How to choose a Surfboard
Learn how to choose your first surfboard! We’ll cover board types, sizes, and shapes so you can find the perfect ride for your skill level and surf goals.
Key factors for choosing your first surfboard.
Today, we're going to help you pick your first board. Before we do that, here are some key factors to remember.
A longer board will offer better paddling speed, which is great for catching waves.
A wider board with a fuller outline offers the greatest stability, which is great for jumping to your feet.
And the thickness of the board has a direct influence on flotation.
So if you're a beginner or a slightly heavier surfer, the board would need to be thicker, and we'll call this volume, but more on that later.
Anyway, let's look at some of our options.
Gnaraloo range: perfect for beginners.
The Gnaraloo range of foamy surfboards are perfect for beginners. These boards have a soft deck, so they're safe.
They have the extra flotation and buoyancy, and they're super stable, which is a benefit as you get used to paddling fast, popping up smoothly and riding small waves.
Epoxt soft range: the middle step between a foamie and a hard
Next up is the Epoxy Soft range, which is essentially a hybrid construction of a hard surfboard with a soft deck and a slick bottom. These are a great middle step between a foamy and a hard board.
The main benefit being more performance, which provides speed and maneuverability.
Longboards: more speed and response
At this point, we move to a longer board like the Modern Golden Rule or the Salt Gypsy Dusty. These will feel faster again and have more turning response due to some added design features, but the trade-off is that we lose a bit of flotation and stability.
As your skill level goes up the volume goes downs
As a general rule, as your skill level improves, you can choose a board with less volume.
So if you're already confidently riding unbroken waves, you can look at a mid-length board like the Highline 2.0 or the Modern Falcon. This one has a nice balance between paddle power and enough response so you can start performing tighter turns.
Feeling Confident? Go Shorter!
Lastly, if you're feeling really confident and you're progressing quickly, you could consider a shorter option like the Modern Love Child or one of our 7S range, maybe even a Salt Gypsy Mid Tide.
These boards offer the stability of a much wider, longer board, and while they do require more effort to catch waves, they respond fast when you want to turn and also let you access steeper sections.
