You may have seen a post I made last week where I found out that my brand new Honu Bondi had 3 leaks after I had taken it for just 2 paddles. The factory are being very good about repairing or replacing it for me, but since it's going to take a while to get back to me and I only have 3 weeks holiday I ordered an Aqua Marina Coral which is quite a bit cheaper but similar size and specs. I have just taken it for a first paddle this morning and I LOVE it! To the point I regret that I bought the Honu now. It handled the chop better, tracked better and felt more rigid. Haven't tried surfing on either yet so that's still to be decided but my gut feeling is it will win out on that too.

So to the people who replied when I initially asked which to get "Nah, don't get an Aqua Marina, you want something like a Honu which is much more rigid and better quality."

Yeah, nah. Lesson learned.