Capt. Steve Larivee Says--

The Tahoe 215 Xi I/O is a bigger brother to their popular 195 deckboat, for those who need or desire more room. I personally like the I/O version better than the outboard. It allows for a full width swim platform and large sunpad on top of the motor box at the cost of a little bit of cockpit space. A fair tradeoff in my opinion, but others may disagree, and for them, an outboard version is available.



Look at all of the areas for watersports: fishing, trolling, eating, partying, swimming, sunbathing, sleeping, waterskiing, wakeboarding, tubing, hot-footing, parasailing, spooning, cruising, sight-seeing, changing diapers…you get the idea, it’s a circus of fun.

At the starboard side of the swim platform is a concealed swim ladder that has four steps, rather than the typical three. Sometimes I wonder if boat builders ever try to climb up the three steps on their own boats. If they did, they would do what Tahoe has done and add the extra step. And this is an affordable boat! There are two grab handles at either side of the ladder mounted on top of the platform. These handles make it easier to get onboard, but make for a bit of a tripping hazard, so keep your eyes down, if boarding this boat from the stern.



Count ‘em. There are four rungs and if you are over 40 years-old you’ll thank Tahoe for every one of them.

The sun pad is walk-around, which allows for gathering around while the kids are swimming, and there are two storage compartments, one to port and a second in the deck at the walk-through door. There are two steps down into the cockpit area, and under the step is a dedicated trash bin. Again, Tahoe designers have thought of something that most boats omit altogether no matter how high the price. Everyone has trash, no matter how much they pay.



The helm has all of the gauges you need, plus a classy simulated burl wood dash which is nicer than ones we’ve seen on BMW 745s.

Cockpit Features

Once in the cockpit, you’ll notice how roomy it is. There is an L-shaped lounger and a base for mounting the pedestal table. That table, by the way, is kidney shaped, so when it’s installed, you still have room to walk around it. All seats have storage underneath, and there’s ski/wakeboard storage below the deck. To port is a sink, with pull out sprayer connected to the water tank below. Two lounge seats are forward of the refreshment center and console.

At the bow, there is plenty of standing room, as well as two more bases for mounting the two standard pedestal fishing seats. Tahoe included an aerated live well and prewired the boat for one of the five optional electric trolling motors.



Okay, Dad, just watch this curl on the front side of some green water.

More Power to You

Standard power for the 215 Xi I/O is a MerCruiser 4.3L 190 HP V-6, which Tahoe says will bring the boat up to 46MPH. (FYI—We haven’t tested it.) However, if skiing or loading the boat to its 12 person capacity is your plan, then you might want to consider upgrading the engine package to one of the five other optional choices that include a 5.0 MPI 260 HP V-8 with Bravo 3 dual prop outdrive.

It’s hard not to like a deckboat, and the Tahoe 215 Xi I/O has a lot to offer if you’re considering one. Tahoe didn’t invent the deck boat, they have certainly taken it to a whole new level of usefulness. We urge you to go see it.