August 16, 2024 by Samantha Wilson

Best Luxury Pontoon Boat Brands Have it All: Glamor, Speed, Fishing, Waterslides, and More

The trusty pontoon boat has had a serious facelift in the last decade. While float boats were once known as cheap and cheerful party and family lake boats—and many models still fulfill this fun role—today a whole new breed of sleek, ultra-luxurious pontoons and tritoons is hitting the water. With the latest technology, high-powered engines, plush seating, a wealth of features, and an elegant profile, they are true head turners.

From electric models to glamorous cruisers, luxury pontoons are now equipped with full galleys, joystick docking, towsports packages, and engines that can propel them to speeds of up to 70 mph. The sector has some well-known brands that pave the way with innovation as well as some new and exciting brands offering big ideas. These are some of our favorite luxury pontoon boat brands. 

 

Luxury Pontoon Boats for Cruising

Pontoon boats have always been cruising lake boats, but today’s luxury brands have taken that concept to the extreme. Large and spacious, with the plush seating you’d expect in a sports car and a whole host of features you never even realized you needed, they are fast, easy to handle, and downright glamorous. 

 

The Best Luxury Pontoon Cruising Boat Brands

Godfrey Pontoon Boats: Godfrey’s large line-up includes several models in the 28-foot category including their super-high-powered luxury XP model, which has up to 800 horsepower. Sporty and stylish, its largest models accommodate up to 14 passengers in ultimate comfort. They are luxurious and comfortable cruisers with plenty of attention to detail, making them the ideal boat for a day of sophisticated drinks and nibbles on the lake. Godfrey boats for sale

Barletta Pontoon Boats: Barletta’s beautiful sleek styling exudes luxury and the brand’s flagship range, the Barletta Reserve, is an extremely high-end cruising tritoon (three hulls instead of two) that will turn heads. With a fixed T-Top and sports arch complete with LED lighting, a huge swim platform, and full-length sun loungers, it can easily seat 12 passengers and is 28 feet in length. Barletta’s big line-up of cruising pontoons and tritoons bring glamor to the cruising sector, with high performance and extreme comfort as standard. Barletta boats for sale

 

XP Tritoon Godfrey Pontoon

Luxurious cruising pontoons and tritoons offer plush seating, sleek silhouettes, and a whole host of luxury features. Godfrey Pontoon Boats photo (XP Tritoon)

 

Luxury Pontoon Boats with Waterslides

Waterslides have often featured on pontoon boats through the years, and the fun and entertainment they offer are perfectly in tune with this style of lake boat. Yet the combination of luxury and fun is a newer concept, and one that is being delivered with great success. Imagine sipping cocktails while the kids zoom down the waterslide from the upper deck of your hugely spacious, very plush pontoon. You get the idea!

 

The Best Brands of Pontoon Boats with Waterslides

Premier Pontoons: Premier knows how to build a luxurious pontoon boat, and the brand currently has six impressive models to choose from. Aiming for a balance between family fun and luxury, it has models focused on fishing and cruising. The Premier Escalante however, brings the fun factor with its double-deck layout complete with waterslide. The 33-foot model can accommodate 22 passengers on its luxurious seats and has features such as a large galley area, LED lighting and surround systems, 600-1000 horsepower, and a Bimini over the 16-foot upper deck. Premier boats for sale

Avalon Pontoons: Avalon are key players in the pontoon world, with everything from budget-friendly small pontoons to watersports models and the exquisite Excalibur ultra-luxury range. The brand’s range of double decker pontoons (which feature a rip-roaringly fun waterslide) include the Catalina Cruise Funship and the Catalina Entertainer Funship. While they’re not quite on a par with the luxury Excalibur Series, they incorporate the sophisticated look that Avalon is known for along with a useful, space-generating second deck and a waterslide the kids will thank you for. Avalon boats for sale

 

Premier Pontoon Escalante

Luxury brands don’t forget the family fun factor, with double-decked pontoons featuring waterslides alongside sophisticated finishes. Premier Pontoons photo (Escalante)

 

Luxury Pontoon Boats for Fishing

With a wide, stable platform and plenty of deck space, the pontoon boat is well-suited to lake fishing and has plenty of space for livewells, swivel chairs, and tackle storage. While there are brands offering multi-functional fishing and cruising boats, the emergence of luxury fishing pontoons is relatively new. Today well-established fishing brands are releasing luxurious lines of their own with great success. 

 

Luxury Fishing Pontoon Boat Brands

Ranger Boats: Ranger has long been one of the biggest names in the fishing boat sector and it’s well known for its rugged vessels and sheer fishability. Ranger’s growing line-up of pontoons brings all the brand’s fishing expertise, from aerated livewells to swivel fishing chairs, as well as some high-end features. While the Reata Series focuses on serious fishing, the LS Series combines performance, family fun, watersports, luxury, and fishing into one very successful package. Ranger boats for sale

Sylvan: Sylvan builds a wide range of high-end pontoon boats, with each range offering multiple layouts and lots of customizable features, from the color of the upholstery and panels to the flooring. Its Mirage Fish Series combines excellent fishability with family-friendly features to create a multi-functioning pontoon. There is a livewell and rod holders, as well as ski tows and lots of luxury features such as stereo, LED lighting, and Bimini. Sylvan boats for sale

 

Sylvan 8522 Party Fish

Pontoons are multi-functional boats, yet some luxury models focus on specific activities such as fishing with lots of useful accessories added. Sylvan photo (Mirage Fish)

 

Luxury Pontoon Boats for High-Performance

Long gone are the days when the pontoon boat was a slow and sedate lake cruiser. Today they can be super fast and offer exceptional performance. From tow sports to exhilarating cruising, high-speed luxury pontoons with single or double engines can generate up to 1,000 horsepower. With joystick control, rear cameras for docking, and a whole host of features, they bring the luxury of a sports yacht to the pontoon world. 

 

The Best High-Performance Pontoon Boat Brands

Bennington: Bennington was one of the first brands to build luxury pontoons and tritoons, and its line-up epitomizes this new era for the float boat. Its flagship Q Series offers the latest in electronics, handmade leather seats, and high-end extras, as well as single or double engines creating speeds of over 50mph. All its models are sleek and elegant, fully customizable, and come with the option of performance packages for yet more speed. Bennington boats for sale

Berkshire: For decades, Berkshire has been making some of the most popular and forward-thinking pontoons on the market, and luxury has always been its base line. Its models are sleek and elegant, and buyers have a huge choice of packages, extras, and finishes. The brand’s Sport Series offers extremely high performance, with Super Sport packages available too. Touch screen controls at the helm, electronically operated arches, cameras for rear views and docking, and a whopping 1,000 horsepower are just some of the performance features on this range of 28-foot pontoons. Berkshire boats for sale

 

Bennington Q Series

High performance luxury pontoons and tritoons soar across the lakes with up to 400 horsepower, twin outboards, and the latest electronics. Bennington photo (Q Series)

 

Luxury Tritoon Boats

The tritoon is, as the names implies, a pontoon with three hulls instead of the much more common two. While they are still far outnumbered by the pontoon, they are on the rise, especially with luxury brands who favor them for their increased buoyancy and larger load-carrying capacity. They also allow for an increased width that makes them better able to handle higher horsepower and larger fuel tanks. 

 

The Best Luxury Tritoon Brands

Balise Pontoon Boats: When a Balise Pontoon Boat glides by, it is without a doubt a head-turner. Like something out of a James Bond movie, the brand’s two models—the Helix and the Horizon—are some of the most sophisticated cruising tritoons on the market. Every detail has been considered, from the swim platform and telescopic ladder, to the wireless phone chargers. They offer plush sun lounging areas, a walkthrough windscreen, dual consoles, teak accents, and the latest in technology. 

Crest Pontoon Boats: Many brands on this list offer a range of pontoon and tritoon models, and Crest is no exception. Models such as the Crest Savannah, a luxurious and stylish tritoon boast an elevated, sports-car-style helm, high-performance engines, a huge swim platform, and the latest electronics, with up to 400 horsepower and a choice of floor plans. Crest boats for sale

 

Tritoon Balise Pontoo Boats

Tritoon boats offer increased stability, more space for passengers, and are able to accommodate larger engines. Balise photo (Helix)

 

Luxury Electric Pontoons

Electric boats are gaining popularity, especially on lakes and inland waters where the noise and pollution of a combustion engine is heightened. The pontoon world is following suit, with some excellent brands using innovative engineering to create quiet, powerful engines with long-lasting batteries that will allow for whole days on the water.

Princecraft: When it comes to beautifully constructed electric boats, Princecraft are one of the forerunners in this burgeoning sector. While the brand has a big choice of non-electric pontoons, too, its Brio Range of three electric models—from 17 feet to 21 feet—offer 25hp and capacity for up to 9 passengers. Princecraft boats for sale

Pure Watercraft: Pure Watercraft has a selection of extremely good-looking, luxurious all-electric pontoons. For the Pure Pontoon, the brand partnered with General Motors to equip its high-end pontoons with a 350-volt, 65 kWh battery pack and twin outboards that give owners the range to spend an entire day on the water. With speeds of up to 30 mph and a whole host of features and state-of-the-art electronics, they’re some of the quietest, zero emissions luxury pontoons out there. 

 

Electric Pure Watercraft

Electric powered pontoon boats offer a quiet, smooth ride with zero emissions. Pure Watercraft photo (The Pure Pontoon)

 

 

Written By: Samantha Wilson

Samantha Wilson has spent her entire life on and around boats, from tiny sailing dinghies all the way up to superyachts. She writes for many boating and yachting publications, top charter agencies, and some of the largest travel businesses in the industry, combining her knowledge and passion of boating, travel and writing to create topical, useful and engaging content.

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