the Komodo, Gili has kept all of the things we liked about the original Komodo 10’6” and added several features, including a complete kayak conversion kit. The Komodo 11’ is a great option for beginner paddlers who want a board with a little extra stability, paddling with a pet or smaller passenger, and those who want an all-in-one inflatable SUP/Kayak package.
— Gili Komodo 11’ iSUP Summary Ratings and Review —
Gili Komodo 11’
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Construction & Durability
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Features and Versatility
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Stability
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Speed
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Maneuverability
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Tracking
Overall Score
The Gili Komodo 11’ is a stable and feature-rich hybrid SUP and kayak.
Pros
- High quality construction for great durability and rigidity on the water
- Expansive feature set built directly onto the board
- Complete kit includes a kayak seat and kayak paddle conversion
- Full-length deck pad is great for paddling with passengers or pets
- Excellent tracking performance
- Performs well as an inflatable kayak
- New cargo management system makes customizing your layout easy
Cons
- The kayak seat system could be improved by physically joining the foam pad and seat rather than keeping them separate
- Board weight is notably heavier than specified
Construction and Durability
The Komodo 11’ iSUP uses Gili’s standard dual layer PVC construction to balance weight, rigidity, durability and cost.
The Gili Komodo 11’ uses a standard 6” thick knitted drop stitch inner core. The top and bottom fabric layers are made of a knitted material and are joined with thousands of V-stitched threads to keep the board flat and rigid when inflated.
The PVC shell is made of a dual-layer fusion PVC material that bonds both layers of PVC to the knitted fabric base layer at the raw material stage. This process reduces weight by eliminating excess glue, and also reduces manufacturing issues (like trapping air bubbles) that can arise from hand-glued layups.
The top and bottom of the board are joined together with a glued inner rail band, and another wider rail band glued on over top of that. Both are made with a reinforced PVC material. Finally, the Komod 11’ also gets a pair of seam reinforcement pin lines to cover the top and bottom edges of the outer rail for additional durability.
The Komodo 11’ has a maximum inflation pressure of 15 PSI and weighs in at 26 pounds for the board. That is five pounds heavier than the listed specification on Gili’s website.
In our bend test, the Gili Komodo 11’ bent 1.46” with 170 lbs placed on the standing area of the board. That is slightly better than our current running average of 1.56” with over 100 iSUPs tested.
While on the water I did not notice any flex or bend while standing and paddling normally. I could feel a small amount of flex while sprinting, but I had to be actively looking for it. While jumping on the board I could generate a moderate amount of flex, and the Komodo 11’ had a smooth rebound once I stopped.
Overall the Komodo 11’ has a good quality construction and feel on the water.
Specifications
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 11’ 0” |
| Width | 32.5“ |
| Thickness | 6“ |
| Weight | |
| Max Capacity | 410 pounds |
| Board Weight | 26 pounds |
| Kit Weight |
43 pounds |
| Buying Info | |
| List Price | $ |
| Warranty | 2 years |
| Returns period | 30 days |
Features, Accessories and Versatility
The Gili Komodo 11’ is a feature-rich all-around iSUP that is also designed (and kitted) to function as an inflatable kayak. Everything you need to use the Komodo 11’ as either an iSUP or IK is included with the board.
The Komodo 11’ is easily Gili’s most feature-rich and versatile iSUP to date. Gili has kept the main standing area of the deck clear for comfort and ease of use, but has greatly increased the Komodo 11’s cargo capacity and adjustability with the implementation of a set of nylon loop tabs along the sides of the board. This system allows you to easily tie down cargo wherever you want it, or to adjust the kayak seat forward or back to accommodate equipment or passengers. For those who paddle with smaller children, this also makes it incredibly easy to put the kayak seat at the front of the board for your little ones to sit on while you paddle from the middle of the board.
The Gili Komodo 11’ comes as a complete SUP kit, but doesn’t stop there. Along with the basic accessories (pump, leash, repair kit, fins, paddle) Gili also includes a complete kayak conversion kit with a kayak seat, riser pad, inflatable foot brace, and paddle conversion.
Something else that comes with your Komodo 11’ is a donation of over $600 worth of supplies to a dog rescue of your choice, making the Gili Komodo 11’ the ultimate SUP PUP paddle board! Gili has partnered with dog supply company Max & Neo to provide a donation of food, toys, leashes, collars, and more to any dog rescue of your choice (or simply leave that field blank to have Max & Neo pick a rescue for you).
The entire kit, including all of the kayak accessories, fits inside the wheeled transportation backpack that comes with the Komodo. I’ve found it’s easiest to use the side pocket and compression strap to hold the hand pump, but everything else fits nicely inside the main bag or the front zippered pockets
Paddle
The Komodo 11’ includes Gili’s carbon fiber/hybrid SUP paddle and additional paddle blade to convert to a kayak paddle.
The carbon fiber/nylon paddle that comes with the Gili Komodo 11’ is the same one that comes with the Gili Meno series premium iSUPs and is an upgrade over the fiberglass/nylon paddle that comes stock with the Komodo 10’6”.
The 3-piece paddle uses a carbon fiber shaft, carbon fiber handle and carbon fiber palm grip. The handle has length markings, but does not have any indexing, so you will need to make sure the handle is properly aligned with the paddle blade after adjusting the length. The handle is kept in place with a pressure clamp collar. You can easily adjust the tension in the clamp with a phillips-head screwdriver. I do recommend checking the tension and adjusting when first unpacking the paddle, as the screws are not always set correctly from the factory.
The blade is a relatively large size and made with a fiber-reinforced nylon material. The larger size and nylon material do make the blade noticeably heavy when compared to the lightweight carbon fiber shaft.
Together the nylon blade and carbon fiber shaft work well for casual cruising, but if you do plan to paddle for longer distances at a time, then I would recommend upgrading to a lighter and more balanced paddle.
Stability
The Komodo 11’ is a very stable all-around iSUP with a high quality deck pad that extends the entire length of the board.
The Komodo 11’ stays true to its predecessor’s excellent stability. While the Komodo 11’ is slightly narrower (32.5” measured vs 33”) the additional length adds just enough volume to make it very hard to find any difference in stability between the two. While paddling them back to back I could feel a slight difference in stability, but not much and only because I was looking for it.
I didn’t feel any twitching or rolling while paddling the Komodo 11’ and I had no problems moving around on the board, either. While balancing the Komodo 11’ on its edge the wide outline with parallel sides kept it feeling very stable, and while rocking the Komodo 11’ back and forth I found it to submerge and resurface very smoothly.
The parallel shape through the middle of the board also helps keep the Komodo 11’ feeling very consistently stable as you adjust your position to make room for passengers or cargo, or to step back onto the tail for a quick pivot turn.
With the nose lifted and the tail of the board underwater the Komodo 11’ feels very solid as it slices through the water without any catching or twitching.
Speed
With a longer and slightly narrower shape, the Komodo 11’ did not paddle noticeably faster than the Komodo 10’6”, but it does still carry a good amount of speed.
In our speed testing I found the Gili Komodo 11’ to be moderately fast with an average sustained sprinting speed of around 5.1 MPH and a peak speed of 5.4 MPH.
I didn’t notice any real flexing or bending in the board while sprinting, but did feel that the weight and size/shape of the paddle were a limiting factor in the speed test.
While its sprinting and top speed performance were ok, the Komodo 11’s cruising speed was better. At an average pace of 25 strokes per minute, the Komodo 11’ moved along at a brisk 3.4 MPH. At this slower cadence I also didn’t find the paddle to be nearly the hindrance that it was during the sprint testing.
With each paddle stroke the Komodo 11’ moved around 19 feet before slowing down, giving it a gliding ratio of 1.7 board-lengths per stroke. That’s slightly above average efficiency for an all-around style paddle board.
Overall I don’t feel that the Komodo 11’ is a super fast paddle board, but it does move easily and efficiently with a good cruising pace.
Maneuverability and Tracking
The Gili Komodo 11’ definitely favors straight line tracking more than quick maneuverability on the water.
For our maneuverability testing we put all of our boards through a stress test to see how well they respond to turning and steering input. From a standstill we use forward sweep strokes (paddling in an arc from nose to tail) and count how many it takes to make a complete 360° turn. The Gili Komodo 11’ needed an average of 7.25 forward sweep strokes to turn that full circle.
This is a little slower than average for all-around iSUPs of the Komodo 11’s size and shape. However, when using reverse sweep strokes (paddling in an arc from the tail to the nose) the Komodo 11’ is much quicker needing only 4 strokes on average to turn in a full circle.
It’s not incredibly common that you need to turn in a complete 360° circle while on the water, and while paddling I found the Komodo 11’ was easy to steer up to about 90° at a time without too much effort.
Similar to how we test maneuverability, we also put the Komodo 11’ through our tracking stress test. Here we get the board cruising toward a distant target and then take 10 forward strokes in a row on one side of the board. After the 10th stroke we measure how far off course we are.
The Komodo 11’ did extremely well in our tracking test, deviating an average of just 10° off course after 10 strokes. That is great tracking performance for an all-around paddle board.
For both the maneuverability and tracking test we use the complete set of fins that come with the board as this is how most people will set up their board.
The Gili Komodo 11’ has three fliplock style fin boxes. The larger center fin box holds a 9” touring style fin while the shorter-base side fin boxes hold the two 4.5” side fins.
By removing the side fins you’ll slightly increase the Komodo 11’s maneuverability and speed (while slightly reducing its tracking). Removing the center fin will greatly increase the board’s maneuverability, but you’ll lose out significantly on its tracking performance.
These fliplock fin boxes are super simple to use and require no tools, but are slightly limiting in the type of fins you can use. The good news is Gili does have a variety of different fin options for the center fin box, so you can get alternate fins for shallow water paddling.
Kayak Performance
One of the Komodo 11’s most prominent features is the kayak conversion kit included with the board.
While the Komodo 11’ is primarily a paddle board it is also meant to be paddled as a kayak. The included kayak conversion kit has a seat, riser pad, inflatable foot brace, and paddle conversion.
I found it very quick and easy to set up the kayak seat and foot brace. When paddling solo without a ton of equipment, you can use the designated kayak seat D-rings to place the kayak seat in the middle of the board, but if you are paddling with a passenger (or lots of cargo) you can easily adjust the seat position by using the multitude of nylon loop tabs along the side of the board.
The inflatable foot brace is likewise adjustable to fit your position and leg length. Having a foot brace allows you to use proper kayak paddling technique by engaging your legs with each paddle stroke.
Additionally the seat riser pad elevates you just enough off the deck of the board to keep your hips in a more comfortable position while paddling. The downside with this is that your center of gravity is a little higher compared to not using the riser pad, so it does reduce your primary stability. The bigger issue I ran into, though, is that the riser pad does not connect to the seat or board in any meaningful way. It was difficult to keep the seat positioned on the pad, and if you were to tip the board over, the pad would absolutely come out from under the seat (and possibly float away). I’d really like to see Gili add some velcro between the seat and the pad to solve this issue.
The paddle conversion from SUP to Kayak is quick and easy, but does have a few drawbacks as a kayak paddle. You can’t adjust the length of the paddle in Kayak mode which may be an issue for those on the far ends of the height spectrum. There are no drip rings installed on the paddle, so water does regularly run down the paddle onto your hands and lap. While the kayak paddle blade does allow you to adjust the feather angle for more efficient paddling in the wind, the large symmetrical blades are not ideal for kayak paddle strokes.
My recommendation, and I make this to anyone who wants a dual-purpose SUP, is if you plan to use it as a kayak often, go ahead and invest in a proper kayak paddle. Having the correct blade shape and other features found in dedicated kayak paddles will make a big difference as you add up the hours you spend on the water.
Overall the Komodo 11’ did perform well in kayak mode as well. Similar to how it performs as a SUP, the Komodo 11’ Kayak has great tracking performance, but is slightly slower to turn without more advanced strokes. After adjusting to the height of the seat I found the Komodo 11’ to be very stable as a kayak, and overall enjoyable to paddle. The addition of the loop tabs along the side of the board also make it possible to use kayak thigh straps if you are looking for a more connected kayaking experience without a proper cockpit.
Warranty and Customer Support
Gili Sports warranties their inflatable paddleboards for 2 years against any manufacturing defects. They also warranty their travel bags for one year, and all of their accessories for 90 days. If you decide that the Komodo is not the board for you, Gili Sports does have a 60-day no-questions asked return period, however the buyer must pay for shipping and a 20% restocking fee will be applied. If you have any questions about the Komodo, or any of Gili Sports’ other iSUPs, you can reach them by phone, email, social media or via a form on their website.
Overall Impressions/Review Summary
The Gili Komodo 11’ is both an evolution of the original Komodo 10’6” and a brand new board. It’s still an extremely stable all-around paddle board with a full-length deck pad, though now it is a little longer, a little narrower, and has even more versatility thanks to its cargo tie down system and included kayak conversion kit.
I think the Gili Komodo 11’ is a great option for anyone looking for a versatile all-around paddle board to use by themselves, with another passenger or pet, as a switch-hitter to go kayaking, and even for some SUP yoga or SUP camping adventures. While it doesn’t have the dedicated fishing features of the Gili Meno series, it has tons of cargo options for coolers, dry bags, tackle boxes, and more.
Gili Komodo 11’ iSUP FAQ
What is the difference between the Komodo 10’6” and the Komodo 11’?
The Gili Komodo 10’6” is slightly shorter and wider. If you paddle the two of them back to back, the Komodo 10’6” is slightly more stable. The Komodo 11’ is more of a hybrid iSUP/kayak and includes a full kayak conversion kit with the board.
Can I take my dog on the Gili Komodo 11’?
Absolutely! The full length deck pad and stable design of the Komodo 11’ make it a fantastic option for paddling with your pup.
Can I use the Gili Komodo 11’ for SUP Yoga?
Yes you can. The Gili Komodo 11’ is stable enough and has a large, clear, deck pad for SUP yoga, though the Gili Komodo 10’6” is slightly more stable.
Can I leave the Gili Komodo 11’ inflated?
Yes and no. You never want to leave any iSUP fully inflated while in the sun. The heat can increase the internal pressure of the board and potentially cause a failure. When stopping for more than 15-20 minutes at a time it’s best to “burp” your iSUP by releasing some of the pressure, and then top the board off with the hand pump before heading back out onto the water. For longer term storage you can leave your iSUP lightly inflated (around 5 PSI), but you will want to store it in a cool, dry place out of the sun.
Can I use the Gili Komodo 11’ for SUP fishing?
Yes you can. The new cargo tie down system and larger rear cargo area make it very easy to bring along coolers, dry bags, and other items for SUP fishing.
