Center Console Boats

A center console is an open boat with the helm in a console in the middle of the deck, so you can walk all the way around it. Most are 18 to 40 feet long, run a deep-V or modified-V hull and are powered by one or more outboards. They are built mainly for saltwater fishing, and they double as family and watersports boats.

Sea Pro builds 10 center consoles from 18'3" to 32'0", from the 182 CC to the 322R Offshore.

Fishing first: inshore for redfish, trout and stripers, nearshore for reef fish and kings, and offshore for tuna, mahi and billfish. The open, self-bailing deck lets several anglers fight fish at once and hoses clean afterwards.

They are also everyday family boats. Every Sea Pro center console has bow seating, and most offer a ski tow bar, a head and a sandbar table attachment for days at the island. The Sea Pro Sandbar models take that further, with a finish built around family days.

A Sea Pro Sandbar boat is a center console with a family-first finish. Each one shares its length, beam and deadrise with one of our center consoles — the 225FLX with the 222 CC, the 245FLX with the 242 CC, and the 265 FLXR with the 262 Offshore — so it runs like a center console in a chop. What changes is the deck: bow and stern tables, more lounge seating and cooler space, built for a day at the sandbar with the family.

Choose a fishing center console if the boat is mostly for fishing; choose a Sandbar boat if family days come first and you still want to fish when the bite turns on. Boating Industry named the 225FLX a 2025 Top Product and the 265FLX a 2026 Top Product. See the Sandbar models.

Prices rise steeply with length and power. Across the industry, small center consoles start in the tens of thousands, mid-size 20- to 29-footers run from about $60,000 into the hundreds of thousands, and large offshore boats cost more again.

Sea Pro center consoles start at $43,000 for the 182 CC and run to $325,317 for the 322R Offshore. The starting price includes standard power; the outboard you choose, options, freight and dealer prep move the final number. Use Build a Boat to price yours, then get a quote from a dealer.

Size the boat to the water you fish most and the crew you usually bring. As a rule of thumb:

• 18–20 ft: bays, rivers, lakes and calm days along the beach, with two to four people.
• 21–24 ft: the most versatile range. Nearshore reefs and wrecks in good weather, family days, and still trailerable.
• 26 ft and up: regular offshore runs, bigger seas and bigger crews, usually with twin outboards.

If you are between sizes, a sea trial in the kind of chop you actually fish will settle it. See how the Sea Pro lineup fits each size.

There is no single minimum: it depends on how far you run, the sea state and your crew. Many anglers fish nearshore in 21- to 24-foot center consoles on calm days. For regular runs well offshore, through inlets, in seas of three feet or more, most experienced captains want 25 feet or more, a deep-V hull and twin engines.

Sea Pro’s offshore models — the 262 Offshore, 292R Offshore and 322R Offshore — are built for that work, with 22.5°–24.5° of deadrise, twin outboards and up to 207 gal of fuel. Whatever the boat, plan fuel by the rule of thirds (a third out, a third back, a third in reserve), check the marine forecast, file a float plan and carry a VHF and an EPIRB or PLB.

Yes — handling a chop is what the deep-V hull is for. The key number is deadrise, the angle of the hull bottom at the transom: the more deadrise, the softer the ride in a head sea. Bay boats run about 15°; offshore center consoles run 20° and up.

Sea Pro center consoles run from 16° on the 182 CC to 24.5° on the 322R Offshore. Length, weight, trim tabs and good seamanship matter as much as the angle, and Seakeeper Ride — standard on the R models — actively levels the boat to take out pitch and roll.

A dual console splits the helm and a passenger console on either side of a walk-through windshield, with lounge seating in the bow. It gives more weather protection and comfort for cruising and watersports. A center console gives up some of that comfort for a full walkaround deck that is better for fishing.

If you fish more than you cruise, choose a center console. If family days come first, look at the 240 Dual Console. If you want both, look at the Sea Pro Sandbar boats: center consoles with a family-first finish.

Start with where you fish. A bay boat has a flatter, shallower hull for flats, marshes and protected bays; a center console has a deeper V for open water and offshore runs. Bay boats float shallower, cost less and are easier to tow; center consoles ride better in a chop and carry more freeboard, fuel and seating.

Sea Pro builds both. Compare the bay boats, or see the side-by-side comparison above.

Yes. The open deck is easy to move around, the boats are self-bailing, and most have shade overhead, bow seating and storage for coolers and gear. Every Sea Pro center console has bow seating; most offer a ski tow bar, forward seating, a head and a stern sandbar table attachment, and the 242 CC and up come with a fiberglass hard top.

For a crew that spends as much time at the sandbar as on the fishing grounds, the Sea Pro Sandbar boats are center consoles finished for exactly that, and the 240 Dual Console adds a windshield.

Many do. Mid-size and larger center consoles usually hide a head compartment inside the console. On Sea Pro center consoles, a portable toilet is an option on the 202 CC through the 262 Offshore, a pump-out head is available from the 222 CC up, and the 322R Offshore comes with a pump-out head as standard.

A single outboard costs less to buy, burns less fuel and is simpler to maintain, and modern outboards are very reliable. Twins add top-end power and redundancy — a second engine to get home on — which is why most boats over about 25 feet carry two.

On Sea Pro center consoles, the 182 CC, 202 CC, 225FLX, 222 CC, 245FLX and 242 CC run a single outboard, and the 265 FLXR, 262 Offshore, 292R Offshore and 322R Offshore are rigged with twins.

Dry hull weights for Sea Pro center consoles are in the comparison table above. Add the outboard, about six pounds per gallon of fuel, gear and the trailer itself to find your towing weight, and stay comfortably under your vehicle’s tow rating.

Width matters too: 8'6" is the standard legal trailer width across the U.S. The 182 CC, 202 CC, 225FLX and 222 CC are within it; wider boats — the 245FLX (8'10"), 242 CC (8'10"), 265 FLXR (9'4"), 262 Offshore (9'4"), 292R Offshore (9'10") and 322R Offshore (10'4") — can need an oversize permit depending on your state. Your dealer can help you match a trailer and tow vehicle.

Most single-engine center consoles cruise efficiently in the mid-20s to low-30s mph and top out in the 40s or 50s; big twin-engine boats go faster and burn more. Hull weight, load, prop and engine choice all change the numbers.

Each Sea Pro model page links engine-specific performance data where it is available, with speed, fuel burn and range at each rpm, so you can compare outboards on the boat you are considering.

• The right hull for your water: deadrise, freeboard and length for the conditions you fish.
• Construction: how the stringers are built and bonded, foam flotation and an osmotic-blister barrier.
• Warranty: how long the hull is covered, what else is covered, and whether it transfers.
• Fishing layout: livewells, rod storage, fish boxes and casting room.
• Power choices and dealer support: an outboard brand and a dealer you trust for service.
• A sea trial: in the chop you actually fish, with your usual crew.

Every Sea Pro carries a 10-year limited hull warranty covering structural defects in the fiberglass hull, which can transfer to a later owner after a re-certification inspection, plus a 5-year limited warranty on the boat: parts and labor in year one, parts in years two through five. Outboards are covered by the engine maker’s own warranty. Read the full warranty.

Every Sea Pro is offered with Suzuki, Yamaha or Mercury outboards, so you can choose the brand you prefer and the service dealer closest to you. Each model page lists the exact engines and horsepower available, and which one is standard.

Seakeeper Ride is an active ride-control system: fast-acting blades at the transom counter the boat’s pitch and roll as it runs. Seakeeper says it eliminates up to 70% of both. On a Sea Pro, an R after the model number means Ride is fitted.

On Sea Pro center consoles it is standard on the 265 FLXR, 292R Offshore and 322R Offshore, standard on the DLX R trim of the 242 CC and 262 Offshore and optional on the 202 CC, 225FLX, 222 CC and 245FLX. The comparison table above shows each model.

Yes. A center console’s open deck and deep-V hull work just as well on big lakes, the Great Lakes and rivers, where afternoon wind can stack up a real chop. Freshwater use is also easier on the boat and engines. Sea Pro has dealers on the Great Lakes and in inland states such as Oklahoma and Ohio — find the nearest one.

For model year 2024 Sea Pro renamed its models so each name matches the boat’s actual length. The boats did not change size. The 199 became the 202 CC, the 219 the 222 CC, the 239 the 242 CC, the 259 the 262 Offshore and the 320 the 322R Offshore. Older names still appear in reviews, used listings and owner’s manuals.

In Whitmire, South Carolina. Sea Pro is led by original owner Jimmy Hancock and industry veteran Preston Wrenn, and every hull is hand-laid at the Whitmire factory. Boats are sold through 65 authorized dealers across the United States — read the Sea Pro story or find a dealer.