Surfboards come in all different shapes and sizes, so what’s good for me, you may ask? 

Depending on what type of wave you’re going to ride and its size has a huge influence on what you will ride. It also depends on your surfing ability.

For a beginner it’s common to jump on a ‘foamy’, an 8 foot long board which has a soft top and is light in weight. These boards are thicker and have more buoyancy. Once you have mastered the pop up technique and can paddle onto your own wave it’s time to progress to an intermediate board.

Now these can range from a fibreglass ‘longboard’ generally 8-10 feet, a ‘mini mal’ (7-8 feet) or a ‘fish’ (6’4-6’10). Whoa Tim slow down with all these numbers you’re confusing the hell out of me!

The sizes I’ve mentioned are just the length of the surfboard, the width and thickness will have to wait for another time because to be frank we would be here all day and I want to go surfing.

All the boards mentioned allow a fairly new surfer to find their balance and practice their technique while easily paddling onto waves. Because of the larger size you will be able to paddle easier, jump up quicker because of the stability and set yourself up to take a long exhilarating ride.

Because Thailand generally has small waves, the longer and wider boards will take the difficulty out of scoring some nice waves.

If you onsider yourself to be a confident paddler, can take off on decent size waves and master a bottom turn then you’re ready to start your short board journey ranging with any size below 6’2 feet.

These boards are typically performance boards, they are light, fast and are shaped to tear that wave apart. A keen surfer will also have a ‘quiver’ in their possession, which are numerous boards for all surfing conditions.

Okay Tim this is all well and good, but you still haven’t answered my question, what is good for me? Hmm, the only way to answer that is for you to give me a call and let’s go surfing together!

For information on buying and selling surfboards you can contact me at info@surf-sup.asia

Tim’s Tip: Before buying a board seek advice from an experienced surfer who can asses your surfing ability.

Tim Campbell