Surfboard Guide: Which Surfboard and What Size

Board Guide · Surfboards · Softboards · Boogie Boards

A hard surfboard is faster and more responsive than a softboard, and less forgiving. That trade-off is the whole decision: the better you surf, the less volume you need and the more the finer details matter. This guide gives you the volume rule, a size chart by ability and weight, what each of our shapes is for and which fins they run.

Should you be on a hard board yet?

Volume is litres of foam. It gives the board its flotation, so it decides how easily you paddle and catch waves. Every board on our site lists it in litres (L). Length and width give you stability; rocker and tail shape decide how the board turns. When you're between two sizes, we normally suggest the bigger one. More waves is more practice, and our bigger boards turn just as easily.

Volume chart by weight and ability

Find your weight, then the column for how you surf now, not how you'd like to surf in a year.

Two things change the answer: surf fitness and waves. If you surf once a month, or your beach is small and soft most of the year, go up a size. If you surf every week in waves with push, you can come down.

Which shape?

Grom 5'2, 5'4, 5'6. A proper shortboard scaled down for kids: wider nose and tail for stability and paddle power, medium rails, thruster. For groms moving off a softboard. Grom surfboards.

Fish 5'6 to 6'6. Wide nose, wide swallow tail, gentle rocker. The fastest board in small waves and the easiest shortboard to paddle. Five fin boxes, so it runs as a thruster or a quad. The 6'0 to 6'6 sizes are the sweet spot for most adults stepping down from a mini mal. Fish surfboards.

Discus 5'8 to 8'0. A round-tail egg that paddles like a mini mal and turns like a shortboard. The widest size range in our hard-board line, which is why it's the board I point most intermediates at, and a natural first hard board at 7'0 to 8'0 that allows long term progression. Five Futures boxes, ride as a twin, thruster or quad. Mid-length surfboards.

Mid Twin 6'6, 6'10, 7'2. Mid-length glide with a twin-fin release: fuller nose, tapered round tail, single concave. Fast, loose and smooth for surfers who already trim and want flow rather than pivot. Mid Twin.

Mini Mal 7'0, 7'6, 8'0. The classic funboard outline in lightweight EPS. Easy wave catching with real performance with a thruster fin setup. The usual first hard board for beginners and the more mature among us. Mini Mal surfboards.

Performance Longboard 9'1. A lighter, more responsive longboard that turns off the tail and still noserides. A 10" centre box with Future Compatible side boxes, so you can run it as a single or 1+2 (single plus side-bites). The one board that will ride confidently on both the smallest or the medium days. Longboards.

Classic Noserider 9'1, 9'4, 9'6. A traditional single-fin log shaped for trim, glide and time on the nose. All three have a nose concave; the 9'6 gets the deep one for proper noseriding. Point breaks and peeling beach breaks. Also available in premium gloss polish finishes. Longboards.

Glider 11'0. Maximum glide and wave count. For experienced riders who can point and shoot a long weapon. A magic carpet on smaller, slower days. Single fin. Longboards.

Our surfboard range at a glance

Shop all surfboards

Fin setups in plain English

• Thruster (three fins). The all-rounder. Grip and drive through turns, predictable in most waves. What most of our boards ship with.
• Quad (four fins). Faster down the line, looser off the top, less hold in bigger surf. The Fish and Discus run either, so you can try both.
• Twin (two fins). Fast, loose and skatey. The Mid Twin is a dedicated twin.
• 1+2 (single plus side-bites). Longboard territory: stable trim with more turn than a single fin.
• Single fin. Smooth, drawn-out, classic. The Noserider and Glider.

Our hard boards take Future Compatible fins. So does the Hard Core softboard series. Our Surf Series softboards take FCS Compatible fins; the Beginner softboards (Stable Table and Wider Rider) take bolt-through fins only. Fin size follows your weight: Medium for roughly 55–75 kg, Large above that, Small below. Fins, or the hardware guide for sizing.

How they're built

Every Summer vibes surfboard is a 30 kg/m³ EPS blank with a paulownia stringer, glassed with fibreglass and epoxy resin, typically two layers of 6 oz cloth on the deck and 6 oz plus 4 oz underneath with a fin patch. Lighter than a traditional PU board, so it floats higher, paddles easier and holds up to everyday use. EPS comes alive in the weaker, slower waves most of us surf. A hard composite fin set and a fin key are included with every board.

What to buy with it

• Leash. Same length as the board: 6' for a 6'0 Fish, 7' for a 7'0 Discus, 9' for a longboard, 10' for the Glider. Knee leash if you walk the board. Leashes.
• Traction pad. Your back foot's home on a shortboard, fish or mid-length. Wax the rest. Traction.
• Board cover. An EPS board will ding if you drop it. A cover for the car and the beach is the cheapest insurance there is. Board covers.
• Wax. Warm-water wax for Queensland and northern NSW, cool-water wax further south. Surf wax.

Every board page bundles a matching leash, cover, fins and pad at a discount, colour-matched to the board where we can.

Questions I get asked

What's the best first hard surfboard?

For most adults, a Discus 7'0 to 8'0 or a Mini Mal 7'6 to 8'0, sized by the chart above. For 85 kg and over, a 9'1 longboard. They paddle well enough to keep your wave count up while you get used to a board that doesn't forgive like a foamie.

Is epoxy better than fibreglass?

Both are fibreglass boards; the difference is the foam. Our EPS builds are lighter and float higher than PU, which suits smaller, softer waves and surfers still building fitness.

Can I go straight from a boogie board to a surfboard?

Skip the softboard stage if you're a strong swimmer and patient, but you'll stand up sooner on a foamie. Most people don't regret the extra wave count.

Which fins come with the board?

A hard composite set matched to the board: thruster sets for the Grom and Mini Mal, five-fin sets for the Fish and Discus, a twin set for the Mid Twin, a 1+2 set (single plus side-bites) for the Performance Longboard, and a longboard single fin for the Noserider and Glider.

Thruster or quad on the Fish and Discus?

Start thruster, get confident. Then try quad on small, fast days when you want more speed and less hold.

Still unsure?

Tell me your weight, how you surf now and what your local waves are like. I'll tell you the board and the size. Ask Branchy, or call 0412 695 505. We also hire surfboards from Rainbow Bay if you'd rather ride one first.