The Hala Atcha 96 is a dedicated whitewater SUP ready to tackle the toughest rivers.
Hala Atcha 96 Whitewater iSUP Review – Overview
Hala Gear’s flagship whitewater paddle board – the Atcha 96 – isn’t just their most well-known board. It’s one of the most-popular and most-used paddle boards in the sport of whitewater SUP.
The Atcha 96 is built for paddling the rowdiest rivers with massive drops, waves, haystacks, holes, and more. Their proprietary StompBox fin system gives a unique level of control while the large rocker profile keeps the board nimble and you on top of the water.
Editor’s Note: Whitewater paddle boards are highly-specialized iSUPs with a very different design and performance profile than boards built primarily for flat water. For our Whitewater SUP reviews we use a separate testing method and scoring scale compared to our all-around and other iSUPs.
Save $50 with code “INFLATABLEBOARD”— Hala Atcha 96 Whitewater iSUP Review Ratings and Summary —
Hala Atcha 96 Whitewater SUP
-
Construction & Durability
-
Features and Versatility
-
Stability
-
Agility
-
Control
-
Waves and Drops
Overall Score
The Hala Atcha 9.6 is one of the best whitewater SUPs on the market, especially for those seeking beyond Class III.
Pros
- High quality construction with welded seams for durability
- PVC stiffening stringer for additional rigidity
- High, continuous rocker profile to easily ride through waves and holes
- StompBox fin system allows you to use full-length fins in shallow water to maintain control without getting tossed
- Great board control and adjustability
- Includes flexible fins and wheeled carrying bag
- 5-year warranty
Cons
- The high rocker does reduce its ability to attain upstream and reduces speed/efficiency on the flat sections between rapids
- The larger fin / StompBox system takes some getting used to and can sometimes lock or change your course when you don’t expect it
Hala Atcha 96 Whitewater iSUP Review – Construction and Durability
The Hala Atcha 96 uses a woven drop stitch core to help keep the board rigid and reduce weight. The top and bottom of the board are built with a woven fabric material, and they are connected with thousands of yarns stitched through the top and bottom in a high-density pattern. This gives the board its 6” thickness and keeps the layers parallel to each other when inflated.
The outer shell is made with reinforced PVC tarpaulin fused directly to the inner core with heat and pressure. This ensures a solid, consistent bond between the layers, eliminates glue, and reduces weight without sacrificing durability or rigidity.
The Hala Atcha 96 uses a heat-welded inner seam with second layer of reinforced PVC around the rails.
Hala uses a heat-welded interior seam to bond the deck and hull material together, and then reinforces the rails of the board with a second layer of reinforced PVC.
With the board built and all of the features added, the Atcha 96 weighs in at 26.2 pounds for just the board. However, the removable StompBox fin system adds just over 2 pounds for a total weight of 28.3 pounds.
At its maximum inflation pressure of 18 PSI, the Hala Atcha 96 recorded 1.46” of bend in our static bend test – a bit better than our running average of 1.61”, but actually on the lower-end for whitewater SUPs we’ve tested. However, while our bend test is fun for us tech nerds, what really matters is how it feels on the water.
Whether I was standing still, paddling hard to attain upriver, or bracing over the first drop of a wave train, I didn’t notice any flex in the Atcha 96.
Save $50 with code “INFLATABLEBOARD”Specifications
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 9’ 6” |
| Width | 35.5“ |
| Thickness | 6“ |
| Weight | |
| Max Capacity | 275 pounds |
| Board Weight | 26.2 pounds |
| Kit Weight (SUP & accessories) | 38 pounds |
| Buying Info | |
| List Price | $1399 |
| Warranty | 5 years |
| Returns period | 30 days |
Hala Atcha 96 Whitewater iSUP Review – Features, Accessories and Versatility
As a purpose-built whitewater SUP, the Atcha 96 has a fairly small feature set, but includes everything you need for a day of play on the water.
The Hala Atcha 96 is 9’6” long, 35.5” wide (as measured), and 6” thick. It weighs 28.3 pounds with the StompBox fin and has a maximum recommended rider weight of 275 pounds. The midsection of the board is kept very wide for maximum stability, and the nose and tail are heavily rockered to handle waves, holes, and other whitewater features.
The nose has a broad triangular shape designed to lift up and over waves, but able to punch through the top of particularly tall and steep features without slamming to a halt.
There are three flat webbing carry handles on the Atcha’s nose, center, and tail.
The front cargo area is relatively small, but capable of holding 10-20L dry bags with all of your river essentials. Rather than using steel D-rings, hala uses webbing loops for tie down points to eliminate potential injury when falling on the board.
There are two additional handles near the front of the deck pad. These grab handles, or as I like to call them “Oh Shit!” handles, give you a great way to maintain control and stay on top of the board after falling. There are also two more soft rigging points at the front of the deck pad you can use to extend the front cargo area or rig a single-line cargo strap for a waterbottle or throw rope.
The center carry handle has light padding, but still lies flat to keep it from interfering with moving around on the board. The deck pad has a high-traction diamond groove pattern for secure foot placement.
The deck pad extends almost all the way to the tail of the board with a 1.5” tall kick pad to keep you from accidentally stepping off the back of the board and improve control when lifting the nose or surfing.
There is a raised indexing pad along the midline of the tail to help orient your feet without looking. The tail itself is quite wide with a slight fish tail shape to help improve maneuverability without giving up much stability.
There are two two-tab/FCS style fin boxes for the Atcha’s smaller 4.5” flex fins. Rather than having a typical US fin box, the Atcha uses Hala’s removable StompBox fin box system that allows the 9” flex fin to nearly fully retract into the fin box when paddling through shallow water or on forward-impact with rocks and other obstacles. To install the StompBox fin, simply inflate the board with just enough air to give it shape, insert it into the box, and then fully inflate the board. Small blocks and the pressure from the board hold it firmly in place.
The Hala Atcha 96 comes with a basic accessory kit.
As a specialty SUP it’s not unusual to see boards like the Hala Atcha 96 sold with just a basic kit of accessories. Because these boards are intended for advanced riders, including just a basic kit keeps costs lower by eliminating potentially duplicate items, or items that paddlers may have stronger personal preferences for.
Included with the Hala Atcha 96 is:
- Hala Atcha 96 Whitewater SUP
- Removable StompBox fin box with a 9” surf-style fin preinstalled
- Two 4.5” FCS/two-tab flexible side fins
- Fin key/wrench
- Dual-action hand pump
- Repair kit
- Wheeled, duffel-style transportation bag
The Atcha 96 does not include a paddle or leash. Hala’s Grafik paddle is a great match and is available as a 2-piece or 3-piece travel paddle. They also have dedicated whitewater quick-release leashes. If you are unfamiliar with this leash style or would like to learn more about why standard leg-leashes are extremely dangerous on moving water, check out our blog post about leashes.
Save $50 with code “INFLATABLEBOARD”Hala Atcha 96 Whitewater iSUP Review – Paddle
The Atcha 96 doesn’t come with a paddle automatically, however Hala has a few different paddle options that match well with this high-performance whitewater SUP.
The Hala Grafik paddle has a thermoplastic and carbon fiber blade and lever-lock adjustable handle.
The Hala Grafik paddle is a great match for the Atcha 96. It’s built for durability and performance rather than shaving ounces that could potentially shorten the paddle’s life span. It’s available as a 2-piece adjustable (Grafik) and 3-piece adjustable travel version (Lock & Load Grafik) with the same materials and designs.
The blade is made with a mix of fiber reinforced thermoplastic and carbon fiber. The reinforced thermoplastic core is lighter than a typical nylon paddle blade, but provides more flex than pure fiberglass or carbon fiber constructions. That flex helps improve damage resistance from impact, gives the paddle a natural feel in the water, but is still rigid enough to produce significant power when needed thanks to the outer carbon fiber layer and low-aspect blade shape.
The only downside I found with this blade is a bit of an odd one. The outer carbon fiber layer is made with unidirectional fibers running straight down the length of the blade. Because of that directionality, the fibers are cut and end all along the edge of the blade – sort of like runout wood grain. When packing up after a park ‘n’ play session at my local wave I actually got small carbon fiber splinters from both versions of the Grafik paddle. I talked to Hala about this and they recommended lightly sanding the edge of the paddle to knock down any potential splinters. A small piece of 220 grit sandpaper and two minutes later and the paddle edges feel smooth to me – though I’ll be sure to be careful with the blades in the future.
The paddle shaft is made with a 3k carbon fiber weave for a lightweight and stiff paddle shaft. The handle section is also primarily made with carbon fiber, but has a plastic T-grip at the top to accommodate the lever-lock adjustment system.
There is both a printed length scale and indexing mark on the paddle shaft/handle to help you set up your paddle. The lever lock system uses a rubber stopper at the end of the handle section connected to the grip with a metal wire inside the handle. Opening the lever releases tension on the cable and stopper and allows you to adjust the length and orientation of the handle, and clamping the lever down tensions the whole system for a snug fit. The Lock & Load 3-piece Grafik paddle uses the same type of system to connect the blade section to the shaft.
The lever-lock system is, in my experience, fairly polarizing. Some people really like it, others really don’t, and there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of in-between amongst those I’ve spoken to about it. Personally, I fall into the “not my cup of tea” camp. I think it’s a little over-engineered and heavy for what it is and needs some regular user-maintenance to keep it working properly – mostly manually adjusting the tension on the cable to securely hold the rubber stopper without over-tensioning and potentially breaking part of the system. However, I will admit that the system does work well. When properly adjusted it’s an extremely secure connection with few externally-exposed pieces. While paddling with the Grafik paddles I never worried about the system and even the 3-piece paddle had a very solid feel.
Overall I do think the Hala Grafik and Lock & Load Grafik paddles are great options for whitewater paddlers.
Save $50 with code “INFLATABLEBOARD”Hala Atcha 96 Whitewater iSUP Review – Stability
Whitewater SUP, probably not surprisingly to you, requires a fair amount of balance from the paddler, but a highly-stable board shape like the Hala Atcha 96 helps!
The wide, parallel shape and continuous rocker help make the Hala Atcha 96 very stable, even when stepping all the way to the back of the board for a fast pivot turn.
In the shortest terms, the larger the board the more stable it will be. But to take that to an extreme brings tradeoffs everywhere else. Whitewater SUPs are built for stability, but are actually less stable than many large all-around boards, but for a very good reason (hence why we use a different scoring rubric!).
Flatwater stability on the Atcha 96 is great. The near 36” width and parallel mid section does a great job at resisting tipping or tilting side to side. But it’s a very different feeling from a 34-36” all-around board because the Atcha 96 has some extreme nose and tail rocker – how far the board lifts up from the water at the nose and tail. That means that only about half of the board length is in contact with the water at any one time.
The rocker has a mostly-continuous curve from nose to tail which, combined with the wide, parallel shape keeps the Atcha 96 feeling consistently stable as you change stances and shift weight forward and back on the board. This is critically important as you frequently adjust the trim of your board when navigating through waves, drops, and carving across the current.
While paddling across moderate and fast currents the Atcha 96 easily handled changes in water speed without unexpectedly catching, tipping, or tilting along seams. Paddling over wave trains was incredibly smooth with the rocker profile keeping the board from pearling in the wave faces. While it does reduce the overall stability of the board compared to some other whitewater SUPs, that shape is important for paddling through harder terrain above Class III.
Overall, the Atcha 96 offers great stability for a whitewater SUP without sacrificing any of its hard-charging performance characteristics.
Save $50 with code “INFLATABLEBOARD”Hala Atcha 96 Whitewater iSUP Review – Agility and Control
Whitewater SUPs are known for their ability to change direction on a dime, but that is only a good thing if they can also keep their line when you need them to. The Hala Atcha 96’s unique design and fin system give it both Agility and Control with few drawbacks.
The 9” fin gives you excellent drive and line control when crossing turbulent water with different speeds.
With a super-short waterline length thanks to the high rocker profile, the Atcha 96 feels incredibly maneuverable on the water. A single forward sweep paddle stroke was enough to turn nearly 180 degrees. When I stepped back onto the tail for a pivot turn, I turned so fast I nearly ran right into the rock I was maneuvering around.
While paddling through a wave train I was easily able to adjust my position and orientation on the water, and carve frontside and backside turns into eddies.
However, hyper-agility isn’t everything. If that were it, then we’d just take out all the fins from our whitewater SUPs. There are definitely people that paddle with that setup, and I’ve tried it. I do not recommend it in the least. If you have nothing but agility without control, then it becomes nearly impossible to maintain your line while paddling. This can lead you off course (potentially running into some dangerous hazard) or broadside when you’re trying to navigate through a tricky section of water, through a wave train, or tipping into a hole.
To test control I spent time ferrying back and forth through different speed currents and also attained up river through an “obstacle course” of sorts.
The calling card of Hala’s whitewater SUPs is the StompBox fin system. This retractable fin allows you to use a full 9” surf-style fin that can fold into the board when it impacts anything underwater while moving forward. This gives the Atcha 96 (plus the Atcha 86, Rado, and Radito) a very unique feeling on the river.
The Atcha 96’s fin system can hold its line through whitewater and offers moderate tracking performance while attaining upstream.
The board design itself allows it to turn easily, but the 9” fin can provide significant amounts of tracking and drive. While ferrying across mild to moderate current, the Atcha 96 will basically stay in the direction you point it the whole time with little to no correction. In heavier current I did find that the 9” fin occasionally “takes over” and will orient the board more directly upstream if you don’t make corrective strokes to keep your initial ferry angle.
A similar thing happened in the attainment course when ferrying out from behind an eddy. Normally when ferrying out from an eddy, once the belly of the board crosses the eddy line into the current. the board will begin to spin downstream. Instead, that large fin held the board on course for much longer than I expected, and even though I learned my lesson from actually hitting the rock with the Radito, I still had to take a quick corrective stroke to stop from hitting the same rock with the Atcha 96.
Once out of the eddy the Atcha 96 did a relatively good job of keeping pointed up stream while I paddled against the current toward my next target. However, the rocker profile and shorter waterline did make it want to turn more with each stroke. About every other stroke needed to have some degree of correction to keep moving upstream.
The 9” retractable fin gives the Atcha 96 more control than a typical 1+2 fin setup in a whitewater board, but can sometimes force the board to point more up or downstream than you want.
As I mentioned earlier, the StompBox fin system is unique and takes some getting used to. After my initial ferrying and attaining tests I began to get a feel for when the larger fin would drive more or re-orient the board. Each time I came back to a board with the StompBox fin from one that didn’t have it I did have to feel it back out for a minute. But like so many other things, it doesn’t take long to get comfortable and learn how to make it work to your advantage.
The Atcha 96 comes with a 9” surf-style fin, though a 9” touring-shape and 4.5” short fin are available from Hala. The biggest drawback with this system is that these are proprietary fins. You can only replace them with compatible fins from Hala. The good news is, the flexible construction means they are incredibly hard to break.
Overall, the Hala Atcha 96 provides excellent agility on the water and a great level of control for an advanced whitewater SUP. It takes a little getting used to, but the StompBox fin system can really lend itself handy when you need to stay on line for those must-make moves in harder whitewater.
Save $50 with code “INFLATABLEBOARD”Hala Atcha 96 Whitewater iSUP Review – Waves, Drops, and Surfability
Time for the big question – how hard can the Hala Atcha 96 go? Short answer – harder than me!
The Hala Atcha 96 has no problems dropping into wave trains and holes, and the rocker profile and board shape carries you out just as easily.
Whitewater SUP is a blast. It’s actually the specific discipline for my ACA instructor certification. But you won’t catch me out on Class IV+ whitewater. It’s just not my speed. I love Class II and enjoy the occasional Class III run. With a dry winter this year, pickings are slim around my parts, but this class II+ surf wave makes a great park ‘n’ play spot and consistent option for side-by-side testing and photographing whitewater SUPs.
The Atcha 96 handles whitewater of all kinds with ease. The rocker profile makes climbing up a wave train feel almost like flatwater. Ok, maybe not quite that easy, but it has no issues handling Class III wave trains. The newly refined nose shape has more of a point to allow the Atcha 96 to punch through the tops of taller haystack waves and resurface cleanly after dropping down into the water. More rounded shapes present more surface area and can sometimes feel like slamming on the brakes if it plows through a wave or hole.
The retractable fin also helps the Atcha 96 slide over the top of pour-over rocks and drops without catching – though if you use the 4.5” fins alongside it you’ll need to be mindful of those. We do always test boards with all included fins, but personally I will be leaving those fins in the bag when heading out to the river for myself.
The rocker profile of the Atcha is built for surfing waves and holes as well as running through them. However, at 9’6” you do need a specific shape wave to effectively surf without pearling – even with all of that rocker. My local park ‘n’ play wave is notoriously picky, especially at lower water levels like we have this spring. While I wasn’t successful in surfing the Atcha 96 during testing, I have surfed on the previous generation. The fin setup does a great job of keeping you oriented onto the wave face, but still offers enough control for wider sweeping maneuvers. But, if you plan to focus on this style of river play, you may want to consider the slightly smaller Atcha 86 for more maneuverability and an easier time catching more waves.
Save $50 with code “INFLATABLEBOARD”Hala Atcha 96 Whitewater iSUP Review – Warranty and Customer Support
Hala Gear offers a 5-year warranty for their inflatable paddle boards. If you have any issues with your Atcha 96, call up the customer care team in Steamboat, CO (or drop by if you are in the neighborhood) and they’ll take care of you. Paddles and other accessories are warrantied for one year from the date of purchase. Hala does have a 30-day return period, however it is for new, unused, products only. If you have any questions about Hala, their boards, or a warranty issue, you can contact them via website chat, email, phone, at their HQ, or through social media.
Save $50 with code “INFLATABLEBOARD”Hala Atcha 96 Whitewater iSUP Review – Final Thoughts
The Hala Atcha 96 is built to tackle anything the river can throw at you.
If you talk to any whitewater SUPer, they’ll know Hala. They’ll know the Atcha 96. And there’s a good chance they have one (or their buddy has one). It’s one of the most well-known whitewater SUPs for a lot of reasons, but the biggest is – it works. It’s a tough, stable, agile board built to climb wave trains, clear holes, and help you navigate the toughest whitewater conditions out there season after season. With well over a decade of incremental shaping and material improvements, the Atcha 96 is quite possibly the pinnacle of design for intense whitewater paddling, though I know the crew at Hala doesn’t plan to stop improving every bit they can.
If you are looking for a whitewater SUP to take you to Class IV and beyond, look no further than the Atcha 96.
Save $50 with code “INFLATABLEBOARD”
Leave a Reply