Did I get the wrong board?

[HaoleKook]

I’m 5’9" 185lbs, 44, very active and a fast learner. I’ll be learning at Waikiki and White Plains, but my ultimate goal is a funboard or fish.

took one surf lesson 4 years ago at North Shore on a 12’ board that was very thick. The push you into the wave and I rode 75% of the waves in. I haven’t surfed since.

Last week I decided to get into surfing. I told the shop the above information and they gave me a thin poly 10’. It was not very buoyant and a total pita to maneuver through choppy surf, so I brought it back and got an 8’2 Culture mini-mal (squash tail poly 2+1) with 68L volume. All the advice I see online says that’s a good beginner board for my size, even higher volume than some sites suggest.

Day 1 on the new board (yesterday) was just trying learn paddling and balance. Day 2 (today) was already comfortable paddling and maneuvering, but the only waves I rode in (on my belly or knees) were by accident as I was paddling to shore. I figured that means I just need to learn to be in the right place at the right time? So I took an afternoon lesson on a big soft top and could catch my own waves and rode maybe 60%. The big board catches waves very easily but I don’t like that there’s not much feel or feedback - the hardest part was just trying to feel that I caught the wave so my pop up timing was a little off. My board is opposite - really sensitive to position and there’s a fine line between too forward where the nose will sinks,and too far back where it’s hard to pick up a wave. But it also drops its nose to tell me it caught the wave which is pretty cool.

Anyway, I don’t mind a challenge but don’t need this to be unnecessarily difficult. Am I on the wrong board for these waves? Should I get another, should I get rid of this one, etc? Or will I be laughing about this in a couple weeks?

Much mahalos for reading. Aloha.

[Geezer]

You bought the board already? I would say that you’d probably benefit from a board a little bigger right now but you’ll grow into the one you have. They rent boards at Waikiki right in the beach right? Why not rent for awhile rather than sell a new board and getting another board then go back to the one you have after you’ve developed a bit. At your size and age that mini Mal could stay in your quiver as a permanent member; I wouldn’t sell it.

FWIW I have an 8’ mega magic mini Mal that I’ve had for 6 years now that I use on small or lazy days. It has 86 or 88L; I’m 6’1” and 90kg and I love having the float when the conditions favor it.

[HaoleKook]

Thank you. Yes I bought it used but in extremely good condition. If it’s an appropriate 2nd board then I’m stoked! It’s just hard to gauge since there are so many longboards here, and such a huge performance difference between a foam longboard and a poly mini mal.

I didn’t know renting was such a thing. I can do that but I’m not opposed to getting an 8 or 9ft foamy if it makes sense. 8ft is a lot easier to manage out of the water. I live a mile from the beach so it will pay for itself in a few weeks.

[waikikikichan]

If you're surfing in Waikiki ( hopefully at Canoes and not at Queens ), then you could rent on the beach. But don't support Dive Oahu, which pushed out the local beach boys. Further down by the Moana and Outrigger, there's Aloha beach services and Waikiki beach services and Faith surf school, they are good.

Another way if you spend half a day in the surf is to rent "off the beach". Behind the Hyatt Regency Waikiki is Moku and Koa Board Sports, They have very reasonable 1/2 day rates and a wide variety of boards.

3rd get a Costco Gerry Lopez 8 foot softboard. It's about $100 new. But on Craigslist Oahu, you can find them cheaper.

By the way, what shop sold you the 10 footer ?

[HaoleKook]

I went to Used Surfboards Hawaii.

What kind of board do you suggest I rent? A 9ft epoxy, or a foam board, or...?

[waikikikichan]

What kind of board do you suggest I rent? A 9ft epoxy, or a foam board, or...?

I always recommend a board 3 feet over your head until you can learn the basics and bottom turn frontside and backside to trim across the wave. Then when you are able to do turn ups and turn downs, then you can start going smaller to a 8'0"ish. Maybe a year or two down the road.

That said, a Costco Gerry Lopez ( or older Wavestorm ) 8 foot boards have the float of a 9'0" hard board. Yes, they do flex more than a hard board, but at the beginning stages that flex will be more forgiving ( and safer for you and more importantly others )

[HaoleKook]

Thank you. I work near Costco so I just picked up a Kooky Lopez ($139 HNL price) and can rent a bigger glass board when I feel like it. I'll surf more if I don't have to think about renting every time, and I like having something I won't care about damaging as much. I'll let you know how it goes, hopefully today after work =D

[waikikikichan]

Thank you. I work near Costco so I just picked up a Kooky Lopez ($139 HNL price)

Oh Yeah, I forgot about the Hawaii mark up prices compared to the mainland. Even here in Japan, a Gerry Lopez softboard is about 12,800 yen ( $96 usd ).

If you live near a Costco, you're more than a mile away from Waikiki. Have you thought about getting a cheap beach cruiser with side racks ?

[HaoleKook]

I work downtown, but live in Kaimuki near Diamondhead. I think it's 1.2 miles to Queens Beach from my house.

$99 would be amazing but $139 is still pretty good! Surfboard Factory HI has foamies on sale for $200+ but they don't have the FCS fin boxes. And yes, you could say I have thought about a side rack! =D

[HaoleKook]

Something’s a little funny with this board.

[waikikikichan]

At the Costco wareouse, if they had multiple boxes on the floor, displayed right are for regular foot and left boxes are for Goofy footers. You bought it from the wrong box.

[HaoleKook]

I did grab it from the box on the right, but Hawaiians are notorious for putting stuff back on the wrong shelf. Lol!

Idk, it was a good experience but this board isn’t different enough to justify having. It floats better but seems a lot harder to balance paddling. Maybe it’s the smaller fins, or maybe I’m pushing it’s weight limit, it’s pretty soft and bendy. I brought it home and grabbed my Culture and appreciated it so much more! I also noticed Kooky Lopez is only 22" wide, maybe a 9ft, 24" wide foamy would be better:
https://www.surfboardfactoryhawaii.com/ ... boards-9-0

But I’ll try renting a few boards before I buy anything else.

[waikikikichan]

Was only kidding about regular and goofy specific boards at Costco. But I would've inspected the board to see if the painting on stringer was straight and that the rails were even.

I've seen some pretty heavy Waikiki beach boys rip on 8 foot sponge boards from Costco.

Btw, if you want some respect in Hawaii, you better not be heard calling Gerry Lopez as Kooky Lopez.

[HaoleKook]

I know, I was kidding back (hoping the LOL was communicating that.) Live and learn about the stripe, I guess. Now I know some other things to check for.

And I didn't mean to disrespect, I just know they call the Wavestorm "kookstorm" and was having fun with it.

I'm pretty sensitive to equipment changes so maybe I just was noticing the flex of the Gerry Lopez in comparison to my board. I'm not saying I couldn't learn on it, it's just only 6L more than my mini mal (73.5 vs 67.5) . The Wavestorm (81L) would have been another 7.5L so more than double the buoyancy gain. So maybe > 80L is a good target "for small, gutless waves." I'm between 84-88 kg so that seems reasonable.

[waikikikichan]

I'm pretty sensitive to equipment changes so maybe I just was noticing the flex of the Gerry Lopez in comparison to my board. I'm not saying I couldn't learn on it, it's just only 6L more than my mini mal (73.5 vs 67.5) . The Wavestorm (81L) would have been another 7.5L so more than double the buoyancy gain. So maybe > 80L is a good target "for small, gutless waves." I'm between 84-88 kg so that seems reasonable.

Let me give you some simple advice ....... forget about VOLUME.

Wait until 2 years from now where "everything matters", fin stiffness, wax placement, leash type, height of the tail kick on the traction pad, etc.etc. when you get to the level of Half Good / intermediate.

Right now as a beginner, it's the best time. Everything is fresh, new, and exciting. But no matter what you ride ( or buy ), you suck or have a hard time. Later when you become a good surfer, nothing matters as much, as a good surfer can ride ANY board competently.

[HaoleKook]

I rented a couple boards today. First was a 9ft soft top. The first wave I nosed in, the second wave I was too far back, the third wave I caught. My gut said "this feels right." I liked that it was stable and caught waves easyily but I still had to move forward/back to control speed, and it it was sensitive enough that small movements mattered.

Then just to prove it I tried a 9ft Torq epoxy board, 74L I think it was. Pretty much the whole board was under water with me on it and it was harder to catch little waves. It didn’t feel very different than my mini-mal, maybe just slightly more buoyant and stable. It was easier to catch waves than the mini-mal but again, not enough to justify buying one.

I think for little waves in crowded Waikiki the floaty soft board makes sense. I’ll use it long enough to learn to read waves, avoid people, and make turns in and out of the wave, then surf the mini-mal.

[HaoleKook]

It turns out the soft board I’ve been renting is an epoxy board with padding, not a foamy: "GO Surfschool Wide" @ 107L 9ft x 24 x 4". It’s extremely stable, in a kind of unexciting way, but fitting for where I’m at right now.

Today I rented a 9ft Walden Mega Magic, 105L 24 x 4.25. The floatation was amazing, it was super easy to catch waves and it seems to hold onto waves longer. It’s also pretty tippy and I wipe out on it a lot, but I guess it feels more like a "real surfboard" and not a trainer. So the ~105L/9ft is the size (glass) board I want for small wave days: small enough to store/transport, easy enough to maneuver, responsive to fwd/back placement, and floaty enough to catch little waves.

I’d love to be riding a board I own. A used and very beat-up GO is $200 and the Walden is $575 very used, $1075 new. I’m way more excited about the Walden but feel like it would be good to get more stable rides under my belt, idk. So maybe I should keep renting the GO for awhile. The GO is like a confidence building board and the Walden is like a progression board.

Fwiw I paddle on my own to different breaks and am catching unbroken waves. On the trainer board I ride maybe 2-3 rides to 1 wipeout. When I do wipe out it’s 99% from rushing the pop-up, not rotating enough ,and falling backwards. Otherwise I’m pretty comfortable once I’m up on the trainer.

[waikikikichan]

Today I rented a 9ft Walden Mega Magic, 105L 24 x 4.25. The floatation was amazing, it was super easy to catch waves and it seems to hold onto waves longer. It’s also pretty tippy and I wipe out on it a lot,

So you are saying a 24 inch wide board is "Tippy" ?

[HaoleKook]

The 24” wide performance board with a v hull, stepped/shaped rails, and more rocker felt more tippy than the 24” wide surf school board with a concave bottom and thick squared off rails - yes.

I rented a 9ft pvc-reinforced foam board, a 9’6” 23 x 3.5 longboard, and tried the GO softboard again. The 9’6 was marginally enough float for what I wanted but didn’t want/need the extra length, and the softboard seemed kind of dull and unexciting in comparison. The foam board wasn’t in the same league as any of this. Nothing was a fun, exciting, fast paddling or easy to catch waves as the Walden. I slept on it and decided to buy the Mega Magic (used) and am so freaking stoked!

But then again, “I suck” and apparently can’t possibly have any valid opinions or preferences so I guess none of this matters.

[waikikikichan]

But then again, “I suck” and apparently can’t possibly have any valid opinions or preferences so I guess none of this matters.

I think you're going about it the smart way trying many boards and taking notes about what you like and don't like about each one. Sort of the Goldilocks and the 3 bears technic.

Another thing to add that it has been a good summer for waves on the Southshore. Not sure when you started surfing in Waikiki, but there are shoulder seasons when waves are a lot smaller. In the winter, if the North or Westside gets big enough, sometimes there's a wrap that gets around to Waikiki.