Marine LED Lighting Strips

You get a pontoon boat in part because you want to fish.   The best fishing is done before the sun comes up or after it goes down.   This creates a problem!  You’ve got a relatively big flat boat with angles (putting your shins at risk!) and you can’t see easily where you were going.   Worse yet, have you ever tried to put your hook into live bait in the dark?    OK, enough build-up!   This is why we wanted to tackle marine led light strips in detail!

Marine LED Lighting Strips Review Roundup

We reviewed the top-selling marine LED lighting strips.   As we began our research we realized that there are more solutions to this problem than just the strip of Leds.   If you only want marine led lighting strips, then we’ve got you covered but if you’re looking for ways to add lights to your boat and don’t really care if it’s a led strip or just safety lights… well we got you covered as well.   Here are the products we’re looking at today.

Marine LED Lighting Strip Uses

Whether it’s to light the interior or exterior of your pontoon boat for safety of for the appeal adding additional lighting to your boat is almost always a good idea.  While the marine led light strips seem to be used for just about every application from lighting up a bait tank to making the boat just look cooler during the night,  other lighting options can provide the safety and utility without dealing with strips.

From our research, if you’re good with installing lights, you might prefer the individual lights, whereas if you only want to do one or two installs, a marine led light strip is the way to go.  Also, if you happen to have an inflatable or 1 man pontoon boat, then you might want the cheaper lighting strips or add a vinyl tube to your assembly

How To Install Marine LED Lighting Strips

Develop A Plan

It’s one thing to know you want lights but another to buy them and plan them out.   If you’re ordering marine led light strips, you need to measure out there area.   You can cut the strips but you need be ready to wire.

Answer this question:  What’s my power source?  I know, this sounds pretty basic but you’d be surprised how much time you’ll waste if you just assume these lights are going to work without the right voltage.

Get A Switch

Almost (spoiler!  Our top pick comes with everything you need) every installation of marine lighting will require the addition of a switch.   You can route all your lights to one switch or go overboard and put each light on its own switch.   While researching we found some pretty great kits on Amazon.    If requested we can review the switchers too, but this guide is mainly for the light options.
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Install

Easier to write than to actually do.   Every light has a slightly different installation process.   Most will require small holes to be drilled where you want the light if you opt for individual lights.  However, if you’re going for the marine-led lighting strips then you’ll be relying on the adhesive.   We still recommend drilling some securing screws to keep the lights in place.

Best Marine LED Lighting Strips Comparison 2021

Seapon Pontoon Boat Light [Blue] [White] [Red]

The Seapon brand of boat lights are perfect if you want to add marine led lighting strips in the most fast and easy manner.   In all the lights we reviewed, the Seapon were very popular on Amazon for their ease of use.  We reviewed a few different colors b/c we found that the colors seemed to have a different effect an quality.

Features

• 5050 SMD LED, high intensity and reliability.
•  Long life span 50,000 hours.
• Continuous length, packed with 5 meter.
• Flexible ribbon for curving around bends.
• Completely smooth and even light spread, solving the uneven luminous problem.
• Low power consumption.
• Can be cut every 3 LEDs (approximately every 2″) along the cutting marks, without damaging the rest strips.
• Comes with self-adhesive sticky backing for easy and flexible installation.

What We Like

• Ease of installation
• The blue light seemed to be the best of the colors for pontoon boats and fishing (in our opinion)

What We Didn’t Like

• A bit delicate if you’re doing a bigger more complicated project
• Felt a bit cheap.
• The adhesive isn’t very strong
• Water “resistant.”  These strips are not waterproof.    False advertising if you ask us.
• Nothing else comes with the lights (like clips)

Seapon Pontoon Boat LED Light Strips Light [White]

Features:

1. 5050 SMD LED, high intensity and reliability.
2. Long life span 50,000 hours.
3. Continuous length, packed with 5 meter.
4. Flexible ribbon for curving around bends.
5. Completely smooth and even light spread, solving the uneven luminous problem.
6. Low power consumption.
7. Can be cut every 3 LEDs (approximately every 2″) along the cutting marks, without damaging the rest strips.
8. Comes with self-adhesive sticky backing for easy and flexible installation.

What We Like

• Ease of installation
• The brightness of the white light

What We Didn’t Like

• A bit delicate if you’re doing a bigger more complicated project
• The adhesive isn’t very strong
• Water “resistant.”  There are a lot of comments about putting this in the water.
• The white color is a bit bright and might not be useful for deck lighting.
• Nothing else comes with the lights (like clips)

[RED] Seapon Pontoon LED Light Strips

• Red isn’t a color that we liked when testing.   It’s supposedly better for fishing but we hated it.

NVAAV Pontoon Boat Light with Mounting Clips

NOTE:  We suspect that NVAAV and Seapon are using the same lights.   These lights do come with some clips

Features

• 16.4ft/5m Led Light Strips
• This led light can be cut every 3 marine LEDs along the cutting marks, without damaging the rest strips and it also can be linked for your need
• Led lights more than 50000 hours service life.
• The working voltage for 16.4ft led strip lights is only 12V, which emits extremely low heat.
• Waterproof Marine Led Light Strip

What We Like

• Ease of installation
• The blue light seemed to be the best of the colors for pontoon boats and fishing (in our opinion)

What We Didn’t Like

• A bit delicate if you’re doing a bigger more complicated project
• The adhesive isn’t very strong
• Water “resistant.”  These strips are not waterproof.    False advertising if you ask us.

TCTAuto 8 Inch Blue LED Utility Strip Bar

• 8″ Slim Line LED Utility Light with 18 LEDs, Ideal for marine boat LED dome light, stern light, cabin light, courtesy light, side marker etc. Better performance than original lights.
• Durable plastic lens and body, quality constructed rubber gasket, prevent seawater erosion.
• Completely submerged in water, satisfies your marine working requirements. Ideal for lighting or decorating interior and exterior of boats, RVs and other vehicles.
• Easy Installation, two bare end wires, separate lead wire and ground wire, black rubber gasket included for mounting to all surfaces, rated for 12V, tested to 13.8V. Low amp draw for longer battery life.
• 2 Year Warranty, Contact us if negative in 2 years. Free Replacement !!

What We Like

• The price.   These are some of the most affordable lights you can buy.
• Color choices.  – We’re showing the blue here, but they have other choices.
• Seem durable.   We didn’t get any long-term testing but they seemed pretty durable.
• Comes with some screws

What We Didn’t Like

• Compared to marine led light strips, these are a bit harder to install.
• The lights are not as bright as others on our list.

Obcursco Pontoon LED Light Strip

Features

• Voltage – DC 12V
• Power –6W
• Lens Style: 5050 Bright Chip
• Long life span: 50,000 hours.
• IP66 Waterproof
• 3M adhesive stick back
• Package comes with 10 mounting screws and LED strip clips that can quicken and fasten installation process.

What We Like

• The price.
• Color choices.  – These come in green too..
• While we suspect these lights are the same as Seapon, the Obscuro seemed to be higher quality in our testing.
• Comes with some screws

What We Didn’t Like

• Still not really waterproof

Boaton Boat LED Night Fishing Lights

Features

• Three Bright 2835 LEDs Provide Excellent Brilliance, make it perfect for boat courtesy lights, deck lights, interior lights, night fishing lights, Boat Center Console Light, Cockpit Light, Transom Light.
• Each of the Hella Marine Round LED Courtesy lamps is completely sealed for water protection, and tested for high shock, vibration, and impact situations making it perfect for the sometimes harsh, marine environment.
• These marine courtesy lights produce more light than old-style incandescent courtesy lights but use only around 10% of the energy.

What We Like

• Waterproof
• The brightness of the colors
• Ease of install
• Price for 3 lights

What We Didn’t Like

• They work well for the purpose but the design doesn’t sit flush on all surfaces.

Partsam 4 x 8″ Waterproof 18 Diodes Led Utility Strip

In our quest to provide true waterproof marine led lights for boats, we discovered these Partsam LED light bars.   We almost overlooked them b/c of their obvious uses for jeeps and trucks, but their application for boats seemed to be a nice fit.

Features

• Package includes 4pcs 8 inch white Led utility strip bar Lights 18 diodes,
• Clear Lens and White when lit
• Stainless Steel Screws and Black rubber gaskets are included for mounting to all surfaces. Also the rubber gaskets have a little grove in the back of them so they will lay flat, thus, these 8 inch led light bar 12V can be mounted on a solid surface and the wires run along instead of through the surface
• These white led lights measure 8″ from side to side and 3/4″ wide. Also this utility strip bar is about 3/4″ tall without the gasket, the gasket adds another 1/8″ making them 7/8″ tall. Hole distance 6.85″; This RV Boat interior lighting is hardwired with two bare end wires, not a diming light(on/off switch not included): Black is ground and Red is positive(hot);
• This white led strip light bar mounts to a flat surface needing only the 2 screws to penetrate the mounting surface; They can be used virtually anywhere you need light and can connect to 12v power. 

What We Like

• Durability – probably the most durable lights that we reviewed
• Waterproof – finally you can put these lights on the outside of your boat.

What We Didn’t Like

• Compared to marine led light strips, these are a bit harder to install.
• Not a ton of color choices

PSEQT LED Boat Interior Lights

Like TCTAuto’s lights, these aren’t necessarily Marine LED lighting strips, simply an alternative.   However, unlike TCTAuto, these lights appear to be specifically designed for boats.

Features

• 6 LED bulbs each boat interior light, made of sturdy PC lens and ABS housing.
• IP66 waterproof, sealed, anti-collision and dustproof.
• 50,000 hours life-span, can work under any harsh environments.
• 2 Wires Connection: Black is Negative and Blue is Positive. 12V DC, 3.8” size, surface mount design with screw sets and foam tape bases.
• 5 Years Warranty Guarantee

What We Like

• Color choices.  – We’re showing the blue here, but they have other choices.
• Seem durable.   We didn’t get any long-term testing but they seemed pretty durable.
• Great (authentic) reviews

What We Didn’t Like

• Compared to marine led light strips, these are a bit harder to install.
• A few reviewers complained about the light, while others say it gives off the perfect light for fishing.

[WINNER] OPT7 Aura LED Boat Light

This is the Marine LED lighting kit you’ve been waiting for! You can choose from a ton of different options from brightness and color combinations all from an app! These lights aren’t just a new strip to add to your boat, but a lighting replacement (that’s how good they are)

The 3m tape sticks to vinyl, fiberglass and any other hard surface in your boat, and after 4 months of being on my boat, none of the light strips have sagged or pulled away.  Also, I highly recommend that you place these light strips facing down if you’re installing them in your cockpit, as even at their lowest brightness setting, they still throw a lot of light that could potentially night-blind you.  The main controller comes with a remote as well as a smart-phone app and wiring involved simply tapping a positive lead and connecting the ground wire. It took me a total of 15 minutes to get it wired up and ready for placement of the light strips.

Features

• SMARTCOLOR – LEDs that mix 16+ colors at the micro level bringing brilliant colors true to the eye.
• SOUNDSYNC – Exclusive bass-activated technology flashes your lights to the beat of your music.
• INSTALLATION – 5 Minute Setup with plug & play car charger (12v cigarette outlet) OR Advanced Setup with fuse adapters.
• FLEXIBLE & WATERPROOF – Bend, twist, and curve around any surface with OPT7 strips, which also provides heavy cover against any weather conditions.
• AURA KIT INCLUDES – 4pcs 24″ led light strips with adhesive back, 4pcs 10ft extesion wires, remote, cigarette adapter, 3 kinds of fuse tap connectors……etc, Aura kit includes all you need.

What We Like

• The many options
• Easy to install (relatively speaking)
• High quality of the product
• The brightness of the lights
• Optional control from the app
• Ability to expand
• Coolness Factor

What We Didn’t Like

• This cost roughly double the popular Seapon ones, but we think it’s worth it.

Marine LED Lighting Strip FAQs

Question: Is there a way to cut these into smaller sections and run power to the next set?

Answer:   Yes, assuming you can rewire it yourself using the red and black lines..
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Question:  Will it work off a 9volt battery?

Answer:  Almost all the lights we tested only work on a 12 Volt.

Question: Do I need to buy a switch?

Answer: Yes you will need a switch if you don’t have one already. You can replace the courtesy lights and/or buy a kit like the OPT7 Aura LED Boat Light kit mentioned above.

Question: How do they hold up after being submerged in Salt water?

Answer:  If you’re option for the cheaper marine LED lighting strips, we recommend placing them in a vinyl tube.   If you’re getting the true waterproof ones you should be fine.