The Best Surfboards for Beginner

The Best Surfboards for Beginner

When you are just starting out in surfing, you want to make sure you get the right board. Surfboards for beginners should have certain features to make you feel comfortable on the board and give you the most control over the waves. If you aren't sure about what board is right for you, talk to a professional that can help you choose your first board.

As a general rule, a long board is the best surfboard for a novice surfer. It is wider and longer, and makes the surfer comfortable with riding the waves. It doesn't feel like you are going to get knocked off of it very easily, and you won't be.

A long board gives you stability that other surfboards just don't offer. While the long board does not give you maneuverability, it does give you needed stability and the ability to catch waves easily. The lighter the board the easier you will be able to catch waves. This type of surfboard is going to offer you a fun learning experience as well as rapid improvement.

Mals (long boards) or mini-mals (fun boards) are perfect surfboards for beginners. Most of them come with a soft top surface. This makes it so that you don't have to wax the board before riding. It is also helpful because it won't hurt as bad if you hit the deck when you try to catch a wave, which is undoubtedly going to happen a time or two as you are learning.


The advantage to a fun board or mini-mal is that you have a bit more maneuverability than with the long board. It is easier to catch waves and paddle speed is much better. Fun boards are lighter and easier to manage than heavy long boards as wel. They are only a little bit smaller, but that little bit makes a world of difference to the novice surfer.

In addition to the size of your board you have to consider the rocker, tail, and fins. This can get very complicated, and is difficult to understand as a beginner. As a general rule, a squash tail is used on surfboards for beginners. This is the most common type of tail. However, depending on the type of waves you will be catching you may want a different tail design. The rocker is the curve to the surfboard on the underneath side. A flatter rocker gives you more stability.

Finally, you have the fins. Some boards only have one fin, while others may have three. The fins are there to help you steer. You can get boards that have fins permanently attached or you can get boards where the fins attach on and can be taken off. This is great for travel purposes and allows you to experiment with how many fins you want to use.

In the end, it is best to talk to a professional before you buy your first surfboard. If what they are saying doesn't make any sense to you, ask them to break it down in laymen's terms. Surfboard lingo can be very confusing to the surfing novice.