Used surfboards for sale in Bali

What every listing tells you

Length, width, thickness and volume are on every card, in feet, inches and litres, the way a shaper pencils them on the stringer. A figure the seller left out shows as a dash.

The board's own page adds its condition, the damage its seller declared and the area it is in. A figure nobody has confirmed carries a “Not verified” badge, and a volume that was estimated rather than read off the board says so. Those are the numbers to check with the board in your hands.

A board that has sold drops out of this list. Its page stays up and says it sold.

Filter by litres first

Volume is the first filter, ahead of length and shape, because it decides whether a board paddles for you. Two boards of the same length can be several litres apart, and you feel every one of them on a slow morning.

Search a range rather than one number. A board a litre or two either side of yours still works, and a range turns up boards you would never have looked for by name. The calculator works the range out from your weight and your level, then shows you the boards inside it.

Surfboard volume calculator

Message the seller, then meet

Every board has a contact button for each way its seller chose to be reached: WhatsApp, email or Facebook. A board copied here from Facebook Marketplace says so on its page, and its button opens the original post, so you write to the seller where they listed it.

SurfPoint takes no payment and ships nothing, so the sale happens between the two of you, in person. Before you ride across the island, ask what a photo cannot show: whether it is still for sale, whether the fins come with it, and whether it has ever been snapped.

Pick the shape

Shape is how a board's litres are spread from nose to tail. Once you know your volume, it is the quickest way to narrow the list, and each shape has its own page of boards.

• Soft topsThe safest first board.
• LongboardsThe most waves on a small day.
• FunboardsFloat while you learn to turn.
• MidlengthsOne board for a week of Bali.
• FishQuick in small, soft waves.
• Twin finsLoose, and fast down the line.
• GrovelersExtra foam for small days.
• ShortboardsFor turning off the bottom.
• Step-upsFor reef with real push.

Types of surfboards, drawn to one scale

Look near where you surf

Bali is small on a map and slow on a scooter. Uluwatu to Canggu can take an hour and a half each way in traffic, so start with the boards near where you are staying and near the breaks you will surf most.

• Used surfboards in CangguBeach breaks, and the widest mix of boards, from funboards and midlengths to the shortboards of people moving on.
• Used surfboards in KutaThe learn-to-surf beach, shared with Legian next door. Soft tops, first boards and ex-rental boards from the surf shops.
• Used surfboards in UluwatuReef on the Bukit, so mostly shortboards and step-ups.
• Every area in Bali, from the Bukit to Medewi›

What a second hand board costs here

The typical price and the range above the boards are worked out from the used boards listed in Bali now, in US dollars. They are asking prices. Nobody reports what a board finally sold for, so read them as where the conversation starts.

Inside that range, condition moves a price further than the brand does. Water in the foam takes a board to almost nothing. A sealed, sanded repair costs it little, while a lump of resin with no glass under it costs a lot, because the next owner pays to have it done properly. A board with its volume written on the stringer sells faster than the same board without.

Prices in the Facebook groups come in shorthand. 3.5jt is Rp 3,500,000, and 350rb is Rp 350,000, which buys fins rather than a board.

What used boards ask in Bali, by type

Check it in daylight

Four faults matter on a used board, and all four turn up in ten minutes on one walk from nose to tail: water in the foam, delamination, a crease, and a fin box or leash plug that moves. Pressure dents where your feet and knees go are normal wear, and not among them.

Do it in daylight. The shadow of a delamination and a soft patch under the front foot both disappear under a warung light. Read the volume off the stringer yourself, and ask which fin system the board takes before you count on your own fins. Futures fins do not fit FCS boxes, and a new set costs real money on top of the board.

How to check a used surfboard, nose to tail

Pay once you have held it

Agree the price with the board in front of you, then pay the seller in cash, in rupiah. SurfPoint never holds the money, which is why the board should be in your hands before any of it moves.

Never send a deposit for a board you have not seen. It is the scam that comes up most, and it arrives with a reason to hurry: somebody else wants the board, the seller flies soon, a transfer will hold it. Agree a time to meet instead.

Used surfboard scams, and what each one looks like

Questions before you message a seller

Does SurfPoint check the boards?

No. Nobody from SurfPoint has held the board, so every figure its seller has not confirmed is marked on its page, and the ten minute check is yours to do before you pay.

What does it cost to use SurfPoint?

Nothing, for buyers or for sellers. No payment passes through SurfPoint, so there is no commission to take. You pay the seller directly.

Can a board be shipped to me?

No. SurfPoint ships nothing, and a board here is bought in person in Bali. If you have not landed yet, message the seller about dates, but do not send money for a board you have not held.

Is buying a used board here cheaper than flying my own?

Often, for a stay of more than a few weeks. A one-way board fee out of Denpasar typically runs between 50 and 200 US dollars, so a board flown in and out again can cost a good part of what a used one is worth. Buy on arrival, sell before you fly, and the board costs you the gap between the two prices.

Can I sell my board here before I fly out?

Yes, and it is free. One photo gets a listing started. Set the day you fly as the date the board is available until, so nobody messages you after you have gone.

Sell a board