Surfboards? Somebody said surfboards?

The good thing about surfing is that, as long as you have a good surf spot and favorable swell conditions, all you need is a surfboard and you are good to go! Of course it can get much more complicated than just this, but if we break it down to the essentials, this is what surf is all about: listening to mother nature, observing the ocean, grabbing your board and jumping in the water!

But, which board to take?

Short? Long? Pointy? What about the tail? The shape? Should I use a fiberglass board, an epoxy? What about a foam board? What board to take? Gooooood question!

So, the board you use depends on your surf level, your height and weight, your surfing style, the type of waves you are riding on a given day, your favorite color and what you ate for dinner the day before. Just kidding! The last two criteria should not influence your choice.

Well, well well… I know… it becomes technical. But, there are some rules of thumb that have proven to work well. As a general rule, the longer and bigger the board, the easiest it is to catch waves; and vice versa, it will require a lot of powerful paddling to catch waves on a tiny short board.

So if you are a total beginner, what you want to look for in a surfboard is stability and floatability. This is why thicker, longer and wider boards make good beginner boards. So they can be heavy at first but carrying them to the beach is a good warm up, and they will guarantee you to catch waves. A foam board won’t hurt you, cut you or knock you out if you fall and get hit, so they are a good option to consider at first.

But don’t get me wrong here, beginners don’t have a monopoly on long boards, au contraire! Long boards are a lot of fun and specifically when the waves are tiny and carry you for miles; plus they do look really cool and stylish!

Then, as your surfing skills improve, you can slowly transition toward a shorter board and maybe a fiberglass as well. Fiberglass is the most commonly used material in surfboards. It gets a good floatability while still being light, quick and flexible. In VSP we are lucky to have boards of all kinds: long foam, short foam, short pointy epoxy…and months of surf sessions go on, we get the chance to try several of them and find the one that suits us.

And you? What do you surf?