Find the board that fits how you surf

Beginner

Just getting a feel for the water. They’re sticking to the whitewash, working on their balance, and dialing in the pop-up. The goal right now is just getting to their feet and cruising straight to the sand. It’s all about having maximum float and stability to help with the paddle.

Boards that suit a beginner: Mid-Length, Longboard. Max float and paddle power. These boards do the heavy lifting, making it super easy to catch waves and providing a nice, wide deck to figure out your footing.

Intermediate

Making it out the back and hunting those clean green faces. They’re angling their takeoffs, cruising down the line, and linking up basic bottom and top turns. This stage is all about learning to read the ocean and figuring out how to generate your own speed on the wave.

Boards that suit a intermediate: Groveler, Fish, Shortboard, Mid-Length, Longboard. The transition zone. You still want enough foam to keep paddling easy, but you need shapes that actually let you set a rail and cruise down the line. A lot of folks start mixing in wider, friendlier shortboards here to handle steeper drops.

Advanced

Surfing with absolute flow and power, no matter what the swell is doing. They’re seamlessly linking up carves, snaps, and floaters right in the pocket. Their paddle fitness is dialed, and they know exactly where to position themselves in the lineup.

Boards that suit a advanced: Groveler, Fish, Shortboard, Mid-Length, Step-Up / Gun, Longboard. The world’s their oyster. Board choice is just about what the waves are doing today and the kind of lines they feel like drawing — paddle help not required.

Expert

The heavy hitters. They’re throwing fins, threading deep barrels, and charging the sets of the day. They have complete control over their sled and are totally comfortable navigating heavy water when a proper swell rolls into town.

Boards that suit a expert: Groveler, Fish, Shortboard, Mid-Length, Step-Up / Gun, Longboard. Total mastery. They’re grabbing the most specialized boards on the rack, whether it’s a razor-thin shortboard for vertical surfing or a big step-up for when it gets proper heavy.

Groveler — Sub-5′5″

Design. Incredibly wide and thick with flat rocker and chunky rails.

The ride. Squashes the volume of a larger board into a tiny footprint so you can generate speed in weak summer slop without losing the ability to throw the board around.

Volume in a tiny package. Awesome for stepping down to shorter equipment, but they’re way too short for a beginner to paddle and balance on without getting frustrated.

Suits: Intermediate, Advanced, Expert.

Fish — 5′0″–6′2″

Design. Wide, flat profile with a deep “swallow” tail, traditionally ridden as a twin fin.

The ride. Flies down the line on mushier, smaller waves where a standard shortboard would bog down. Offers a loose, skatey feel perfect for connecting sections on a softer day.

Requires good fundamentals. Fast, flat, and super skatey. You need to know how to work the rail and pump for speed, so it’s a bit too loose for someone just starting out.

Suits: Intermediate, Advanced, Expert.

Shortboard — 5′4″–6′6″

Design. Pointed nose, thin rails, and significant rocker, usually running a thruster or quad setup.

The ride. Built for aggressive, vertical surfing in the pocket. Requires a steep, powerful wave to generate speed, as it lacks the volume to glide on its own.

Challenging but rewarding. You gotta be fit and know how to generate your own speed. It takes work for intermediates, but once you get it dialed, it completely opens up vertical, high-performance surfing.

Suits: Intermediate, Advanced, Expert.

Mid-Length — 7′0″–8′6″

Design. A hybrid that pulls the rounded nose and volume from a longboard but trims the length and refines the rails.

The ride. The ultimate compromise. Catches waves early but still allows for tighter turns and easier navigation of steeper drops when conditions are shifting.

The stepping stone. Great for sizing down from a log, or just upping your wave count. Advanced surfers love them for drawing out clean, buttery lines on cruisier, shifting days.

Suits: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert.

Step-Up / Gun — 7′0″–10′+

Design. An elongated, stretched-out shortboard. Thick in the middle for paddle power, but with sharp, pulled-in tails and noses to grip the wave face.

The ride. Built strictly for surviving and charging massive surf. The extra length gives you the paddle speed needed to catch fast-moving, open-ocean winter swells.

Heavy water only. These sleds are built strictly for when the swell is really pushing and there’s actual consequence if you blow the drop. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

Suits: Advanced, Expert.

Longboard — 9′0″+

Design. Thick, wide, and flat with a rounded nose, traditionally favoring a single large center fin.

The ride. Designed for early wave entry, smooth gliding, and classic footwork. The massive volume makes paddling effortless, making it the definitive choice for rolling, slow-peeling point breaks.

The universal crowd-pleaser. The perfect tool to learn on, but when a seasoned local grabs one, it becomes a dedicated machine for smooth cross-stepping and classic toes-on-the-nose style.

Suits: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert.