The Best Surfboards for Catching Waves and Carving Turns

Surfboard Buying Guide

Surfing is a joyful, thrilling, and enjoyable form of sport. It might seem intimidating and scary to those who have never tried it, but no better time than now to overcome your fear of surfing and enjoy its pleasures and health benefits. Of course, with that being said, you need to purchase the right board for your needs.

Whether you’re buying your first or last surfboard, we realize that the process might be confusing. By outlining some fundamental guidelines and delineating specific important phrases, this surfboard buyer’s guide aims to make the process simpler for you.

How To Choose the Right Surfboard for Yourself?

You need to refer to a proper guide to choose the right surfboard size. To give you a rough idea, you should know that design, dimensions, and volume play a vital role in this matter.

Design

Starting off, you need to look at where, how much, and in what conditions you will use the surfboard. If you’re a beginner, you need to opt for designs that are easy to paddle and catch waves. These can be anything from flat grovel hybrids to funboards or longboards. But if you’re a pro, you can choose medium-wave focus shortboards, as they require skill and experience to control.

Dimensions

While a majority of the boards come with stock dimensions, you have the option to tweak the width slightly with the length and stay within acceptable proportions. As far as the length of the board is concerned, if you’re tall, you might want to go with longer surfboards. But opting for a longboard might not be a wise decision if you’re short.

Similarly, increasing the width gives the board more surface and makes it float more, making them perfect for beginners. Reduced width also leads to reduced drag on the board and increased rail speed, but you should be more experienced to use these kinds of boards.

Thickness, on the other hand, can be felt in small increments. Thicker rails give you more push, making the board more powerful. But if the board gets too thick, you might not be able to turn it smoothly.

Volume

In case you’re not aware of this, volume is the measurement of how much flotation the board has. If you’re someone who has never had a surfboard before, it is important to consider the volume of the surfboard you want to buy.

Generally, for beginners, it is recommended to buy a surfboard that has a higher volume, as they are more stable and are easier to paddle on. On the other hand, lower volume surfboards offer much more maneuverability and agility, which is much more desirable for veteran surfers.

Types of Surfboards

Listed below are some common types of surfboards that you can find in the market.

Shortboard surfboards

Shortboards happen to be the most popular surfboards in the world right now. These surfboards may be difficult to paddle, but when compared with a longboard, they may be easier to maneuver. They are usually ridden by experienced intermediate to professional surfers.

Fish surfboards

Fish surfboards have a wider and thicker profile than the typical shortboard. On days when greater paddle strength is required, surfers frequently employ this choice. Many fish surfboards have swallowtails to increase speed, but they do so at the expense of a shortboard’s flexibility.

Longboard surfboards

Longboards are excellent all-around boards and the first surfboard of the modern era. These are great for beginners who need a larger board with extra paddle strength and stability.

They are also loved by intermediate to expert surfers for “hanging 10”. It is essential to know that even though they are pretty stable, turning them can be difficult and slow.

Fun shape surfboards

To combine the greatest features of both longboards and shortboards, funboards were created. They mix the effortless paddling of a longboard with the flexibility generally found in a shortboard.

Funboards are an excellent transition for newbies who started on a longboard but aren’t ready to switch to a shortboard.