Sea Ray SDX 290 Review

The Sea Ray SDX 290 is an ideal family runabout with serious performance credentials. It comes with three engine choices and is loaded with smart features.

Sea Ray has built a strong reputation for creating attractive, well designed and well-made boats that just seem to click with buyers – and especially in the case of the company’s day boats like its legendary 290 Sundeck. Although now discontinued, the spirit of that popular runabout lives on in today’s Sea Ray SDX 290, a thoroughly modern bowrider that brings even greater comfort and versatility to the company’s proven runabout design.

The SDX 290 is all about family fun on the water, with a near-perfect balance of comfort, amenities and performance.

The Sea Ray SDX 290 is all about family fun on the water, and that’s immediately evident as you approach the boat from the dock. It’s impossible to not notice the boat’s huge aft swim platform and the twin, aft-facing lounge seats mounted right on the transom.

The twin aft-facing transom lounge seats recline, making them the ultimate spot to dry off after a swim.

Take a seat and you’ll soon discover those big aft-facing loungers recline, for the ultimate in comfort as you dry off after a dip. There’s a neat console between the seats with stainless steel drink holders and a couple of convenient storage bins as well. The big seats can be deleted, if desired, and replaced with a traditional sun pad, but they’re so comfortable it’s hard to imagine many people opting to go that route. Still, it’s an option for those who would prefer it.

The optional swim platform step make re-boarding after a swim or a turn on the wakeboard easier than ever.

The big swim platform – like the rest of the boat – is finished in soft non-slip foam for comfort underfoot and includes an under-mount retractable boarding ladder as standard equipment. But if you like to swim a lot, you might want to spring for the optional platform step upgrade that Sea Ray offers, where the center section of the platform lifts, swings aft and drops over the side to provide a wide, comfortable step for even easier re-boarding from the water.

The deep-vee hull not only eats up choppy waves, but provides exhilarating cornering under all conditions.

Stretching a hair over 29 feet in overall length, the Sea Ray SDX 290 rides on a nine-foot beam – a bit wider than most of its contemporaries, and that broader hull form contributes both to this boat’s interior space as well as its driving performance. The deep-vee hull design tapers to 21 degrees of deadrise at the transom, allowing the SDX 290 to easily eat up choppy conditions and still provide its passengers with a nice smooth ride. It also contributes to the boat’s responsive handling under all water conditions.

The hot tub-style seating almost completely rings the cockpit.

Step inside and the cockpit seating is hot tub-style, with a huge L-shaped lounge stretching across the transom and carrying forward on the port side. There’s a large backrest to use this space as an aft-facing lounge, as well as a facing lounge on the starboard side of the boat. The only interruption in the otherwise full wrap-around seating is a neat wet bar with an integral sink and faucet, located on the starboard side just ahead of the transom walk-through. It’s possible to add both a refrigerator and an electric grill to the wetbar as upgrades, and many buyers will do just that to get the best out of this inviting space.

The Sea Ray’s glass helm centers around a flush-mounted Simrad multi-function display.

The stylish helm of the Sea Ray SDX 290 features a glass dash centered around a large Simrad multi-function display that’s flush-mounted dead-center on the dash panel. A nine-inch screen comes standard, but many buyers will likely upgrade this to the available 12-inch screen and enjoy the extra display space. Overhead, a neatly stitched brow provides some protection from glare, while to the sides a pair of stainless steel drink holders flank the display. The elegant, brushed chrome-on-black sport steering wheel is itself surrounded by two rows of illuminated toggle switches that handle electrical accessories, with a Fusion stereo to the left of the wheel. The engine control binnacle to the right mounts directly to the gunnel, and is well positioned for comfort. It all sits under a comfortable Bimini top that provides a break from the mid-day sun.

The passenger console conceals a surprisingly large head compartment.

The large passenger console opens to reveal a spacious head compartment, complete with an opening portlight, a pullout sprayer, and a solid-surface counter with a sink and vanity.

The passenger seat, like that of the driver, features an integrated pull-up bolster. Between the consoles, a large floor hatch opens to reveal a large storage locker for bulky gear.

Both the driver and passenger ride on comfortable seats with integrated pull-up bolsters.

Pass through the black-framed, low profile windshield and the bow provides twin forward-facing lounge seats, connected at the front to wrap around continuously.

Standard power is a 300 horsepower MerCruiser 6.2L sterndrive that’s a good match to the SDX 290 for general boating.

Standard power in the Sea Ray SDX 290 is a 300 horsepower, 6.2L MerCruiser V8 sterndrive with digital throttle and shift. For those who would enjoy a bit more power, Sea Ray also offers a 350 horsepower variant of the 6.2L engine, along with the MerCruiser 8.2L Magnum and its beefy 380 horsepower output as optional upgrades. While it will eat a little more gas, the 8.2L Magnum will push the big Sea Ray up on plane in around four seconds and hit a maximum speed of over 45 mph while still delivering good fuel economy in the range of 1.4 mpg. Cut the throttle back to around 3,500 rpm and fuel consumption jumps to 1.8 mpg while still cruising along at a healthy 30 mph.

Sea Ray’s SDX 290 packs a lot of value into its 29-foot length.

Sea Ray has a lot of experience creating family runabouts and the impressive SDX 290 shows it still knows what makes boaters tick. Take one for a ride and you might just be surprised how quickly you fall for this thoroughly delightful day boat.