Sea Hunt Ultra 229 Review for Families Buying Their First Center Console

Who the Sea Hunt Ultra 229 is built for

The Sea Hunt Ultra 229 is aimed squarely at the buyer who wants one boat for sandbar Saturdays, inshore fishing with the kids and the occasional calm-day run to a nearshore reef. Sea Hunt's own description of the Ultra series is a family boat first: cushioned rear bench, oversized bow with backrests and cup holders, then rod holders and a livewell to turn it into a fishing boat. The 229 is the middle of three small Ultras, between the Ultra 219 and Ultra 234, and appeared on Sea Hunt's website around 2020.

Its biggest practical advantage is size. At 22 feet 8 inches with an 8-foot 6-inch beam, it is legal to tow without an oversize permit across the US, it fits most garages' driveways and many dry stack racks, and at a published 2,600 pounds dry it can be pulled by a half-ton pickup or a large SUV rated for the full rig.

• Good fit: families with a tow vehicle and no slip, inshore and bay anglers, first-time owners
• Less ideal: regular offshore runs past 15 miles, crews of six anglers, owners who want twin engines

What the $71,701 starting price buys

Sea Hunt's reputation rests on standard equipment, and the 229 follows suit. The base boat comes with a Yamaha F150 XC on Yamaha hydraulic steering with a SeaStar tilt helm, Yamaha digital Command Link gauges, a 9-inch Garmin GPSMAP 943xs with VHF, a waterproof Bluetooth stereo, a wireless phone charger, an aluminum leaning post with captain's chairs, and bow backrests, bow and cockpit bolsters and bow cushions in diamond-stitched white vinyl.

What it does not include is worth knowing before you visit a dealer. A T-top is optional, as are trim tabs, underwater lights, a freshwater system, a recirculating livewell, the trolling motor harness, a Porta Potti and a ski tow bar. In Florida and the Gulf, most buyers will want the fiberglass T-top with its mister system, and in any chop the Bennett trim tabs are worth having on a single-engine 22-footer.

F150, F200 or F250: picking the engine

Sea Hunt rates the 229 for 250 hp and offers three Yamaha choices. The standard F150 XC is the economy pick, lighter and cheaper to maintain. The F200 XC is the middle option, and the F250 XSB2 is the only one paired with Yamaha electric steering and the Saltwater Series prop on Sea Hunt's options list.

Neither Sea Hunt nor Yamaha has published a performance bulletin for the 229, so we cannot quote measured speeds. As a reference point only, Yamaha's 2013 test of the slightly larger and heavier Ultra 234 with a single F200 reached 46.4 mph and returned better than 3.5 mpg between 30 and 34 mph. A 229 with an F200 should land in the same neighborhood; an F150 will be slower when loaded with family and gear.

Our recommendation is the F200 for most buyers. It is the engine that keeps a full boat on plane comfortably in a chop without the cost and weight of the V6 F250, and it holds resale better than the base F150.

An 18-degree transom and what it means for the ride

Sea Hunt publishes the Ultra bottom as 18 degrees at the transom, 22 amidships and 55 at the entry. That is a modified-V, flatter aft than the 21-degree Gamefish boats and deeper than the 15-degree transom on Sea Hunt's older BX bay boats. In practice it trades a little head-sea comfort for stability at rest and a shallow 13-inch draft, which suits a boat that will spend much of its life in bays, rivers and sounds.

In a short 2-foot chop the 229 will be comfortable at moderate speed with the bow trimmed down; in 3-foot seas you will slow down well before a 25-foot Gamefish would. That is the honest limit of a 22-foot single-engine family boat.

Layout: bow lounge, console cooler and a 15-gallon well

The bow has backrests and cushions over a 110-quart starboard and 70-quart port storage compartment. In front of the console, a 48-quart cooler sits under the seat, and a 5-gallon bucket recess helps keep a cast net or bait bucket from sliding around. A 15-gallon livewell is standard; Sea Hunt's Ultra bait tank leaning post adds more bait capacity with captain's chairs, and a tackle center can be fitted to the standard aluminum post.

The console has room for the optional Porta Potti, which matters more to family crews than any fishing feature. Rod storage is modest, so plan on adding a T-top with rocket launchers or kingfish rod holders if you fish with more than three or four rods.

• Bow storage: 110 qt starboard, 70 qt port
• Console cooler 48 qt; 5-gallon bucket storage
• Livewell 15 gal standard, recirculating optional
• Fuel 83 gallons (84 on 2020 literature)

Ultra 229 versus the 219 and 234

The Ultra 234 is the obvious alternative: 23 feet 7 inches, the same 8-foot 6-inch beam, 96 gallons of fuel, a 140-quart starboard bow box and an F200 as standard, from $80,799. It also offers more leaning post choices, including a mezzanine post. If you will run offshore or carry four adults regularly, the extra foot and fuel are worth about $9,000.

Choose the 229 if you value the lower price and lighter towing weight, and if most of your boating is inside the inlet. Choose the smaller 219 only if storage space or budget forces it.

Owning and reselling an Ultra 229

Single-outboard family boats are cheap to keep by center console standards. Expect roughly $4,000 to $9,000 a year for fuel, one engine service, insurance, trailer care and registration, before depreciation. Sea Hunt's large dealer network and brand recognition make resale straightforward, and boats with an F200 or F250, a T-top and trim tabs consistently sell faster than base boats.

When buying used, read the engine hours first, then check what was actually fitted against the options list, because two 229s of the same year can differ by $15,000 in equipment.