With my paddle yak, I am able to lay the paddle on the top of the side of the boat or even toss it over the side because it is attached to a lanyard. That lets me get it out of the way when I want to, which helps when I am moving stuff around, moving me around, or whatever. With peddles, they are installed on the bottom, but you aren't getting them out of your way no matter what you do! This might not matter for diving or it could be monumental pain the you know what. That's about all I can think of for paddle versus peddle. For yaks in general, check weight. None of them are heavy, but unless you are an NBA player, anything 14 feet or more in length can get heavy fast. How do you plan on transporting it? I have a receiver extenstion for my truck which works great, others have racks on top of their car or SUV and others buy a trailer. If you are going the rack route, can you lift the yak to the top of the vehicle by yourself? If not, will you always have someone to help you? Where do you plan on storing it? If outside, I suggest covering it with a tarp so the sun doesn't fade it and I also recommend not keeping it on the ground, as it can become a home for things you don't want living in it... I have a pully system designed on my side of my neighbor's fence (I hope they aren't SB members!) where I drape straps under it while it's on the ground and then as I tighten them they lift the yak up off the ground. My tarp is somewhat permanently installed (it is only coming off if I want to) so that the all sides of the yak are covered. Initially, I didn't cover the back and after I thought I was finished designing it, I saw rays of light shining through the cracks in the fence and hitting that side of the yak. I didn't want a striped yak so I took everything down and redid the tarp. Shoot me a PM if you want more info.
