Boating on Tahoe

We've owned a tow boat for the past 4 hears and for some reason we've never made it up to Tahoe with any of our boats... Any opinions on boating up at Tahoe? Other than the water is cold... Hazards/roller/swells/swamping/ etc..

Wakeboarding: water can be good; get out early...meaning with the sunrise...6:30 am by mid-summer...6:00 am on busier weekends (July 4). Off the water by 9 am-10am, or at least switch to surfing.
Cruising: Pay attention to the weather for winds as they can pick up fast and the lake can turn super rolly. Nothing to worry about if you're smart about it.... Cruising is fun, but tougher in smaller ski boats. All in all, worth doing...you can see crystal clear 40' down as you are riding at 25 mph...

You must respect that lake. I've boated that like for 15 yrs with a DD ski boat, and it will turn in an instant.

Gets rough quick.

But with a vdrive or similar boat, it would be better.

Great lake!

We had trouble in tahoe due to the elevation.. granted you are in a much bigger and powerful boat than we were.. There is deffinatly a loss of power due to the high elevation. The water is FU6IN cold! but its super clean.. like BCH said .. you will be cruising and you can look down and see the bottom of the lake. Be sure to check out emerald bay. Also, there is a kick ass restaurant on the water called Sunnyside.. be sure to boat there! Youll have a blast.

Yummmm, Sunnyside. I've been going there since I was a little kid. I've never had any of my comp boats out on Tahoe, but we used to take our I/O out there a lot when I was a kid. Everyone here is on point about it being cold and the potential for wind/rough water is always there. Be careful, pay attention to the weather and you should be find. Just keep in mind that it gets really rough after lunch time pretty much everyday. If you're off the water by then you wont have any problems.

I was just up in Tahoe for a week and a half. Morning was the best as stated before, but there were a couple of evenings where it calmed down, and we rode from 6:ish to 8ish...

It was my first time having the boat up in Tahoe and the first day we noticed how bad the power loss was, so I got a prop and went down 3 pitch sizes.. Helped tremendously!!!

Any pics? I've only been in the winter and it is beautiful then. I'd like to see some summertime pics.

If water sports is what you want, you dont want Tahoe. Tahoe is rarely, if ever, glass. It constantly has rollers, if you dont mind those then you are good to go.

One day last year I dropped the boat in the water at 8am and all the wake boats were pulling off. Only took about 5 minutes to know why.

If you only want to sight see, then drop in on the west shore and stay in that area. The effects of the usual afternoon downsloping winds will be minimal there compared to the east shore. Or, you can go to south shore and find a bouy at the Beacon and sit on the beach and drink rum runners all day.

my pops had a cobalt years ago and was camping at tahoe... he anchored the boat like 50ft off shore.. there was some kind storm during the night.. the next morning 4 boats were all flipped over on shore... but other then that i have no details just thought i would share

thats the other thing you will notice in tahoe.. everyone and their mom has a cobalt!

Don't believe the hype. Tahoe sucks for wakeboarding or any watersports activity. If you must go, especially avoid the west side: Alligators over there.

hahaah thats so true isaac... MY pops wanted another cobalt but lucky enough people convinced him out of it

i just went last weekend. its a blast. water was unusually calm. couple friends went boarding around 5pm. braved it too with no wetsuit. lots to do a see.

Cobalt or REGAL HaHa.

I talked to the owner of one when we were on the water.. Asked why everyone has one.. he said that cobalt has the best V cut and they are really deep and designed for really choppy water. He said that Cobalts handle any chop like butter

Make sure that you make it to Emerald Bay by boat.

No Wetsuit?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Thats crazy. When we were riding, it was anywhere from 57 to 60.... 60 was only the days right before the snow... Mostly 57.. I had wetsuit, gloves, and neoprene socks...
it was the only way I could be comfortable in water that cold..
I'm a cold water wuss..
I look and see if there are any pics, but i dont think i do.. not of boarding anyways..

I went out at 730am in the beginning of july trunking it and it was really cold.. I could only get like 2 short sets in.. and I was freezing.. I wouldnt do it again..

we brought our boat up last summer and will do the same this year. you definitely want to be on the water by 7:30 am if you want good wakeboarding water, and yes, the water is hella cold...but...the water's beautiful and the scenery is better than most any other lake. Just bring your drysuit. I used a shorty and my muscles definitely tensed up during the run from the cold.

after our run, we would cruise to Emerald Bay for a little troll around the bay, and yes, Sunnyside is great for after your run as well.

i had little to no loss of power in the elevation with our '02 Nauty...