In your excitement to get a pontoon boat, you might have completely forgotten about the lack of a changing room, and who can blame you?
Unless you’re spending big money, most pontoon boats don’t come with a built-in changing room. This is due to the generally awkward design of pontoons, so many owners are left to add a changing room themselves.
No worries, though! In this article, we’ll provide you with the top recommendations of some of the best pontoon changing room frames. We also lay out a guideline of the features you should consider when choosing a pontoon changing room frame, so sit tight!
4 Best Pontoon Changing Room Frames
The range of pontoon changing room frame choices on the market may seem insurmountable at times. As a result, we’ve put together a list of the top 4 recommended pontoon changing room frames.
1. Best Budget: Vortex Privacy Room
First on our list is the Vortex Privacy Room. It’s a drop-down partition that attaches to the boat’s bimini rails with four velcro straps.
Made from marine-grade canvas, the Vortex Privacy Room is water-resistant, windproof, sturdy, and breathable.
It also has high color retention, allowing the fabric’s light color to shine through with minimal fading—even in the harshest of environments.
The partition is relatively large, measuring 30 x 30 x 70 inches. It’s not particularly versatile, the Vortex Privacy Room does its job of providing the necessary privacy for your pontoon boat.
2. Best High-End: Taylor Made Bow Enclosure
Taylor Made Bow Enclosure is a pontoon boat bow enclosure that also functions as a changing room.
Nevertheless, the enclosure has enough features to make the price worthwhile.
The bow enclosure covers a large area, providing you with a shaded lounge area to relax in. With the zippered entryway, you can convert the lounge into a large private changing room.
The best thing about this Taylor Made changing room is that you won’t have to shimmy in and out of clothing while trying to find some balance.
Instead, you’ll be able to rest and lean on the pontoon boat’s seats, which makes this enclosure the safest option on our list.
That said, the Taylor Made Bow Enclosure shouldn’t be used while underway. While the hardware is permanently attached, it’s not strong enough to withstand strong winds, so it’s best to remove it.
3. Most Versatile: Alvantor Pop-Up Changing Room
The Alvantor Pop-up Changing Room is an incredibly versatile pop-up changing room, which makes it one of the best for pontoon boats.
For starters, the sheer size of this room and its 360-degree ventilation can accommodate more than one person at a time.
What’s more, the pop-up room is made from 300D polyethylene, which is water-repellent and tear-resistant.
To increase its durability, the polyethylene has a Teflon coating, which makes the fabric even more water and oil-resistant, tear-resistant, and quick-drying.
As a result, the Alvantor Pop-Up is ideal for use as a shower, changing room, or restroom in any setting.
The pop-up is also lightweight and compact, weighing 7.28 pounds and measuring 20.8 inches in diameter, making it easily portable.
4. Most Durable: LUVNFUN 6.9 FT Pop-Up Changing Room
The LUVNFUN 6.9 FT Pop-Up Changing Room is a collapsible pop-up that’s available in four brilliant colors. It’s bottomless and has a shower opening, so the changing room can double as a shower and a toilet.
When set up, the pop-up is 47.2 x 47.2 x 82.7 inches, so it can comfortably fit a 6 ft. tall person.
What makes this collapsible changing room an excellent choice is how durable and sturdy it is.
To begin with, the room’s frame is made from rust-proof steel and is supported by four stakes, four sandbags, and windproof ropes.
In addition, the fabric is thick waterproof and anti-tear 190D polyester, making the changing room resilient and long-lasting. It also prevents your body’s outline from showing when sunlight hits the changing room.
What to Look for in a Pontoon Changing Room Frame
In this section, let’s take a look at some essential features to consider when choosing the most suitable pontoon changing room frame for your boat.
Changing Room Frame Type
There are overall five different types of pontoon changing room frames. Your choice of changing room type depends on your pontoon boat size and overall needs.
Collapsible Pop-Up Changing Room
Collapsible pop-up changing rooms look a lot like camping tents, but they don’t need any installation.
You simply pop them up when you need a changing room and collapse them to clear space. As a result, they’re most ideal for small pontoon boats, and you can use them on most outdoor adventures.
Changing Room Combo
Changing room combos are similar to collapsible pop-ups, but with a few additional accessories and features.
They usually come with a built-in clothesline, a shower floor mat, and extra storage pockets for toiletries.
Drop-Down Pontoon Partitions
Drop-down pontoon partitions are changing rooms that attach to the bimini rail of a boat. Some boat owners believe that these partitions are the most attractive and provide the most privacy and space.
Unlike the previous changing rooms, drop-down pontoon partitions can only be used on a boat.
Pontoon Boat Bow Enclosure
Pontoon boat bow enclosures are probably the most versatile type of changing rooms. These bow enclosures can fit over a large area, providing an enclosed space to hang out on the boat.
What’s more, many bow enclosures have zippered entryways, so they can double as changing rooms.
Custom-Made Changing Room
Finally, if none of these options match what you’re looking for, you can always get a custom-made changing room for your pontoon.
You’ll need to get creative or hire a skilled carpenter. You’ll also almost certainly spend more money than you would on a ready-made changing room.
That said, you could make the room the size and color you want. You can also add to it the accessories and features you wish to have in a changing room.
What’s important is that you can choose the sturdiest and most convenient materials for your pontoon’s changing room.
Material
The most common pontoon changing room frame is polyester. It’s a hydrophobic material, so it won’t degrade because of mildew or seawater.
Moreover, because its fibers aren’t elastic, polyester’s wind and UV resistance are unparalleled.
While they’re less common, you can also find canvas changing room frames. Canvas is a form of cotton that’s water-resistant under light and moderate rain.
In addition, the fibers of canvas are weaved tightly, so not much wind can seep through the changing room.
Size
Pontoon changing room frame sizes range from 5 ft. to 7 ft. tall, so you want to make sure that the one you choose is suitable for your height as well as any potential passengers.
What’s more, you should think about the size of your pontoon boat. Spending time on a pontoon boat is supposed to be enjoyable, so restricting movement on the deck is the last thing anyone wants.
For small pontoons with no bimini rail, collapsible pop-up changing rooms are the most ideal. You can just set them up or tuck them away anytime without wasting deck space.
If you have a larger pontoon boat, however, you have more leeway to choose the changing room type.
Versatility
While the main reason you’re looking for a changing room is to have privacy on your pontoon, it doesn’t hurt to consider what other usages you can get out of it.
Some changing rooms are exclusive to pontoons, but if you’re outdoorsy, you might want to consider more versatile changing rooms.
For example, most collapsible pop-up changing rooms can be easily set up at the beach or camp.
In Conclusion
Just because your pontoon boat doesn’t come with a built-in changing room doesn’t mean you can’t have a private space on the deck.
To determine which pontoon changing room frame is most suitable for you, you should examine the floor planning and measure the deck space that you want to install the changing room in.
If you have limited space, you can go for a collapsible pop-up or a combo changing room that you can set up and fold whenever you need. For pontoon boats with rails, you can attach a drop-down partition.
You can go for bow enclosures if you want to give your boat a luxurious appearance. Ultimately, you can go with the custom-made option and design a changing room that’s exactly what you need.