Venture 22

The Avalon Venture 22 is a 22-foot 2-inch pontoon at the entry tier of the segment, with a layout split that gives buyers a real choice between a cruise trim and a fish trim. Avalon Pontoon Boats is based in New Paris, Indiana and sells through a Midwest-and-Southeast dealer network. The Venture line is the company's value-leaning lineup, sitting below the upper-tier Avalon LSZ and Catalina models in materials and price.

What is the Avalon Venture 22?

The Venture 22 is a 22-foot 2-inch aluminum pontoon with an 8-foot 6-inch beam. Two 25-inch logs as standard, with a tritoon center tube as an option. Dry weight is roughly 2,380 pounds on the two-tube build, closer to 2,750 on the tritoon. The deck is marine plywood with marine vinyl over it. Fence panels are powder-coated on current builds, though the coating thickness is lighter than what you find on a Crest or Bennington at the same length.

The layout choice is what separates the Venture from the rest of the value tier. The cruise trim has a forward bow lounge that converts to a sun pad, a stern L-couch that wraps to a port lounge, and a captain's helm seat with a flip-up bolster. The fish trim swaps the stern lounge for two pedestal fishing seats, an integrated livewell behind the helm console, and rod holders along the gunwale. Both trims include a small console at the helm with the steering wheel, the engine throttle, and a basic instrument cluster. A bimini covers the helm and the stern. Optional adds are a changing-room curtain, a wet bar, and an aftermarket chartplotter.

Engine options are a Yamaha F90 to F150 or a Mercury 90 to 150 FourStroke on the two-tube build, with a Yamaha F200 or Mercury 200 on the optional tritoon. The 150 is the right power for the two-tube setup. Cruise sits at 23 mph and top near 30 on a clean hull. The 200 on the tritoon takes the boat to a 27-mph cruise and 36-mph top, enough to pull a tube cleanly with three adults aboard.

I ran a 2021 Venture 22 fish trim with a Yamaha F150 on a small Tennessee River impoundment one October morning. Three adults aboard, two casting from the pedestal seats forward, the bimini up. The boat held a 14-mph trolling speed cleanly off the Yamaha at idle, the livewell ran without cycle issues, and the layout worked for the use case without compromise. The cruise trim on the same lake the next afternoon was a different boat, fitting six people for a sundown run without crowding.

Who is it good for?

Buyers who want a fishing-friendly pontoon layout option are the first profile. The fish trim is rare in the entry tier and the Venture executes it cleanly. Pedestal fishing seats, integrated livewell, rod holders along the gunwale, and a Yamaha F150 that handles trolling-to-cruise speeds without complaining.

Families on a budget who want a step up from the Sun Tracker tier are the second profile. The build is a clear tier above a Sun Tracker BASS BUGGY at the same length, with the powder-coated fence panels and the option of a real 150-hp Yamaha or Mercury. The cruise trim handles six people comfortably for a day on a small to medium lake.

Owners on a smaller lake or a slow river are the third profile. The 22-foot length and the two-tube layout work well on water that doesn't whitecap. The fish-trim option is the right boat for owners who want a pontoon for slow-river crappie or bass work where a runabout would be a poor fit.

Who is it not good for?

Buyers who want the upper-tier furniture and the broad dealer footprint of Bennington 22 SSLX should walk past. Avalon's Venture is a clear entry-tier boat. The materials gap relative to the upper tier is real.

Anyone planning long-haul big-water use should look at a larger tritoon. The Venture 22 is sized for small to medium lake work and small fishing rivers. Big-lake half-day runs across Cumberland or Lake of the Ozarks in chop is the wrong use case.

Buyers in coastal markets or the Pacific Northwest should look at the dealer footprint first. Avalon is concentrated in the upper Midwest and Southeast and the dealer-service relationship is part of what makes a pontoon easy to own.

Pricing

New 2026 pricing on the Venture 22 with a 115 Mercury and the cruise trim lands roughly $38,000 to $44,000 at an Avalon dealer. Stepping up to a Yamaha F150, the fish trim with the livewell, and an aftermarket chartplotter brings the build to $48,000 to $52,000. The tritoon option with a Yamaha F200 pushes a loaded build to $58,000.

The used market spans $14,000 at the bottom (older pre-2019 Venture hulls or current hulls with deferred service) to $46,000 at the top (current-year demonstrators with a loaded tritoon fish build). The sweet spot is the 2021-2022 Venture 22 with the 150 Yamaha and either the cruise or fish trim, landing at $28,000 to $40,000 on a clean hull with under 200 hours. Five-year depreciation runs roughly 38 to 42 percent off MSRP, which is in line with the entry tier.

What works

• Cruise and fish trims give buyers a real layout choice not common in the value tier.
• Fish trim includes two pedestal fishing seats, a livewell, and integrated rod holders.
• Optional tritoon center tube takes the boat to a 200-hp outboard with real tube-pull capability.
• Yamaha F150 or Mercury 150 on the two-tube build cruises at 23 mph and tops near 30.
• 26-gallon fuel tank holds a real four to five hour day at cruise.
• Entry price under $58,000 new opens the segment to first-time buyers.

What doesn't

• Furniture vinyl is a tier below Crest at the same length, cushion compression by year four under hard use.
• Powder-coat thickness on the fence panels is lighter than the upper tier.
• Dealer network is narrower than Bennington's outside the upper Midwest and Southeast.
• Helm cluster is basic, chartplotter is an aftermarket add.
• Bimini hardware on 2019-2020 hulls has had strut-corrosion reports at the rail joint.
• Resale lags Bennington, Crest, and Premier at the same length by a clear tier.

Year-by-year notes

The current Venture 22 hull dates from roughly 2019, with the powder-coated fence panel spec standard from that year forward. The 2020 model added the optional aftermarket chartplotter at the helm and refreshed the fish-trim livewell layout. The 2021 model standardized the post-strut-corrosion bimini hardware spec. The 2022 model refreshed the furniture vinyl pattern and added USB charging at the helm. The tritoon option has been available across the current production.

Cost of ownership

Yamaha or Mercury 150 service intervals follow the standard 100-hour schedule. A 100-hour kit costs $300 to $450 in parts plus $200 to $350 in dealer labor. The 300-hour valve-clearance check at the three-year mark adds labor. Pontoon-specific maintenance is light. Tube cleaning once a year is $150 to $300. Vinyl reconditioning every two years is similar.

Insurance on a $40,000 hull is $500 to $850 a year on an inland lake. A five-year hold on a 2021 Venture 22 with a Yamaha F150 cruise trim, bought used at $32,000 with 160 hours, used 50 hours a season on a Tennessee river with trailer storage, lands at $3,200 to $4,800 a year all-in including insurance, fuel, service, and amortized capital cost.

Best year and trim to buy

The 2021-to-2022 Venture 22 with the 150 Yamaha and either the cruise or fish trim is the right buy in 2026. The fish trim is the differentiator. If you want a fishing-friendly pontoon at the entry tier, the Venture fish trim does that job cleanly. Verify five things pre-purchase. First, the engine service file shows current 100-hour work plus the 300-hour valve check at the right hour mark. Second, the bimini hardware is the post-2021 spec without strut corrosion. Third, the deck plywood is dry at the helm cutout. Fourth, the fence-panel powder coat is clean at the rivet line. Fifth, on a fish-trim build the livewell pump cycles cleanly and the rod-holder bases are tight to the gunwale.

A second moment to share. I watched a 2020 Venture 22 cruise trim launch off a public ramp on Smith Mountain Lake one July weekend. The owner had a 115 Mercury, not the 150, and the engine was the limiting factor on the boat. The cruise sat at 19 mph with six aboard and the bimini up. With the 150 the boat would have held a 23-mph cruise comfortably on the same load. The 115 is the right power for a family of four on a small lake, the 150 is the right power if you ever load six or want to pull a tube. That choice should be made at order, not regretted later.

Alternatives

The closest value-tier cross-shop is the Lowe SS210, which sits at a slightly lower entry price with a similar build tier. The mid-tier step up is the Crest Classic 220, where the materials and the resale are a clear tier above the Venture. The upper-tier cross-shop is the Bennington 22 SSLX, where the dealer network and the resale are a tier higher again. For a step into a different drivetrain at similar family use, the Yamaha 252SD is a jet-deck-boat cross-shop with materially different slip footprint and a different cost structure.