Northern California has a number of great locations for towed water sports such as wakeboarding, wake surfing, waterskiing, and tubing.
Between Lake Tahoe and man-made reservoirs such as Folsom Lake, Lake Shasta, Lake Sonoma, and Lake Berryessa — Northern California sport boaters have plenty of choices. Wakeboarding and waterskiing are also popular in the Delta.
Thanks to the booming towboat industry, boat shoppers have a large number of choices in terms of functions, features, and price.
Below are ten of the most popular wake surf and wakeboard boat brands in Northern California. We have provided links to a Northern California dealership for each brand.
As you can imagine, there is a large secondary market for towboats. We have an inventory of used boats.
1. Malibu
The Malibu Wakesetter is a hugely popular towboat. Malibu boasts that it produces, "The World's Best Wakesurfing, Wakeboarding & Water Skiing Towboats."
The Malibu 23 LSV was named the 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024 wakeboarding and wake surfing boat of the year by WakeWorld.
Malibu currently lists West Coast Boat Center in Rocklin as it's Northern California dealer.
2. MasterCraft
MasterCraft is right alongside Malibu in Northern California ski boat and wakeboard boat popularity.
NXT towboats, XT wakeboard boats, and X wake surf boats are all well-known for their respective uses. The tagline for the X family is "Luxury that rips."
The XT family currently comes in 20' and 21' 4" lengths.
MasterCraft dealerships can be found in Rocklin and Sacramento.
3. Chaparral
The Chaparral SSI series is popular for its high performance-to-price ratio.
Chaparral was Founded in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1965. The company relocated to Nashville, Georgia in 1976.
If you live in Northern California and want to visit a showroom, you'll need to cross the border into Nevada. The Reno dealership is Michaels Reno Powersport.
4. Cobalt
Cobalt Boats was founded in 1968 in Neodesha, Kansas. Cobalt was acquired by Malibu Boats in 2017.
Malibu decided to retain the Cobalt brand as well as Cobalt's manufacturing location in Neodesha.
Popular models spanning years throughout the 2000s are the 232, the 242, and the 262.
West Coast Boat Center carries Cobalt.
5. Correct Craft
Correct Craft "is the oldest family-owned and operated boat manufacturer in the world."
Nautique is Correct Craft's best-known brand. Many of the models include the label "Super Air", as in the Super Air Nautique G35, which is a high-passenger capacity, luxury model.
The Nautique G23 was named WakeWorld's 1st runner-up for wakeboarding and wake surfing in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, & 2024.
Correct Craft owns a number of other boat companies, including Centurion, Supreme, and Bryant.
In 2018, Centurion released its Opti-V hull, which produces massive wake surf waves. The hull sits deep in the water, which displaces a lot more water than other boat brands at low speeds.
Supreme originated in Merced — the manufacturing facility is still located there.
Superior Boat Repair & Sales is a local Nautique and Supreme dealer. Superior has locations in Rancho Cordova and Homewood.
6. Sea Ray
While Sea Ray is best known for its Sundancer cabin cruisers, the SPX, SDX, and SLX series represents its wide range of sport boats.
Sea Ray boats have a high passenger capacity, which makes them a great choice for those who have large families or lots of friends.
Many of Sea Ray's models are great for wakeboarding, tubing, and waterskiing.
The Northern California dealer for Sea Ray is Gone Fishin' in Dixon.
7. Crownline
Crownline bowriders were a popular purchase in the early 2000s. Many people still own bowriders from that timeframe.
California's only Crownline dealer is The Boathouse of Anaheim.
8. Sanger
A popular boat brand that originated in Northern California is Sanger. The company was founded by Jack Davidson in 1954 in the town of Sanger, California. Sanger is just outside of Fresno.
The first boat that the company produced was called the Sanger 18. It was a jet boat with a Chevrolet 454.
Currently, Sanger's largest wake surf model is the V237 XTZ. It produces large waves and boasts tight handling, along with a smooth ride.
Sanger boats are available from Gone Fishin' in Dixon.
9. Axis
In another example of boat industry consolidation, Axis is also a Malibu Boats brand. Axis specializes in boats that are designed for wake surfing and wakeboarding.
The brand's boats are powered by the efficient, high-performance Malibu Monsoon engine.
As with Malibu, the Northern California dealer is Larson Marine.
10. Yamaha
Yamaha has a wide range of towboats and an entire line of wake surf boats called the Wake Series.
On the economical side is the AR210. On the luxury side is the 275SE jetboat. The 275SE has a wide array of features. It includes touchscreen technology along with steering wheel paddles that make the boat very easy to handle around the dock.
In Northern California, Yamaha boats are available from the above-mentioned West Coast Boat Center.
Other Popular Wake Surf & Wakeboard Boat Brands
Other brands that are common in Northern California include Monterey, Ranger, Four Winns, MB, Moomba, and Tige.
There are many excellent boat choices for wakeboarding, wake surfing, and other towed water sports. The winter months are a great time to look around for when it's time to take your ski, wakeboard, or wake surf equipment out on the water.
Wow! Only missed some of the best wake boats of the 21st century.
Skiers Choice makes Supra and Moomba boats. Arguably the finest tow boats under $300K.
Tige boats, based in Texas.
Nautique boats exceed that $200K price point.
Centurion.
And the list goes on and on. BTW, Sea Ray is NOT a wake boat mfg, nor is Cobalt, Crowning, etc.