Types of surfboards: 9 shapes and who they suit

The nine types of surfboards, side by side

There are nine types of surfboards you will meet on a rack or in a for-sale post. Five are short: the shortboard, the fish, the groveler, the twin fin and the step-up. Three are long: the midlength, the funboard and the longboard. The ninth is the soft top, the learning board, which comes in most lengths. What separates them is length, width, thickness and outline, and those decide how early a board catches a wave and how hard it will turn.

The short boards are within a few inches of each other and differ in width and tail. A fish and a groveler carry their width back into the tail, so they plane on a weak wave; a step-up gives width away so it holds a steep one. The long boards gain length, and length is float: it gets you onto a wave earlier.

The table below is live. It counts the used boards of each type listed in Bali when this page was built, with the median length and volume of each, and every type in it opens its own page of boards.

Shortboards

The shortboard is the board most people picture: usually 5'6" to 6'4", with a pointed nose, thin rails, a squash tail and three fins. It is built to turn hard from the rail on a wave with a steep face, and it floats so little that it only works once you can paddle into a wave at the moment it starts to break. Three fins is a thruster, and which fin system fits which box matters when a used one comes without fins.

Fish, grovelers and twin fins: the small-wave boards

Three short, wide boards are made for the small, weak days a shortboard bogs down on. They look alike in a for-sale post, and the tail and the fins tell them apart.

A fish is short, wide and flat, with a deep swallow tail and usually two large keel fins, sometimes four. The Encyclopedia of Surfing credits the design to Steve Lis, a San Diego kneeboarder, in 1967, and stand-up surfers took it over from there. Ride one four to six inches shorter than your shortboard. It is fast in a straight line on a soft wave and wants a firm back foot to turn tight.

A groveler keeps a shortboard's outline and moves the foam forward, with a flatter rocker, so it starts planing early and carries its speed through the flat part of a wave. Most people ride one a little shorter than their shortboard and a couple of litres fuller. Plenty of boards sold as hybrids are grovelers under another name.

A twin fin has two fins and no centre fin, so its tail slides where a three-fin board grips, and it keeps its speed without being pumped. Many modern twins carry a small trailer fin behind the pair for control. It suits clean waves and a surfer who can already turn.

Step-ups: for the day the swell arrives

A step-up is a shortboard stretched for bigger, more powerful waves: a few inches longer, narrower at the nose and tail, with more rocker so it holds its line down a steep face. On the Bukit's reefs in the dry season it is the board people pick when the swell arrives, and on a small day it is hard work. Longer and narrower again is the gun, made for waves well overhead.

Midlengths and funboards: the boards in between

A midlength runs from about 7'0" to 8'0" and is narrower at the nose and tail than a funboard. It paddles almost like a longboard, glides through flat sections and still turns off the tail. Many carry a single fin, or one big fin with two small ones beside it, and it suits every level on long, gentle waves.

A funboard, with the mini-mal as its longer cousin, runs from a little over 6 feet to a little over 8: wide, thick and round at the nose, with plenty of foam under your chest. It is the board most people should move to after a soft top. It catches waves nearly as early as a longboard, and it still fits in a car.

Longboards

A longboard is 9 feet or longer, with a round nose, a full outline and usually a single fin. In a contest the length is a rule: the International Surfing Association's rulebook sets 9 feet as the minimum, measured along the deck, and asks for the widths at the widest point, 12 inches from the nose and 12 inches from the tail to add up to at least 47 inches. A board of 8 feet and a bit is usually sold as a mini-mal.

A longboard catches more waves than any other type, and it trims and noserides on a small, clean wave. What it costs you is size. Nine feet is a lot of board to carry down a cliff path, and a longboard usually has to fly home as cargo.

Soft tops, where most people start

A soft top has a foam deck and soft rails over a firm core. It is the safest board to learn on and to be near in a crowded lineup, and learner soft tops are usually 7 to 9 feet with a lot of volume. A used one is cheap and resells for little, so buy it to use hard for a season. Choosing your first board weighs it against a funboard and a longboard.

Alaias, SUPs and foil boards

Three more boards share the lineup and are sized differently from the nine above. An alaia is a thin, finless plank, ridden by setting a rail and holding it. A stand-up paddleboard is paddled standing and sized by its float against your weight plus the board and paddle. A foil board is a platform for the foil under it, and the foil is most of the money. Each has its own page: used alaias and finless boards, used stand-up paddleboards and used foil boards.

Which type of surfboard for which wave in Bali

In Bali the type follows the wave you will surf most, and the island has most kinds of wave. The dry season, roughly April to October, brings the biggest swells onto the Bukit and the west coast with the wind offshore. In the wet season, roughly November to March, the wind turns and the east coast is where the clean waves are.

How to choose a type of surfboard

1. 1

   Step 1: Work out your litres

   Volume decides whether a board floats you. It comes from your weight and your level, and it rules some types out before you look at a single board.

2. 2

   Step 2: Name the wave you will surf most

   Not the one on the poster. For most visitors to Bali that is a beach break or a slow reef, and the table above says which type suits it.

3. 3

   Step 3: Pick the type that carries those litres on that wave

   If the litres and the wave point to different types, go with the litres. A board that does not float you catches nothing, whatever it was designed for.

4. 4

   Step 4: Look at used boards of that type

   Each type above opens its own page of used boards in Bali, where you can filter by volume.

The surfboard volume calculator gives you the litres, and how much volume you actually need explains the factors behind it. What each type asks second hand is in the price guide.

Common questions

What are the different types of surfboards?

The common types are the shortboard, fish, groveler, twin fin, step-up, midlength, funboard, longboard and soft top. The first five are short boards for turning, the next three are longer boards that catch waves early and glide, and the soft top is the board to learn on. Alaias, stand-up paddleboards and foil boards are ridden and sized differently.

What is the easiest type of surfboard to ride?

A soft top or a longboard. Both carry a lot of foam, so they catch waves early and stay steady while you stand up. A funboard comes close and is easier to carry. A shortboard is the hardest to start on, because it floats too little to paddle a beginner into a wave.

What is the hardest type of surfboard to ride?

For most people a shortboard or a step-up, because both float little and ask you to be in exactly the right place when the wave breaks. An alaia is harder again: it has no fins and almost no float.

What is a hybrid surfboard?

Hybrid is a maker's word rather than a fixed type. It usually means a shortboard with a fuller nose, a wider tail and a few more litres, which makes it easier on small waves. Most boards sold as hybrids sit between a shortboard and a groveler.

How long is a longboard?

At least 9 feet. The International Surfing Association's rulebook sets 9 feet as the minimum for a longboard, measured along the deck from nose to tail, and most longboards are between 9 and 10 feet. A board of about 8 feet is a funboard or a mini-mal.

What is the difference between a fish and a shortboard?

A fish is shorter, wider and flatter, with a swallow tail and usually two keel fins. It is faster on a small, soft wave and is ridden four to six inches shorter than your shortboard. A shortboard has more rocker and three fins, and it turns harder on a steep wave.

Which type of surfboard is best for beginners?

A soft top first, then a funboard. Both catch waves early and forgive a late pop-up. A longboard works too if you can carry it. Leave the shortboard until you catch unbroken waves on your own.