These swim rafts get anchored out away from all your other docks and moorings. They establish a common sense identity for swim areas to most oncoming boaters helping to provide a safe buffer between your swimmers of all ages and the busy motor boat traffic. There is always that one knucklehead that comes in close with his boat so you still need your blow horn for awareness. The swim raft is usually out and away from shadows off the trees so it’s an ideal spot for sunbathing. Swim out to your raft and stay as long as you want to soak up some rays. Have your swim platform planned in a location that is in safe view so swimmers are visible from the home or waterfront common areas.
The swim raft is enjoyable by all so plan on a raft being part of your waterfront activities that everyone wants to be a part of.
There are a few options and a few other not so good options I won’t list below. That being said, you may want a swim float that isn’t vulnerable to an unrepairable leak and takes on a ton of water into the entire body of the float.
Good news! Great Northern Docks has a couple of the best swim raft options in mind for your waterfront. I’m now going to save you the run around trying to shop the right one.
Here are my top pick swim raft selections in order with my own brief description of each. I’ll provide links on every swim raft for better details. These all are very durable and if a leak occurred, you can replace or repair the damaged chamber of air without having to dispose of the entire raft; That’s HUGE! All of these are modular so they can be moved by hand easily with a helper or two. I’ve even moved them by myself. They use rectangle floatation and are more stable than round barrels that bob around. Trust me, this is the best way to go.
- FeatherLITE 8’x8′ Swim Raft – Pictured in featured blog image so I had to mention it and probably my favorite because it is just the right size and light weight with the smaller aluminum frame option and perforated decking but sorry…. it was recently discontinued. Ask the sales team at Great Northern Docks if you can still get the FeatherLITE Swim raft but don’t mention I told you that. Just skip to number 2 before I get in the dock house.
- DuraLITE 8’x8′ Swim Raft – Decking options are the attached Perforated injection molded with nonslip surface or the removable panels made with Stained Cedar or Synthetic Gray or Synthetic Cedar color. Panels latch down just like all the DuraLITE docks. It is also DuraLITE dock if you want it to be. This one is the number one seller and strongest. You can get this with the same perforated decking as the first raft; it is only a little more weight than the FeatherLITE but a lot stronger with it’s taller extruded frame. I gave it a 2 but could easily give it 1st place.
- MPD 8’x8′ Swim Raft – Make an 8’x8′ or 10’x10′. You can make any size or shape with the MPD’s but keep it small enough so swimmers can get out from beneath. This one is made of gray connectable floating blocks with artificial wood grain deck surface texture molded into the blocks. MPD’s are easily palletized and you can move the disassembled blocks easier than an entire raft; this helps when your kids left it for you to do alone.
- Cedar Decked 8’x8′ Wood Swim Raft – This one should be my favorite because I love building them. This would be a great project for the family to do together.
Summertime memories are made around these swim rafts.
Here is a quick list of things I’ve seen around these swim platforms.
- Sunbathing
- Fishing
- Snorkeling
- Marco Polo
- Jumping, flipping and belly flops
- Families and friends
- Turtles
There is probably many more but that is enough reason for me to want one.
If you have the waterfront, you might have a place in your heart for your family swim raft. The children will love it!
