BOTE, the Destin-based manufacturer of premium paddle boards, will be showing off its products at two local beaches throughout the season so people can try them out and see what’s SUP.

Through October, BOTE paddle boards will be available for trial Tuesdays from 6 to 8 p.m. at Liza Jackson Park in Fort Walton Beach and Wednesdays from 6 to 8 p.m. at Norriego Point in Destin.

Now a national name in SUP, Bote was founded by husband and wife team Corey and Magda Cooper in 2008, after they fell in love with the sport but not the paddle boards that were commercially available. 

“When we first got on a SUP, we loved the idea but hated the product, both form and function,” Corey says. “All of the boards we tried were the same thing but with a different name. They were all basically giant, unstable surfboards. It was around that time that I looked at Magda and said, ‘We can make this better; we can make a board that stands apart.’”

BOTE has a retail store at 383 Harbor Blvd., Destin, FL, and retail/headquarters at 505 Mary Esther Cut Off NW, Ft. Walton Beach, FL. For more info, visit BoteBoard.com.