Tritoon vs. Deck Boat vs. Bowrider: What’s the Difference?

Dec. 29 2023 Comparison By L&M Marine LLC

Are you interested in purchasing a tritoon, deck boat, or bowrider? Are you curious what the difference is? Here at Day Break Marine (located in both Baldwin, County Alabama and Pensacola, Florida) we receive questions regarding the differences between boats on a daily basis. Although we don’t carry deck boats or bowriders other than the occasional trade-in or consignment boat, we do carry tritoons and we’re here to share our knowledge and experience and by the end of this article, you should thoroughly understand the difference between the three. 

Running Surface and Types of Hulls

Bow Rider

The difference between a tritoon, deck boat, and bowrider is the running surfaces and type of hulls. A bowrider features a semi-displacement hull that’s better suited for larger waves and offshore swells.

Tritoons + Deck Boats

Both tritoons and deck boats feature planing surfaces as they ride on top of the water instead of through it. The majority of the weight is distributed on top of the surface of the water, versus v-hulls which slice through waves but don’t have as much weight capacity. Boats with v-hulls generally ride softer overall versus boats with a planing hull (deck boats and tirtoons) which provide harder rides in rough water.


Pontoons have just two toons/tubes versus the three tubes, which provide an inferior ride compared to tritoons. Most tritoon manufacturers build lifting strakes onto the tubes and when the boat gains speed, it helps the boat ride higher up in the water. The strakes improve fuel efficiency and enable the tritoon to be maneuvered in a more controlled manner by reducing drift and increasing ride quality in choppy water.


The Difference Between the Designs of the Boats


Bow Rider: The beam gets more narrow as go from midship to the bow, it gets more pointy. Due to the design of this v-hull, there is less space in comparison to the tritoon and deck boat. 


Tritoon: The design of tritoons are rectangular and maintain the same shape all the way from the bow to the stern, providing more space and more carrying capacity than bowriders.


Deck Boat: Deck boats are more comparable to the tritoons as they are also usually rectanguler in shape, but they do taper off near bow. These boats do not have as much space or carry capacity as tritoons but do have more than the bow rider and are typically the lightest of the three, followed by the bowrider and then the tritoon.


Speed, Seating + Amenities


Overall, tritoons have the most seating and most variations of configurations and you’re able to customize your tritoon more so than the other two. Both deck boats and bowriders are made with a mold and layout is permanent - unless you want to cut in your fiberglass. The seating in tritoons are essentially bolted on top of the deck, making it easier to reconfigure. 

 

You could potentially have the same options for amenities for all three boats, but tritoons ultimately provide the most space for amenities as well as people. As far as which boat is the fastest, bowriders have the most horsepower while tritoons are the slowest and deck boats land in between the two. If you have a bowrider they may have a stern drive, but for the most part we’d recommend an outboard for this area. 


Our Recommendations: Locations to Take Tritoons, Deck Boats + Bowriders


All three are fun, family-style, cruising boats that you can pull tubers, skiers, wakeboarders. You could fish off of all of them but the tritoon is going to be able to carry more people and due to the lifting strakes.


Places we recommend taking tritoons, deck boats and bowriders overall include inside Pensacola Bay, Big Lagoon, Perdido Bay and three miles offshore, depending on conditions. Tritoons are great for going anywhere in the bay, Fort McRae, creeks and bayous like Black Water. These boats have a shallow draft and are suited for shallow, calmer water, not for big ocean swells. Plus, you can beach tritoons without worrying about potentially scratching the gel coat like the other two boats.


Bowriders ride better in larger swells due to their sharp deadrises and bow flare, however, the tradeoff is they don’t feature as much usuable square footage or carrying capacity as their tritoon counterparts. These boats are fit for waters of up to 100 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. These boats draft deeper so you can’t go as shallow as tritoons and deck boats. 


Deck boats can go almost everywhere that a tritoon can go but if you hit a rock, stump, or shell, the gel coat could potentially get scratched. In this type of boat, just like a bowrider, we’d recommend not beaching it due to the risk of damaging the gel coat and instead anchoring it and swimming or wading ashore.

Maintenance + Cost


  • Bowrider + Deck Boats: Fiberglass boats cost significantly more for maintenance and repairs and more waxing more frequently. Not waxing fiberglass causes the gel coat to oxidize, degrade, and turn brittle.

    • Every three months is recommended - the product we use states to apply every 90 days

  • Tritoons: Not waxing aluminum, the aluminum will still maintain its structural integrity but stain faster. 

    • Once or twice a year is recommended and keep all seating out of the sun too.

  • Bowriders + Deck Boats: The wiring and plumbing are underneath the deck/top liner of both bowriders and deck boats and since there may not be as much space to access them, you potentially might have to cut holes to perform maintenance on certain things. 

  • Tritoons: The design of tritoons is simple and makes access to the writing to the fuel tank easy. Older pontoons and tritoons is they were made of wood but the majority of pontoons/tritoons are made up of composite deck and encapsulated in fiberglass.



Deck boats’ ride quality is far inferior in comparison to bowriders, and they provide a wetter ride, with less usable space, and are the cheapest of the three. The tritoon falls in between deck boats and bowriders, which are the most expensive. The cost of course is dependent on the size, age, engines, options, and features. 


Local Feedback: Tritoons vs. Deck boats vs. Bowriders


Deck Boat - 25’ Hurricane:

A friend of ours has a deck boat, a 25’ Hurricane, they did a lot of fishing on Black Water River and love the wide, open setup because you can throw a cast net and go mullet fishing.


Bowrider - 23’ Chaparral:

We recently sold a bowrider, a Chaparral, to a customer, it was a 23’ Fish Ski with an outboard engine, which is what we’d recommend for the area due to the salt water. The customer loved to cruise and go from Norreigo Point to Crab Island, all along the Intracoastal.  If you don’t like the look of a pontoon boat - this is a good compromise. 


Tritoon - 24’ Sylvan: A friend of ours has a 24’ Sylvan tritoon and would launch from Juana’s, and go past Hurlburt Field, and park at Crab Island to hang out. They also loved to fish in their tritoon and eventually, they moved from the Sylvan to a Sea Hunt due to their love of fishing. 


In summary:

  • Tritoons and deck boats sit on top of the water while bowriders slice through waves. Tritoons are more stable and ride higher than deck boats, resulting in a drier ride, and have a higher carrying capacity than a bowrider.

  • Tritoons feature the most seating and variations of configurations with more options to customize and are best suited for shallow, calmer water, not big ocean swells. 

  • Bowriders ride better in larger swells due to their sharp deadrises and bow flare, however, the tradeoff is they don’t feature as much usuable square footage or carrying capacity as their tritoon counterparts. 

  • Bowriders are faster boats with more horsepower, tritoons are the slowest, and deck boats land in the middle of the two speed-wise. Cost depends on the features of the boat but generally, deck boats are the cheapest, tritoons are in the middle and bowriders are the most expensive.


Summary


We’re happy to help answer any questions about tritoons, deck boats, bowriders, or any other type of boat. Call or stop by either location (L&M Marine in Baldwin County or Day Break Marine in Pensacola) with questions, to see our current inventory or to discuss service.