Picture it now: The breeze in your hair, the sun setting over the horizon and the blade of your paddle cutting through the water as you glide across a lake on your paddleboard. Sounds like a great way to wash off a workday. But before reaching such a serene experience, there is a small detail to sort out: how you’re getting your board to the water.
It’s nice to have water access in your backyard, however more often boat launches and beaches are at a minimum a few miles away from home, and using your vehicle to get to and from the water, and even setting up shuttle, plays a major role in the paddleboarding experience. Unless you have an inflatable paddleboard that means throwing your board on the roof. But you not only want to transport your SUP securely, you also want to protect your investment (the board and the car), so you are going to want to figure out a car rack system for your paddleboard.
There are racks to mount to aftermarket crossbars, near universal bar pads to attach to bars, even soft racks to deploy for those whose vehicles have nothing on the roof at all. This article breaks down what systems are out there and presents a menu of options to find the rack system best for your vehicle’s circumstances to tie down your paddleboard and head for a watery destination.
Best paddleboard roof racks for 2025: Our top picks
- Best Overall: Yakima SupDawg
- Runner-up overall: Thule SUP Taxi XT
- Best removable rack for bare roof: Penguin Feet Rack
- Best budget pads for round bars: Malone Auto Rack Pads
- Best pads for wide and flat bars: Thule Surf Pads
Wear The Appropriate Leash When Stand Up Paddleboarding
- Always wear a leash on open bodies of water like lakes, bays, and oceans. Due to the risk of snags and entrapment, leashes should only be worn on rivers if they include a quick release attached to your life jacket.
Best overall paddleboard roof rack
Yakima SUPDawg
Yakima SUPDawg Specs
Style: Mount rack
Locking: Yes, SKS
Width: 36″
Price: $379.00
yakima.com
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Why I love it
For the paddleboarder who wants to spare no expense and possesses, or plans to get, crossbars, the Yakima SUPDawg is the top choice. The SUPDawg is a mount carrier intended for Yakima round, factory, aero and square bars. It arrives fully assembled, ready to stack up to two 36-inch paddleboards. It includes rollers for easy loading (especially helpful with long touring boards), soft, padded cradles to prevent scratches and dings, and key locks to keep your boards secure around town while grabbing a post-paddle meal. Bonus: The two tie-down straps are integrated into this rack in a unique management system that also stows them away when not in use, so you don’t need to wonder where you left your set of straps.
Reasons to buy
- Fits widest paddleboards at 36 inches
- Same Key System locks protect your investment and work with your other Yakima gear
- Rollers and integrated straps are about as easy as loading a board gets
Consider another if
- Your budget is less than $300
- Your vehicle doesn’t currently have crossbars or a manufactured rack from Yakima
Bottom Line
If you don’t love it for the cheesy name, the many amenities it provides will certainly sell you. For folks driving wagons and sports utility vehicles that already have cargo bars, this is an easy, four-star solution for a paddleboard-specific mount.
Thule SUP Taxi XT
Thule SUP Taxi XT Specs
Style: Cradle rack
Locking: Yes, button lock system
Width: 28″-34”
Price: $349.95
thule.com
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Why I love it
The Thule SUP Taxi XT is a cradle-style carrier for a vehicle rack. It will attach to many factory vehicle bars, and almost every type of Thule crossbar with tool-free relative ease. Coolest of all is the proprietary telescoping system that lets you adjust it to the width of your board from 28 inches up to 34 inches. Soft padding in the cradle absorbs the bumps on the road to avoid dinging the fiberglass, and it also has integrated heavy-duty webbing straps and a lock system. The combo of security and convenience offered by the Thule SUP XT makes it one of the best options on the market.
Reasons to buy
- An industry standard for a paddleboard-specific car rack
- Integrated straps and a security locking system
- Tool-free installation
Consider another if
- Your budget is less than $300
Bottom Line
This rack system is will get you and your board to the water and back home with the least amount of hassle for many float sessions to come.
Best rack for a bare roof
Suspenz Penguin Feet Rack
Suspenz Penguin Feet Specs
Style: Removable rack
Locking: No
Width: 36”
Price: $99.95
suspenz.com
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Why I love it
The Suspenz Penguin Feet Rack is an excellent solution for paddlers looking for a removable rack system that does not require pre-existing crossbars or any tools for installation or ongoing loading. The Tough Tek brand rubber-over-canvas wrapped foam blocks are durable and won’t leave a mark on your rig when placed directly across the roof. Once the paddleboard (for that matter, surfboard, skis, or ladder) is situated, reinforced loops secure the board by conforming around its dimensions.
The Penguin Feet also have a cam strap system built into them to secure the board to the rack. A line from the leash plug of the board to the vehicle is also recommended (referred to as a bow line on canoes and kayaks) to further secure your board, but you will need to purchase this separately.
Reasons to buy
- Soft, removable rack for bare roof vehicles
- If you want to transport a range of gear other than paddleboards, i.e. surfing, skiing, ladders and more
- Affordable
Consider another if
- You don’t like cam strap systems
Bottom line
Suspenz Penguin Feet are a great solution if you have a bare car roof and want a removable or cheap system to get your paddleboard to the water.
Best budget rack pads for round or square crossbars
Malone Auto Rack Pads
Malone Auto Rack Pads Specs
Style: Rack pads
Locking: No
Width: 30”
Price: $29.95
maloneautoracks.com
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Why I love it
Many folks who paddleboard may already have a vehicle with crossbars. However, not everyone has the budget or need for the high-end cradles mentioned earlier, and instead opt for crossbar pads. Crossbars do not typically come with pads, but they are a critical barrier to have on your rack when transporting to prevent scratches and cracks to your paddleboard. Malone Auto Racks offer pads in a 30-inch width that easily attach around round, square and some factory bars. The outer cover is made of 600-denier polyester weave, which is fade-resistant to hold up season after season for your close-to-home or road-tripping fun in the sun.
Reasons to buy
- Cheaper solution than a cradle for those with crossbars
- Fits round and square crossbars
- The company’s well-known “Ironclad Guarantee” on repairs and replacements
Consider another if
- You don’t have crossbars
- You want an elaborate rack
Bottom line
Low cost and reliable pads for round or square bars that will hold up for seasons to come.
Best rack pads for flat-style bars
Thule Surf Pads Wide L
Thule Surf Pads Wide Specs
Style: Rack pads
Locking: No
Width: 30”
Price: $69.95
thule.com
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Why I love it
Thule Surf Pads are another great option for attaching pads instead of a cradle to your existing crossbars. The wide Surf Pads work well with the flatter, fan-blade like bars—think factory rack or aero bars. The high density foam padding is a couple of inches thick, providing plenty of cushioning between your SUP and the bars on your vehicle. The attachment hook-and-loop closure is also an independent lower section, so rather than the foam being able to spin around the bars they hold in place at the top.
Reasons to buy
- Compatible with most of the flat, wider-style crossbars
- Thick padding between your paddleboard and the car rack
- Closure system is independent from foam to prevent spinning
Consider another if
- Your crossbars are round or square
Bottom line
Thick padding and a thoughtful attachment system that is compatible with many factory racks and flatter-style bars make the Surf Pads a great choice for your roof rack.
Wear A Life Jacket
- Everyone, even strong swimmers, needs to wear a life jacket at all times when on the water. It is extremely difficult to put a life jacket on once you fall into the water. Even a light wind can blow any paddlecraft away from you, faster than you can swim.
- Always wear a USCG-approved Level 70 or Type III life jacket designed for paddling.
Vehicle roof rack buying advice for paddleboards
The paddleboard roof rack market offers many options for virtually all vehicle types. The first thing to do when shopping for racks, mounts and pads is to zero in on whether you are looking for a permanent, fixed rack. If you are, then decide how elaborate you want your paddleboard rack to be? Will simple foam pads on each crossbar do the trick? Are you sometimes transporting other items that may not work with a permanent paddleboard centric rack?
Finally, ask yourself what kind of budget you have. This can be a limiting factor. Everything being equal, spare no expense, our top picks the Thule XT and Yakima SupDawn reign supreme. But with that said, folks have been transporting paddling boards and surfboards on their cars with simple foam pads for years.
One other small detail to account for is the size of these boards on your roof, and the aerodynamics that want to lift them. Similar to a canoe or kayak, it is best to have an extra line from the leash plug of your SUP to the front or back of the vehicle. Similarly, if you have an attachment point on the nose of the board you can do the same at the other end to substantially increase the security of the board to your rack.
How we tested
The roof rack systems in this article were chosen based on what is available on the market and what the SUP community most readily recommends for the purpose of transporting paddleboards. Racks were researched, assembled and compared against the feedback of regular users of the products.
