• 
• 
• 

Click to view larger

In 1971, in a backyard in Malibu, California, our original founder took an old surfboard and carved out two places — one to sit in and another for his scuba gear. That's right the Ocean Kayak was born thanks to a passion for scuba diving.

But as this craft was seen on the water and on the beach, people began to inquire. Originally built as a fiberglass kayak several people started asking how they could get one.

In the mid-80s the operation moved north to Ferndale, WA which is where it still operates today. Once in Ferndale, we started looking at ways to mass produce the kayaks. Roto-molding was the answer. We started with only one model.

Early on, people laughed at our boats. After all, Ocean Kayak didn't look anything like traditional kayaks. But then they took a second look…and noticed some of the advantages. Unlike traditional kayaks, a sit-on-top kayak features a cockpit that is easy to get in and out of and doesn't require you to learn how to do an "Eskimo roll." The sit-on-top is open, non-confining and more welcoming to people who may not think they can use a kayak.

Then we started taking our boats to ocean resorts. And people really began to catch on. They'd get back home, tell their friends about this great new boat they'd discovered, and then look for a place to buy one. To make it easier, we started molding our phone number right into the boat. Take a look at one sometime. It's still there.

In the mid-80s we stopped making kayaks out of fiberglass and began mass-producing them from rotomolded polyethylene. It made them much tougher — practically indestructible, in fact. And much more affordable. Not to mention much more popular.

Today, many thousands and thousands of boats later, we're the world's biggest maker of sit-on-tops. We make the planet's most popular kayak, the Malibu Two. And we still lead the field in innovation. Which makes sense, when you consider how much more experience we have. Most of our competitors only got going in the 1990s, so it'll take them a while to catch up.