13666856:steezyjibber said:
Could anyone recommend me where/what to buy for a first surfboard? I have surfed once before, and picked it up pretty easily. Obviously I ski, and also casually longboard.
More info:
Would mostly be surfing Cape Cod
5'6"
145 lbs.
Cheaper is better but it doesn't need to be an awful board by any means
thanks
Any preference as to board style, meaning longboards, shortboards or something in between?
For what it's worth, my opinion is as follows: if you want to ride shortboards and you're a reasonably coordinated, reasonably in shape individual, then you're best bet is to grab something similar to a lost puddle jumper. These kinds of boards are short, wide, come with decent volume and are decently easy to surf. They also have a wide range for performance. This design is in a good place as far as its evolution goes right now, if you ask me, and they remain useful for the rest of your surfing life.
My issue with the classic advice of
start on a longboard is that I found big boards very difficult to control. I'm 5'5", 120lbs and I started on a 6'4"x21 retro style single fin template, but with a 3 fin setup. Once I was able to reliably catch waves and actually read the wave as I surfed it, I found that board very difficult to control, and it's only 6'4". A lot of new surfers buy something huge, then progress to a point where they want something much shorter.
The counter to my advice is that you won't catch waves on a smaller board. If you learn good positioning, good wave choice, and are coordinated enough and in shape, then you will catch waves. Reading the wave as you surf is the other half of the battle, which only comes with experience.
Anyway, I'm not saying this specific board, but rather this sort of shape. It's stubby and kinda wide, so it's stable but its short length makes it quick to respond.
I hate giving out dims to people because it's really hard to judge others skills/preferences unless you surf with them or know them well. I like these sorts of boards to be a bit shorter than myself. You might go a bit taller than yourself. I'm 5'5", 120lbs and I ride a 5'4"x20.5x2.25" most days that probably has about 30 liters of volume. It's a lot of volume for me, but it dominates in small waves, crowds or when I'm in a 5mm wetsuit, which is like +10lbs and -10 fitness/endurance. I'd avoid going really long on these because they get very wide and very high volume, which will hinder aggressive surfers. Likewise, I think there's a limit to the benefits of going super short. I'd love to try a 5'2" or 5' even, but that'd quickly hit it's limits in punchier surf.