Surfboard Buyer's Guide

If you’re new to surfing and are buying a surfboard for the first time, finding the right board to fit your individual needs can seem a little confusing. There are several important factors to consider when buying a surfboard, including: your height & weight, your level of experience and the type of waves you’ll be surfing in.  For your general information, here is a breakdown of board styles as well and nose, tail, grooves and other features.

Beginner Surfboards

For the beginning or novice surfer, purchasing a soft surfboard is the most practical decision. Good quality soft surfboards are comparatively inexpensive and are highly durable. For stability and ride quality, soft surfboards should have a wooden stringer down the center of the board, rails on the edges, and a sturdy deck.  NOTE:  Many soft surfboards are made as toys and have no stringer for rigidity.  A board that bends is extremely difficult to ride.  Good soft surfboards, like the ones we feature, are made to be safe for children.  They are padded, have flexible fins and come with a safety leash.  Being soft, these boards are less dangerous than conventional fiberglass boards; the rider won’t suffer a serious injury if the board hits their head or face.

A basic rule of thumb is: “the bigger the board, the easier it is to stand up and catch the waves”.  Longer and wider surfboards are more stable, allowing better balance. The thicker the board is, the more it will float, making paddling and take off easier.  In fact, the first surfers were actually people who would stand upright in small island paddle boats or canoes. However, you don’t want a board too big because it will be difficult to paddle out past the white water.  See our size chart on the soft surfboard page.

Advanced Beginner Surfboards

Once a surfer has graduated from the soft board (or wants to skip the padded board), the next level up is the real board, made of fiberglass.  Your first real surfboard should be a longboard.  Again, a nice wide, thick, light longboard will allow you to easily paddle and catch a wave.  Take off is often the beginner surfer's hardest obstacle.  Timing and balance is key.  For this part, a large buoyant board will allow room for error during take off and popping up.  Longboards are made for cruising on small waves, so you can stand up and get the feel for riding in relatively calm conditions.

Longboards are generally 8-1/2 feet or longer, and over 20 inches wide.  Thicker boards have higher buoyancy and work better for beginner surfers.  The nose and tail are rounded.

Intermediate Level Surfboards

Once you become comfortable riding the waves, you will need to learn to turn and maneuver.  The shape of surfboard that gives you a balance between agility and stability is the funboard shape.  They are good for general wave riding as well as turning, maneuvering and playing on the waves.  The fun board is not made to do competitive level tricks or ride the really big waves.  Its an all purpose surfboard, good for recreational surfing.  The fun board size and shape make it ideal for a beginner who wants to catch small waves, yet learn some turns and tricks.  The fun board will also work on medium sized waves as surfing skills improve.

Funboards are characterized by a medium length of 7 - 8 feet and relatively wide, 20 - 23 inches.  A funboard looks a lot like a longboard, with rounded nose and tail.  Its basically a smaller version of the longboard.

Advanced Level Surfboards for Tricks

The shortboards are most agile and best suited for performing tricks.  Shortboards are short, narrow and thin.  To get used to the short style, your first shortboard should be on the thicker side, for buoyancy.   When you are ready for advanced tricks, smaller in every aspect is better.  (Though a heavy person may need the thickness.)

Shortboards can have a variety of nose or tail shapes, but usually not rounded.

Big Wave Guns

By the time you are ready to surf 15 foot barrel waves, you probably don't need this guide, but here it is for the rest of us.

To surf the really big waves, 10 - 20 feet high (or more), you need a specialized board.  Number one, it's got to be long.  Gun style boards are usually 7 feet or longer.  Number 2, its got to be fast and maneuverable.  Advanced big wave surfers use a very long and narrow board with a slender body and round-pin tail.  We will get into the explanation of body and tail features below.

Outline and Tails

The outline, also called plan shape, is the overall body shape of the board from end to end.  A big wave gun board will have long, gentle sweeping curved sides.  The curvature of the sides is a factor in determining the way the board turns.  Big wave boards are used for long gentle turns.  Shorter boards with shorter, more rounded curves will turn tighter.  The plan shape is what determines the type of board.  Shapes include short boards, fishes, long boards, fun boards and hybrids.

Common tails include squash, square, round, pin, and swallow.  In general, the wider the tail, the more aggressively it can be used for turns, square being widest and pin most narrow.  Swallow tails enable deep cutting turns while round tails allow smooth, fluid turns.

Rails and Edges

The side edges of the board are its rails, or edges.  Seen from the side, they can be thin or thick.  Thin rails means the deck slopes in as it reaches the edges.  Thick, or full rails make a flat, boxy deck.  Thin rails (good for beginners) are more responsive to long smooth turns when you shift your weight, while fuller rails produce short, tight turns on small waves.  Rail thickness can vary throughout the length of the board, from nose to tail.

Rocker

When you look at a board from the side, this is the curve that lifts the nose and tail up.  It can vary from nose rocker, to midsection rocker and tail kick.  Rocker effects the speed and turning capability of the board.  More curve generally means it can make tighter turns.

Fins

A board can have either one, two, three or four fins.  Fins direct the flow of water under the board.  More fins make a board more stable and easier to keep going in the direction you want.  Fewer fins make the board looser in the water and easier to turn.  A longboard will have large fins to keep it stable while the surfer moves around on the board.  Fin number and size generally coordinate with the size of the board and its intended use.

Fins can either be removable or permanently attached.  Removable fins can be called FCS, Fin Control System, Fin System or box.  Permanent fins are glued on or glassed on.  Removable fin systems are convenient for traveling, changing sizes or when fins accidentally snap off.  Glassed-on fins look nice and make a good collector's board.