Thurso Surf Expedition 150 iSUP Review – 2025

This popular touring design from Thurso Surf is now available in both 6” and 4.7” thicknesses.

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The Thurso Surf Expedition 150 has been in the Thurso range for a few years now, and become deservedly popular. The 2025 edition may look unchanged from its predecessors, but it features a new construction and most importantly, is now available in either 6” or 4.7” thickness. This is an exciting development as the vast majority of 12’6 touring boards are 6” thick, and there are a whole lot of advantages to a thinner board – as long as the manufacturer can ensure that it’s stiff enough to perform properly! So these were our main missions for this review; to find out whether Thurso Surf had indeed managed to maintain the excellent performance that the original Expedition 150 offered, and what differences did the 4.7” version bring to the party? Overall, we were very impressed by what we found, as we’ll detail in the following review.

We think the Thurso Surf Expedition 150-12 would be a great SUP for paddlers who:

• Want to make the move to a 12’6 touring board, but still want a good degree of stability
• Like the idea of being able to load their board up with plenty of cargo
• Want a board that’s significantly faster and more directional than an all rounder.
• Enjoy the feeling of being on a thinner board

Thurso Surf Expedition 150: Spec Sheet

• Board Category: Touring, Adventure
• Listed Board Dimensions: 12’6 x 31 x 4.7”
• Measured Board Dimensions: 12’ 4.5” x 31 x 5”
• Listed Board Weight: 26 lbs
• Actual Board Weight (board only, not inflated): 22.2 lbs
• Listed recommended capacity: 160 – 210 lbs
• Listed Max Capacity: 320 lbs
• Recommended PSI: 12-15psi, max 20 psi.
• Fins: Single US box 9” touring fin
• Paddle: 3 piece carbon hybrid, nylon blade
• Board Shell Construction Materials: Double layer fusion, welded rails
• Drop-stitch type: X-Woven
• Price Range: Mid
• Warranty: 30 day full refund, 2 year full warranty (with conditions)

Performance Review of the Thurso Surf Expedition 150 Stand Up Paddle Board

Overall Score: [9.5/10]

• Stability: 8.3/10
• Speed: 8.5/10
• Tracking: 9.4/10
• Maneuverability: 8.6/10
• Construction Quality: 9.5/10
• Features/Accessories: 9.5/10

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Stability Rating: [8.3/10]

The stability score shown here is a global rating, based on comparative performance to all other sizes and styles of paddleboards (other than multi-person boards).

The Thurso Surf Expedition 150 is 31” wide, which is unusual. The 12’6 touring board is a very popular class of board, but they’re nearly always made either 30” wide (more speed, less stability), or 32” wide (less speed, more stability). Whereas Thurso Surf opted for the middle route and it worked out well, maintaining decent performance in both parameters. This was helped by the fact that the Expedition 150 design already scored highly in the stability rankings anyway; its intelligent plan shape maintains a lot of width where it’s needed, particularly back in the tail area. And now that Thurso have released the 4.7” version, they’ve cranked even more stability out of the design.

So overall, we’re happy to give a solid score to the Expedition 150 when it comes to stability. It packs a lot in for its size. Thurso Surf have suggested a sensible maximum rider weight of 210 lbs and we feel that this is very realistic if this is your first time into the world of touring boards. For more experienced paddlers, the board would pose no problems for much heavier paddlers if they’re experienced and used to riding narrower boards.

Thurso Surf also suggests a maximum load capacity of 320 lbs. It’s important to appreciate that what they’re saying here is that, for example, our 210 lb rider could also carry up to 110 lbs of cargo, well distributed around the board. And it’s interesting to note that their recommended max load capacity for the 6” thick version of the Expedition 150 goes up to 390 lbs. This does fit with what we’ve generally found; thinner boards do respond rather less well to greater loads.

On this note, while Thurso Surf give a recommended pressure rating of 12-15 PSI for this board, while you can get away with a bit less on the thicker version we’d strongly recommend giving it the full 15 PSI if you’re using the 4.7” version.

Finally on the subject of stability, if you’re wondering why if this board is so great we’re only giving it a score in the 8s, it’s important to understand that our stability scores are global, to show how the board being reviewed fits into the overall picture of stability. For sure, as 12’6 touring boards go, the Expedition 150 rates well. However, the Thurso Max, while a foot shorter, offers vastly more stability, because it’s several inches wider and much more designed with ultimate stability in mind. So if you do want more stability there are definitely much more stable boards available.

Speed Test: 8.5/10

Longer boards are faster – it’s just physics. And when we get up into the 12’6 board class the speed gains start to become noticeable. It’s not just because of the increased waterline length, but also because the longer design allows for a more streamlined, bullet-like shape, which just glides easier over/through the water.

Cruising

The Thurso Surf Expedition 150 is really easy and comfortable paddling in this mode. It has good glide, and that arrow-shaped nose cuts an effortless path through the water.

Fast Cruising

A well-designed 12’6 touring board loves this mode of paddling, and the Expedition 150 is no exception. It powers up really nicely and switches effortlessly into that proper touring mode. Name your distance – it’s up for the ride!

Going Hard

When you really turn the dial up to max, you can feel the extra width and a slight degree of flex due to the reduced thickness creeping into the picture. The board is saying, hey look, I’m not a raceboard, alright? And fair enough, it isn’t. But to its credit it’ll hang in there with the pack and is really not far off the pace of the fastest 12’6s.

Overall

The Thurso Surf Expedition 150 is less suited to out-and-out max speed work; if you really want to maximise this aspect of performance, the extra stiffness that the 6” version offers will increase its capabilities for hard-out paddling, but ultimately, it’s always going to be a 31” wide board. However, it really fulfils its role as a fast yet stable touring board, and would work well in fitness mode too; you could comfortably crank along at aerobic heart rates for as far as you want. So overall we’re very happy with its speed performance.

Tracking: 9.4/10

Tracking ultimately comes down to board length; a longer board will almost always track better than a shorter board of the same general width. So our tracking scores are intended to show how a board compares to other boards in its size. In the case of the Honu Sorrento 12’6 the scores compare to other boards in the 12’6 all-purpose/touring category.

The Thurso Surf Expedition 150 has extremely good tracking capabilities, thanks to its plan shape. That nice arrow-shaped nose cuts a clean line, then the parallel sides through the center section and the wide tail all hold the board really nicely onto its course. The extra inch of width hasn’t hurt it at all in this respect – indeed it outperformed several narrower 12’6s that we tested it against.

Good tracking is a great asset to a board designed for longer-distance paddling, so we’re happy to give the Expedition 150 an excellent score in this area of performance.

Maneuverability: 8.6/10

Maneuverability scores are based on comparative performance to boards of a similar general length and style. In the case of the Thurso Surf Expedition 150 the scores compare to other boards in the 10’6 – 11’6 all-purpose/touring category.

The plan shape characteristics that give the Thurso Surf Expedition 150 such good tracking performance inevitably work against it when it comes to turning. And on a 12’6 design, if the board isn’t naturally inclined to turn it does noticeably take a bit more effort, and better turning technique, to bring it round. This is definitely the case with the Expedition 150 – it takes a few more sweep strokes and/or a bit more grunt to make it turn.

With a well balanced board like this that needs a bit of encouragement to turn, you’re best off learning to crank a hard crossbow/rudder turn, or stepping back towards the tail to make it pivot. And the good news in that respect is that the Expedition 150’s wide and voluminous tail makes it relatively easy to do this.

To understand more about turning styles and how to do them, check out our how-to video

Construction Quality: 9.5/10

Thurso Surf’s construction has been refined significantly in recent years, moving from double layer PVC to fusion construction (a huge weight saving right there), and the rails are now welded instead of just glued.

Inside the board
Thurso now uses woven drop stitch in the Expedition range, which gives greater rigidity and stability, which is one of the main reasons they have been able to offer the thinner version of the board. It’s quoted as 4.7” thick but actually measured 5”, which is what we’ve found with pretty much all manufacturers using this grade of dropstitch. However, it’s still significantly thinner than the regular 6” dropstitch, which makes a significant positive difference to the stability and feel of the board.

Top and Bottom Skin
The outer skin of the Thurso Surf Expedition 150 consists of two sheets of PVC fused together onto the drop stitch substrate. This dual layer fusion construction is light yet strong, and is now generally recognised as the optimum construction technique in iSUP board manufacture.

Rail construction
The sides of the Thurso Surf Expedition 150 see a major upgrade for 2025. The carbon reinforcing used in previous years has now been replaced by welded rails, with the sides of the board heat-welded to the top and bottom skin. Welded rails greatly reduce the risk of leaks and structural failure along the seams, which should positively enhance the longevity of the board.

Overall
The combination of woven dropstitch, fusion construction and the welded rails all upgrade the construction quality of the board to a whole new level for Thurso Surf, and the difference to the previous models can really be felt. Overall, the only difference between these and the very best-made boards just comes down to minor details, such as how straight and accurate the seam lines are; the sort of cosmetic detail that is time consuming and adds further cost to the construction.

Board Stiffness Test: 1.54” Bend
Considering that the Thurso Surf Expedition 150 is relatively long, not too wide, and above all, just 5” thick, we were quite happy with this result from our deflection test. The woven dropstitch and welded rails are clearly assisting in this respect, plus the extra bit of width in the tail and through the center section help maximise the rigidity within the confines of a relatively narrow planshape. The board displays good rigidity on the water.

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Features/Accessory Review: [9.5/10]

Features:

The Thurso Surf Expedition 150 has a striking and elegant black-and-white color scheme, which contrasts well with the wood finish PVC on the front area. The EVA foam deckpad is grooved for its full length, giving good drainage to the deck area.

Turning our attention now to the configuration of the board, starting at the nose we find the front carry handle and an action camera multi-mount, which can be used with the slide-in GoPro mounts or anything that screws into an M8 thread, for which there are a wide range of accessory mounts available.

Next up are the three webbing cargo straps. Being quite stretchy they’re not easy to get a lot of tension on, and they’re also spaced fairly far apart. So they don’t really work for securing a small item like a water bottle under, but they’re fine for a bigger dry bag or similar. However, because the deck fittings for the straps are steel D rings, it will be easy to replace the straps with bungees or any other preferred method of cargo attachment. Or indeed, easily removing the straps entirely. And if you do want to carry a waterbottle, you could get an accessory mount and use one of the screw-in fitting options at the front of the deckpad.

At the front of the deck pad, nicely blended in with the dark lines of the pad, we have two more action camera mounts – this time the screw-in type, along with the front D rings for a kayak seat attachment. There’s a set of paddle holder straps on either side too, so the board has plenty of options for attaching a variety of cargo fixings and options.

Right back at the tail are two more stretchy webbing straps, which is great but ideally on a board designed for expedition paddling we’d prefer to see more fixing options back here, and quite a bit further forward as well rather than right back on the narrowest, least supportive part of the board.

We’re also unsure why Thurso have bothered to put a small stomp pad right back on the most rearward part of the tail, which doesn’t seem to have any useful function whatsoever, and also appears to have caused the rear carrying handle to get relocated onto the tail. We’d suggest losing the stomp pad and putting the carrying handle onto the tail in its place, for a smoother and more user-friendly set-up.

The underside of the Thurso Surf Expedition 150 is very uncluttered, with just the one central split-style US fin box, for the 9” touring fin supplied. The fin can be attached either with the regular finbolt supplied, or by using the click-in tensioners which allow you to push the fin into place without needing tools. They work OK but it’s not so easy to push a soft fin in as it simply bends and flexes under your pressure, so we actually found the finbolt the easiest solution in general (plus which it’s slightly easier to trust!). Incidentally, the 2025 Thurso Surf boards all come with a rather neat fold-out accessory case for the fin, nut and bolt, the pressure tensioners, plus the various repair bits and pieces.

Included Accessories:

The Thurso Surf Expedition 150 can either be purchased board only (plus the 9’ touring fin and the coiled leash) or as a package, with the option of adding any or all of a backpack, rechargeable electric pump, life jacket, kayak seat, SUP carrier strap, and the Thurso Surf Carbon Hybrid 3 piece adjustable paddle, for which you can also add an extra blade to make it into a kayaking paddle. Purchasing these accessories this way makes sound financial sense since the prices are typically around 20% cheaper than buying them individually.

The electric pump is reasonably powerful, and takes about 8 minutes to inflate the board. The backpack is spacious and has rucksack straps and wheels. The Carbon Hybrid paddle is a reasonably good beginner/intermediate paddle, but we’d suggest that to maximise what the Expedition 150 has to offer, you’d be better off getting yourself the Carbon Elite paddle instead, or maybe even the slotted version.

Summary Review of the Thurso Surf Expedition 150

We’ve reviewed quite a few 12’6 touring boards this year, and despite being extremely similar in their main dimensions, they all very much have their own individual character. If you put us on any one of them blindfolded, we’d still very quickly be able to identify which one it was!

So how would we know that we’re on the Thurso Surf Expedition 150? It’s not the absolute fastest nor the most maneuverable in its class, but it excels at exactly what you want from a touring board: a very user-friendly and easy ride, with excellent tracking and a smooth stable feel through the water. It’s comfortable carrying cargo, and is extremely well configured with fittings and fixtures. Overall, we like it a lot and are happy to give it a very high overall score as an excellent recommendation.

If you’re wondering whether to get the 4.7” or the 6” version, we’d suggest that lighter paddlers and/or those less worried about maximum cargo carrying potential will prefer the thinner option, which definitely has a nicer feel and greater stability. But if you do want to load it up to the max, go for the thicker option.

Happy paddling! We hope you enjoyed this review of the Thurso Surf Expedition 150. If you have any questions or comments please leave us a comment below!

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