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Moomba vs. Axis A24


Tonka33

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Looking for for some unbiased reviews on a 2018 A24 vs. a 2019 Moomba Makai or Mojo. (Pricing is pretty attractive on the Moomba’s) I keep seeing comments about “drag” with the Axis and interior quality not being as good on the Axis.  I will be  new to the surf boat with 3 young kids and am just looking for the best overall buy for my dollar. I doubt I will be overly critical of the perfect wave. Just want a good overall family boat and something we can get a good surf on.   Any thoughts are appreciated. 

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My family was in your shoes a little over a year ago. Coming from a 2001 Malibu that we had set up to surf the redneck way. It was awesome but it was time for easier set up and better all around boat. We had a budget to stick to tho. Malibu's are pretty! That is what we wanted but couldn't afford it. We needed a big boat for our large and still growing family. 3 young kids, 4 adult brothers and their wives, and grandparents. We decided on our 2018 A24. We could not be happier. We love the thing! Put over 140 hours on it last summer without one single issue... (Besides a bent prop which happened while pulling out of our lift):Doh:

As far as interior goes. Sure you can tell a difference in the feel/texture of the vinyl, other than that I don't know the difference. I am no expert. Other interior things show up along the way. Somewhat janky flip up "chillax" seats. We still use those flip up seats nearly every time we go out. Could the hardware be a little better on them.. SURE! But that is where you save a little on the Axis line. They still work great, just not as smooth. Rough edges under seats or on the back side of the helm or under the observers compartment. YEP! We have those too. Guess what... I don't think about those when I am surfing! So yes! The interior is less expensive than Malibu or other "top notch brands". That is exactly why we got it! I love our interior and the massive amounts of storage on this boat. 

The wave. Personally I like surfgate waves the best! By far! Not saying the other waves aren't good but the surfgate is so easy. You literally press a button. No tuning, no guessing, no tinkering, no dialing. Fill everything and hit which side you want to surf on and surf. Literally that simple. We are somewhat beginner surfers. I can do tricks but I am not a pro. The easy set up is absolutely stellar for our situation. Fill everything while heading to our spot and surf once we get there. It doesn't matter where people are sitting in the boat most of the time. Everyone can be comfortable in whatever seat they are in. 

I can't say too much about the Makai or Mojo. I have never even seen one in person. I personally don't like the looks of them. Demo all 3 if you can and make your decision. 

I think Axis is the best boat you can buy for the price! I promise I am not a fanboy either. Just a real world example of a family that was in similar shoes as you a year ago. 

Edited by CBray4
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Am I the only one that thinks these are both bad choices? I've crawled around both and hashtag not impressed.

 

What is your budget?  I am assuming around 80k?  Look for a used 23 LSV. 

I bet you can snag a 2015-16 for around the same price with some warranty left.  There are tons on onlyinboards.  Get a Malibu. Just go used.

  • Like 2
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In September/October of last year, I looked at Axis T23, Moomba Craz, Mojo, and the Moomba Makai.  I was shopping hard and was trading in my 2010 VLX.

I did not get a chance to water test the T23 since no one had the new one in stock yet.  I sat in a T22 and A22.  The interior on the Axis has improved over the years, but still something about it I just don't like (not exactly sure what it is). The bimini is small but there is a dealer around with a contact that makes a rear bimini extension and I was working that in with the deal.

 

Moomba interior to me beats the Axis without a doubt.

Moomba Craz - super easy to get a good wave, fill all and hit surf left/right and it just works!  I was wanting a 23' boat so wasn't set on it.  My buddy that demo'd with me bought it the next week. I am looking forward to riding behind it this summer, the wave is different than the Malibu wave.

Moomba Mojo - some reason the extra length over the Craz made it a little harder to get a good wave and had to play with it for a bit to find the right settings.

Moomba Makai - was dead set on buying the one in stock at the dealer. I loved the size, layout, and storage on it.  Then we took the water test - I was terribly disappointed in the wave with the stock 4k ballast.  It was just o.k., still needs 1-2k more ballast which takes away all the storage I thought I would have.  I left the dealership that day feeling heartbroken as I had made up my mind that for the price, that was the boat I wanted.

 

So confused, I started shopping around for a leftover '18 LSV.  I ended up with a '18 for right at the same price as the Makai would have been after trade-in. Due to the Makai being so new then, the dealership really didn't give me a good price quote on it.

 

The lesson I learned was to definitely do a water test and actually get out in the water to do the things you intend to do behind it and that will help you make the right decision what suits you and your family best.

  • Like 2
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I've owned an A24 and I absolutely loved it.  The interior is huge, spacious and comfortable.  The surf wave is amazing.  One of the best boats I've ever owned.  I don't know anything about the Makai, but as others have said, until you demo both, you just won't know what you're buying.

Also, resale on the Axis line has been pretty strong over the years.  Lastly, if you plan on keeping the boat for the long haul, the Axis boats, with fewer complex electronic bells and whistles, are going to be cheaper to maintain/repair when out of warranty. 

  • Like 3
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I recently purchased a new boat this year. I looked at Axis hard as well as moomba. I started my search dead set on Axis. In the end i didn't go that route. I am not going to try to bash Axis but it ain't no malibu. I would have spend the money on a malibu had i found one i liked. I also looked at the makai inside and out even thou i didn't need a boat that big, I will tell you this, Moomba has stepped up quality alot over the last few years. You are basically getting Supra vinyl and components along with things like Autowake which is only a moomba thing. The moomba was head and shoulders quality above the axis. More on par with Malibu. 

You get the bigger color screen, not the tiny b&w. The interior is really good and the wave can be just as good once you figure it out. The axis had fiberglass strings hanging under the seats, trimmings laying on the carpet and under the motor and the vinyl piping didn't line up on the seats. The helm seat wiggled, and the windshield didn't line up. This was a show room boat and the windshield was 1/4" off top to bottom. That says something to me. It says care wasn't taken putting this thing together. Again, trying not to bash Axis, i am sure they put out a nice wave in fact i know they do. But for the extra money i would go malibu or get a moomba. Like i said, i was dead set on getting an Axis, but after looking at about 12 of them, i found the same stuff. Oh and plastic cup holders that popped right out, they weren't even glued in. At the boat show they were either stolen or the dealer took them out so no one would take them. They were missing on the floor models. I know, some people will say who cares about plastic cup holders, but when i get get higher quality stainless that actually stay put in a moomba for less money, i am getting better quality. 

If and when i sell my new boat it will either be a moomba, supra or Malibu in the future. I just can't spend this kind of money on Axis quality. There's my $.02. Axis needs more attention to detail. And its not like they are cheaper than a moomba competing model. Usually they are more expensive. Thats what i saw getting quotes by a few thousand dollars. 

We also found on our test ride, that the Axis bow was quite high at surf speeds. Even with ballast up front. My wife had to stand to see over the front. Not sure what they had for ballast up there but it was quite apparent. Much higher than the other boats we tested. I will say that you may need a bit more weight in the moomba. But that goes for just about any boat. Buy a 200k mastercraft and you are going to have more ballast over stock if you want a nice wave. If you get into surfing, stock ballast on ANY boat won't be enough. As far as steering with gates over tabs, yah, its notable. You do have drag on the steering with a surf gate setup. I don't find that to be too big of a deal but some do. With a tab setup the boat tracks much straighter with less effort. I will say surf gates are pretty easy to set up. But i also found they are less adjustable when it comes to wave config's. 

Edited by semi
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We got a new boat last year and I was dead set on getting a Moomba Max after doing a lot of research.  We were looking at getting a Moomba Max or an Axis T23. 

We looked at both boats and the fit and finish of the Moomba was better than the Axis along with the touch screen and some other features, it is an impressive boat.  I was able to set up a test drive and surf each of these in the same day to compare how we liked each of these on the water. 

After the dealer demos it completely changed my mind on which boat to get, it wasn’t even close.  The surf wave on the Max was extremely disappointing, we spent hours trying to set it up and it just couldn’t deliver.   The bow rise was also a deal breaker for us with the Max.  My wife at 5’5” even on her toes couldn’t safety see over the bow while I was surfing.  The surf wave on the T23 was incredible right away with minimal set up and my wife could see over the bow.

In the end we decided we could live with the fit and finish not being as good as a Moomba, but we were largely buying the boat to surf, and the Max wasn’t going to do it for us.  Maybe some people have figured out how to improve the wave on the Max, but I have a hard time believing its anywhere as good as the Axis after comparing both.  I would have really liked to have gone with a Malibu for the fit & finish and styling, but we just couldn’t swing that.  It was worth it for me to get a new Axis with a 5yr warranty compared to a used older Malibu for the same money.

  • Like 2
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Surfed a 2017 mojo pro and T 23 with wedge not deployed and had a blast on both , pretty equal waves on same day on same water , surfed two a24’s in same week two weeks ago one wedge up and one down snd both were superior, can’t beat displacement and the a24 has that in spades , monstrous waves (wedge down bigger) both very pushy and long on both sides  , I’d go a24 for the room and obvious ease of set up wedge up or down   

Cant you get a pretty loaded a24 for well under $90, can’t beat that with a 5 year warranty and pw3 adjust for wave

Edited by granddaddy55
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16 hours ago, bamaboy said:

Am I the only one that thinks these are both bad choices? I've crawled around both and hashtag not impressed.

 

What is your budget?  I am assuming around 80k?  Look for a used 23 LSV. 

I bet you can snag a 2015-16 for around the same price with some warranty left.  There are tons on onlyinboards.  Get a Malibu. Just go used.

Surfed your G21 two different boats about 6 days total and liked it! Not loved it , best thing about NSS is best transfers in industry hands down as I can do 8 in a row in less than 35 seconds ( can’t do that with surf gate), love the G23 wave but as you have said “no boat(fit and finish) is worth $200000.00 especially when you can get a better brand new boat wave fir $90000, can’t really get a 18 or 19 lsv for anywhere near that and $90000 (depending on options a delivered price) gets you a brand new a24 with 5 year warranty 

and both a24 waves were slightly superior to the 2018 23 lsv wave I surfed that was already dialed by the dealer to his liking , loved that wave but can’t justify $50000.00 more for it unless your flipping and paying 4-8 notes before flipping 

Edited by granddaddy55
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1 hour ago, granddaddy55 said:

Surfed a 2017 mojo pro and T 23 with wedge not deployed and had a blast on both , pretty equal waves on same day on same water , surfed two a24’s in same week two weeks ago one wedge up and one down snd both were superior, can’t beat displacement and the a24 has that in spades , monstrous waves (wedge down bigger) both very pushy and long on both sides  , I’d go a24 for the room and obvious ease of set up wedge up or down   

Cant you get a pretty loaded a24 for well under $90, can’t beat that with a 5 year warranty and pw3 adjust for wave

A brand new A24 with PW3 and "pretty loaded" is highly likely to be over 90. Our local dealer had a 2018 pre-owned, low hours, fairly highly optioned for 89,999.

 The Makai isn't cheap either.

Edited by boardjnky4
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14 minutes ago, boardjnky4 said:

A brand new A24 with PW3 and "pretty loaded" is highly likely to be over 90. Our local dealer had a 2018 pre-owned, low hours, fairly highly optioned for 89,999.

 The Makai isn't cheap either.

Ok, but numerical argument still holds for loaded and not so loaded with pw3.  your paying 50- 60% more for ever so  slightly less wake/wave due to slightly bigger boat and if your holding boat why pay 50-60% more for fit snd finish if it’s your 1st v drive you own and your frame of reference to the better fit or finish will be almost useless, your going to have a blast and you won’t be looking at your lesser boat in that way, only those of us with the OCD problem are going to notice it all like unfinished fiber glass cleaning areas that have it rubbing our forearms and itching ( oops even Malibu has that problem right?)

Edited by granddaddy55
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5 minutes ago, Sparky450 said:

I priced a fully loaded A24 with a friend. In December. Even reverse gel. Was barely over 90

That’s what I thought , there were reports of non gel boats not loaded for far less than 90 all over , making depending on sales tax a possibility to deliver at 90, you can’t beat that for what can be considered one of the premier wake/wave combos in the industry , lifetime boat fir a boat price instead of a house price 

i want to go on any boat bigger than mine , it doesn’t necessarily take more money to have fun in a bigger boat our first ski boat in 1981 was a white wale high sides closed bow fishing boat with a 5 gallon bucket for captains chair and no other seats and a 115 evinrude , we did have a good windshield !!! 

Edited by granddaddy55
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4 minutes ago, granddaddy55 said:

Ok, but numerical argument still holds for loaded and not so loaded with pw3.  your paying 50- 60% more for ever so  slightly less wake/wave due to slightly bigger boat and if your holding boat why pay 50-60% more for fit snd finish if it’s your 1st v drive you own and your frame of reference to the better fit or finish will be almost useless, your going to have a blast and you won’t be looking at your lesser boat in that way, only those of us with the OCD problem are going to notice it all like unfinished fiber glass cleaning areas that have it rubbing our forearms and itching ( oops even Malibu has that problem right?)

If your like me, when i started out i bought a very nice Mastercraft X2 2006. Wasn't sure i would stay in the game just wanted a good watersports boat. Well i am hooked and am on my 3rd boat already. My previous boats were easy to sell because they held up well. So fit and finish does matter to me at least. its says something about longevity. 

I had 2 Axis boats quoted. One was an A20 and the other a t22. The A20 came out at $80k exactly. The T22 was 93k exactly. Both optioned out. Best prices i could get. 

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3 minutes ago, semi said:

If your like me, when i started out i bought a very nice Mastercraft X2 2006. Wasn't sure i would stay in the game just wanted a good watersports boat. Well i am hooked and am on my 3rd boat already. My previous boats were easy to sell because they held up well. So fit and finish does matter to me at least. its says something about longevity. 

I had 2 Axis boats quoted. One was an A20 and the other a t22. The A20 came out at $80k exactly. The T22 was 93k exactly. Both optioned out. Best prices i could get. 

But I talked about keeping it, and yes I agree if you know your moving up all the time then the resale is more critical , my perspective is keeping one, I’ve owned all of my boats for 15 years , this one 5 at 650 hours

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These are great 1st world problems and questions. It is interesting to see what quotes are for boats this time of year. Often times I think we are a bit impatient about when to shop for a new luxury item. In late fall/winter of 2017/18 my wife and I went shopping for a boat. It is impressive how much the price drops when a dealer has a number of boats in stock and hasn't sold one for 4 or 5 months. Similar to buying a new car in spring or summer of the following year, boat manufacturers provide incentives for holdover and off season purchases. 

We actually first considered a 2018 Axis A24.  My best friend has a 2019 24 MXZ, and I'm sure the wave has to be very similar. It has an amazing wave.

All boats I have seen have some fit and finish issues. I've had a couple of minor issues with our 25. I'm in agreement with the comment, "go for the best wave". It is nice to press surf right or left and have it be perfect every time.

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6 hours ago, semi said:

I recently purchased a new boat this year. I looked at Axis hard as well as moomba. I started my search dead set on Axis. In the end i didn't go that route. I am not going to try to bash Axis but it ain't no malibu. I would have spend the money on a malibu had i found one i liked. I also looked at the makai inside and out even thou i didn't need a boat that big, I will tell you this, Moomba has stepped up quality alot over the last few years. You are basically getting Supra vinyl and components along with things like Autowake which is only a moomba thing. The moomba was head and shoulders quality above the axis. More on par with Malibu. 

Oh and plastic cup holders that popped right out, they weren't even glued in.

We also found on our test ride, that the Axis bow was quite high at surf speeds. Even with ballast up front. My wife had to stand to see over the front. Not sure what they had for ballast up there but it was quite apparent. Much higher than the other boats we tested.  As far as steering with gates over tabs, yah, its notable. You do have drag on the steering with a surf gate setup. I don't find that to be too big of a deal but some do. With a tab setup the boat tracks much straighter with less effort. I will say surf gates are pretty easy to set up. But i also found they are less adjustable when it comes to wave config's. 

Not sure if you are aware, but Axis and Malibu are produced on the same line, by the same people, using the same processes. Malibu does have higher end components and tech, but build quality should be pretty equal with all things considered.

Stainless cupholders are an option on Axis, or you can add them yourself after the fact for about $50. Having the plastic ones not glued in is a more desirable option so you can easily swap them for the SS or pull them out to route wires for aftermarket upgrades :Tease3:

Utilizing power wedge correctly will fix the bow rise issue. Another option would be to drain some ballast from the rear if it had over 750's in the lockers.

As for steering, the gates close when you slow to idle. If you are utilizing power turns to pick up your fallen riders, please stop doing that. If you are referring to keeping the boat straight while underway, its possible that the tab on the rudder needs to be adjusted, as it shouldn't be that difficult to hold the wheel.

PW is what is used to adjust the height/length of the wave.

  • Like 4
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4 hours ago, Raimie said:

 

As for steering, the gates close when you slow to idle. If you are utilizing power turns to pick up your fallen riders, please stop doing that. If you are referring to keeping the boat straight while underway, its possible that the tab on the rudder needs to be adjusted, as it shouldn't be that difficult to hold the wheel.

 

As I pointed out in another thread, some of us live on small lakes and have to turn around while still surfing.  Only being able to turn against the rider is going to bother me, or my wife is just going to run the boat aground before she realizes the boat isn't going to turn.   I adjusted the tab on the rudder, and that was not the problem for me.  It is just the simple fact that I have one rudder pointing one way, and the other rudder (surfgate) pointing the other way.   

I am amazed at how many dealers are so excited to make the wave so tall and big that they give max wedge and then the boat is riding a wheelie down the lake.  For some waves, less is more.  

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We are on a river basically, not real wide but we turn while surfing at the end of each run. You just need to turn the direction that your surfer is on. No way will you turn away from your surfer.

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