NSP Cruise Elements Review

The NSP Cruise Elements stands out as an easy-to-transport, hard-shell SUP with a durable construction that falls on the more affordable end of rigid boards. While its performance is best suited for calm, flat water, this SUP delivers decent stability, making it a practical choice for beginner and casual paddlers. It has decent glide in calm conditions, and despite its size, it remains relatively simple to carry since it only weighs 28 pounds. The Cruise Elements is a no-frills board built for ease of use and durability, especially for those sticking to mellow water.

Glide

As you will see below, this board has a significant issue with tracking. The board has a tendency to wander, requiring exaggerated, outward-angled paddle strokes to keep it on course. Overall, it requires more effort to maintain a straight line and consistent speed, which limits its efficiency and glide.

On flat water, the Cruise Elements was average in terms of glide. It isn't super smooth, but you don't feel sluggish when paddling. Add any sort of wind or waves, though, and it was a totally different story, where our testers were fighting to keep this board moving forward. It felt there was as much back-and-forth movement as there was forward progress. It also bounces up and over waves in a rodeo-esque way, making it hard to stay on and to keep the board's momentum up.

Stability

During our tests, the board was overall stable, ranking in the middle of all of the boards we have tested. The side rails sit lower in the water, which meant that when we were leaning one way or another, it did not feel as stable. Our testers rocked this board back and forth during some of our tests and felt that it took on more water than other boards, which made it feel less stable, especially in choppy conditions.

On flat water days, this board is great and easy to stay up on. When we took beginners out, they felt pretty solid stability-wise. Again, the Cruise Element really just felt like an average, middle-of-the-road board for us here. Nothing too terrible and nothing outstanding. Beginners would do totally fine on this board on flat days, but choppy water brought some issues. We discuss this below in construction quality, but the board has a reverb feeling in chop, which some testers said made them feel far less confident in less than flat paddling conditions.

Broadside waves on this board weren't a huge issue since it is relatively stable, although with some of the bigger waves we did get the sucking sensation that pulls your board and makes you feel like you might tip with the wave. For the most part, the waves didn't cause much issue with balance, only navigation, as you'll read below.

Maneuverability

As you can see in the video below, this board exhibits significant back-and-forth movement when paddling. Whether it was a flat, calm water day or extremely windy, our testers felt like they were constantly fighting to keep this board in a relatively straight line. It has a single center fin and may benefit from having two additional smaller side fins. We even tried several different paddles with this board, but it didn't alleviate the issue.

Luckily, the board does turn pretty easily, even though it is a longer board, with 3-4 strokes getting you turned 180 degrees.

Ease of Transport

For its 11' 6" size, this board is a breeze to transport. It weighs under 30 pounds, which means it is relatively easy to get on and off a car solo, and carrying down to the water is no issue. It doesn't have tip or tail handles, which are always nice for transportation, but we didn't mind too much since it weighed less than many of our other hardshell SUPs. On windier days, it certainly catches the breeze with its larger size and is a little harder to carry, but other than that, this board was easy for us to take out and get back home!

We do wish the carry handle in the middle was a bit deeper. Unless you have small hands, it feels like a shallow grip and strains the fingers more than other handles.

Construction Quality

This board features a secure-cell EPS core (a type of foam that creates a closed-cell structure, making it lightweight and water-resistant) , reinforced with fiberglass, glass stringers, a durable gel coat skin, and a wood layer beneath the standing area, offering a strong, long-lasting construction with solid performance. The Cruise Elements has a single 8" center fin that requires a tool to take on and off (although we did manage to get it on tight enough and back off without a tool when it was forgotten on one test paddle).

Right out of the box, this board feels like it might be on the lower end in terms of its construction quality. However, after several weeks of testing and numerous bumps and drops, this board is still holding up well. The fiberglass construction allows it to be light and easy to transport, but has a durable gel coating that helps protect it from getting banged up during transportation.

The downside to this foam core wrapped in fiberglass construction is that it produces a lot of reverb in choppy conditions. One tester commented that it almost felt like a trampoline underfoot. On a flat, calm-water day, this isn't noticeable, but any waves and paddlers will feel the reverb.

Several of our testers were dissatisfied with the deck material, finding it uncomfortable after more than 45 minutes of use. This may be due to the wooden standing area located below the deck padding, but it is more likely a result of the material used to make the deck padding.

The storage straps on the front are very basic and offer 1-2 fewer cross spots than most other cargo straps do. The Cruise does offer an FCS plug on the nose to mount your action camera if that is a function you're looking for.

Should You Buy the NSP Cruise Elements?

This board scored mid-range in almost every category with our testers. While it wasn't terrible in any one category, we weren't super impressed with anything either. At this price point, we would expect a board like this to perform a bit better all around.

Beginner paddlers or those seeking an easy-to-use board for calm conditions will enjoy this SUP. If getting a hardshell board that is lightweight and can be transported easily is your goal, this also might be the right choice for you. Do consider that you will need to buy a paddle, leash, and life jacket separately.

What Other Stand Up Paddle Boards Should You Consider?

If you're looking for a lighter board that has a higher all-around performance, consider checking out the Surftech Catalyst Tuflite V-Tech or the SIC Maui TAO Fit AT. Both are under 30 pounds. Want something even more lightweight? An inflatable paddle board may be the route for you! If you're looking for a more affordable beginner board, check out the Pelican Flow, although do note that it is on the heavier end of our hardshell boards.