Glide O2 Lotus 3.0 Inflatable SUP Review – A Yoga Cruiser with all the Bells and Whistles | 2025

Glide O2 Lotus 3.0 iSUP Review – Overview

Glide SUP is known for making high-quality and highly-durable paddle boards and are a favorite among outfitters, guides, instructors, and Yogis.

The Lotus has been one of Glide’s best-selling paddle boards for years in both its composite and inflatable construction, and the new O2 Lotus 3.0 is the next evolution in the series.

The O2 Lotus 3.0 is lighter, stronger, and better-performing on the water all while being incredibly stable whether you are paddling, relaxing, or working your core with some SUP Yoga.

— Glide O2 Lotus 3.0 iSUP Review – Summary and Ratings —

---

Glide O2 Lotus 3.0 iSUP Review – Construction and Durability

Glide SUP’s new construction and materials have made the O2 Lotus 3.0 lighter than ever before while still earning high marks for rigidity and durability.

If you were to cut open your O2 Lotus 3.0 (not advised, btw!) you’ll find Glide’s new AeroMatrix cross-woven drop stitch core. This new core construction combines a woven fabric base layer for the top and bottom of the board and connects them with thousands of cross-woven drop-stitched yarns to keep the board flat when inflated and maintain its 6” thickness.

Woven base layers offer less stretch and lower weight compared to the typical knitted materials. The same goes for the cross-woven drop stitch pattern connecting the layers. By angling and alternating the stitching, the AeroMatrix core maintains excellent rigidity while keeping weight at a minimum.

Glide has long been known for making extremely durable paddle boards (both rigid and inflatable), and that pedigree continues. The 1300D reinforced, dual-layer fusion PVC shell is mechanically bonded to the drop stitch core to eliminate the weight and error potential from a hand-glued layup.

The deck and hull of the board are joined together with Glide’s new ThermoFuse rail system. This new construction uses three layers of PVC and heat welds the seams for a permanent bond. In addition to improving durability against abrasion and impact, the new rail system also helps increase rigidity. You can easily feel this when the board is deflated – the rails want to maintain their vertical alignment and take some convincing to lay flat and fold away at the end of the day.

After the board is built and all of the permanent features affixed, the O2 Lotus 3.0 weighs just 22 pounds, and it’s rated by glide for inflation up to 25 PSI – higher than most electric pumps will even go!

With the Lotus inflated to 20 PSI (the maximum we use in our testing), we loaded the board with 170 pounds of weight for our static bend test. Glide has a history of producing very rigid inflatable boards, and that hasn’t changed with the new 3.0 construction. The O2 Lotus bent just 1.14” in our bend test. That’s almost a full half-inch more rigid than our running average of 1.61”.

The new O2 Lotus 3.0 had essentially the same bend test result as last year’s O2 Lotus model, but is 3 pounds lighter. That’s a 12% weight savings with no reduction in rigidity. Bravo, Glide!

On the water, the O2 Lotus 3.0 felt very comfortable on the water. There’s no flexing under your feet, and no flexing in the board while standing, paddling normally, or moving around on the board, including while moving through various yoga poses.

I did generate a moderate amount of flex while bouncing on the Lotus and while paddling at a hard sprint. There was a tight rebound feeling when I stopped bouncing on the board, but that was the only time I felt it.

Overall, the Glide O2 Lotus 3.0 is built incredibly well. With modern fusion and welded construction and reinforced rails and shell, the Lotus is rigid and poised to last a lifetime.

Specifications

Glide O2 Lotus 3.0 iSUP Review – Features, Accessories and Versatility

The O2 Lotus 3.0 is designed for Yoga, but its wide shape and full length deck pad make it a very stable and versatile board for general cruising and all-around use as well.

Glide includes a complete kit of accessories with the O2 Lotus 3.0. The only thing you’ll need to add before hitting the water is a life jacket.

The O2 Lotus 3.0 kit includes:

• Rolling backpack bag
• Double-action hand pump
• Coiled leash
• Three-piece fiberglass/nylon paddle
• Inflatable kayak seat with straps
• One 9” fin
• Repair kit

The included kayak seat has an adjustable back with a large mesh pocket. Having an inflatable seat lifts your hips off the deck of the board while seated and puts your legs and feet into a more comfortable position compared to sitting directly on the board or on a thin foam style seat. However, the Lotus does not include a second paddle blade. You can purchase an additional paddle blade from Glide to fully convert the O2 Lotus into a sit-on-top kayak.

Glide O2 Lotus 3.0 iSUP Review – Paddle

The O2 Lotus 3.0 comes with a three-piece fiberglass and nylon hybrid paddle.

Glide’s fiberglass paddle is built around comfort. Fiberglass is a great middle-ground material for paddle shafts. It’s lighter than aluminum, but not as stiff (or expensive) as carbon fiber. This allows the paddle to be light in your hands and have a comfortable and forgiving amount of flex while paddling. The only real downside is that the extra flex makes it harder to paddle at a sprint – not something that many folks will be doing often on the O2 Lotus anyway!

The blade is made with a lightweight, fiber-reinforced nylon. This is a durable and semi-flexible material, so the blade won’t chip or crack if you accidentally hit a submerged rock or drop the paddle in the parking lot. The mid-size blade works well for paddlers of all sizes, and the slight scoop shape is intuitive for new paddlers to use.

The handle section is also made with fiberglass and features a textured-plastic palm grip. The grip feels solid, not flimsy, in your hand, and there’s just enough texture to provide some extra grip without irritating your skin. You can change the length of the paddle with the pin-and-clip adjustment system. Glide has printed both a height and length scale on the handle section for quick adjustment, and the pin system automatically aligns the handle to the blade.

I think the Glide fiberglass paddle is a great compliment to their all-around and cruiser paddle boards. While it is a little on the “soft” side for powerful paddling, it is a very comfortable paddle to use while cruising for hours at a time.

Glide O2 Lotus 3.0 iSUP Review – Stability

As a Yoga paddle board, the O2 Lotus is designed for excellent stability. The wide shape and broad nose and tail make it easy to stand, paddle, stretch, and move on the water.

At 35” wide, it came as no surprise to me that the O2 Lotus 3.0 feels extremely stable on the water. I did not notice any rolling or twitching, and even when paddling hard in a sprint the board remained easily stable with no “bucking” or other reduction in stability.

I found it easy to control the tilt of the Lotus and smoothly rock the board side to side without any sudden catching as the rails dipped under the water. I can easily hold the board tipped onto its rail with just a tiny amount of effort. The widely sweeping shape of the Lotus keeps it feeling consistently stable when walking to the nose or tail of the board, and lifting the nose for a pivot turn was smooth and easy.

The full-length deck pad allows you to confidently use the whole board whether that’s moving around, paddling with a pet or passenger, or practicing some Yoga.

After stowing my paddle under the cargo bungee, I stepped back and began working through some stretches and simple Yoga poses. The Lotus remained easily stable as I shifted weight forward and back transitioning from Downward Facing Dog to Cobra. Lifting a leg and moving into pigeon likewise resulted in very little movement in the board. I felt some side-to-side wobble when standing up in Warrior 1, which increased when I turned into Warrior 2, but throughout my whole routine, the Lotus remained reliable and consistent, even during the windy conditions we had for our photo shoot.

Glide O2 Lotus 3.0 iSUP Review – Speed

The O2 Lotus 3.0 is a wide cruiser-style SUP built for stability and comfort, but that doesn’t stop it from paddling quickly when you want it to.

Our speed testing revolves around three aspects – sprinting, cruising, and efficiency. Based on its size and shape I did not expect the O2 Lotus to impress me in these categories, but I was happily surprised as I took the board through its paces.

While the Lotus isn’t going to be winning any races, I was happy with its sprint testing results. In a sustained sprint (75 strokes per minute), the Lotus 3.0 moved along at an average of 4.8 MPH, and when cranking things up as fast as I could, I managed to reach 5.4 MPH. With such a wide board and a softer fiberglass paddle I feel that this is an impressive result.

However, the cruising speed and efficiency of this board are really where it shines. At a very casual pace of 25 strokes per minute, the O2 Lotus 3.0 moves along at an average of 3.6 MPH – that’s a great result for an all-around board that’s just 32-33” wide, much less 35”! At those cruising speeds I found that a single paddle stroke would propel the Lotus an average of 19 feet, or 1.8 board-lengths, before I felt it slow down. Again, that’s an impressive result even for an iSUP several inches narrower.

Glide O2 Lotus 3.0 iSUP Review – Maneuverability and Tracking

With all three included fins installed, the Glide O2 Lotus 3.0 has a good balance of maneuverability and tracking, but slightly favors agility over paddling straight.

We always test boards with the full fin setups that they ship with. Though our Lotus came with additional prototype fin boxes, we tested with just the single center fin that is standard on the board.

Using forward sweep strokes (paddling in an arc from nose to tail) it takes an average of just over 5 strokes to turn the O2 Lotus in a full circle. That is about average for all-around boards in the 10-11’ length with a single center fin.

If you use a more efficient turning stroke like the reverse sweep (paddling in an arc from tail to nose), the O2 Lotus spins around more quickly, needing just 3.5 strokes on average. Of course, with such a large, stable board it’s also easy to step back toward the tail of the board for a quick and easy pivot turn.

I also found it easy to maneuver the Lotus while cruising around. It responds quickly to basic steering, and you can easily turn the board up to about 90 degrees with just one or two short strokes.

Paddling the O2 Lotus in a straight line was a little harder, but still within normal range for this size paddle board.

In our 10-stroke tracking test, the O2 Lotus paddled off course by an average of about 20° after the tenth stroke. That’s right around average for a 10’6” all-around board with a similar fin setup, however that’s on the better side of average for an extra wide iSUP like the O2 Lotus.

While “average” performance in maneuverability and tracking may not seem to be an outstanding result, it’s actually a hard thing to do on such a wide board. Generally these types of boards have good maneuverability, but notably bad tracking, so an “average” balance of the two is actually a big positive.

The fin setup on the O2 Lotus is simple and effective. A single larger US (Universal Standard) fin box holds a 9” fin at the rear of the board. The US fin box allows you to easily swap for a larger or smaller fin if you want to change the tracking/maneuverability performance balance, or if you paddle often in shallow water.

The split design can make rolling the O2 Lotus 3.0 easier at the end of the day, but you’ll want to make sure that your fin is positioned and attached securely on each side of the split to avoid potentially losing a fin while paddling.

Glide O2 Lotus 3.0 iSUP Review – Warranty and Customer Support

Glide warranties their paddleboards against manufacturing defects for five years, and their accessories carry a one-year warranty as well. There is a 30-day return period, however the customer is responsible for shipping costs and a 20% restocking fee. You can contact Glide customer service through their website, via email, over the phone, on social media, or in person through their retail network or at their Salt Lake City, UT warehouse if you happen to be in the area!

Glide O2 Lotus 3.0 iSUP Review – Final Thoughts

The Glide O2 Lotus 3.0 is an awesome Yoga cruiser iSUP. It’s extremely stable, but paddles easily. It’s got a nice clean deck, but with the option to load it up as needed, or even convert it to a sit-on-top kayak with the included seat. Its design is well-balanced, and the new construction and materials keep it both incredibly rigid and lightweight. I’ve found the O2 Lotus 3.0 to be a big improvement over the previous generation without any drawbacks to do so.

If you are looking for a high-quality cruiser iSUP that can handle SUP yoga at all levels and even paddling with a passenger, the Glide O2 Lotus 3.0 is the right choice for you.

Glide O2 Lotus 3.0 iSUP Review – FAQ