Your Guide To The Right Foam Surfboard

Ian helps you chose the right foam surfboard :

Foam Surfboards are surf boards made from high density foam with a slick plastic base, they are stable, forgiving to surf and perfect for beginner surfers or surfers looking for a lower price board for a bit of fun. Foam surfboards are also known as foamies or softboards and not to be confused with soft top surfboards which are a hard board with a thin layer of foam on the deck. Foamies come in many different sizes and styles as well as colours and designs.

Foamies started off as basic shapes purely aimed at learner surfers but in recent years there has been an explosion in popularity of these board amongst more experienced surfers too. The emergence of better shaped boards and higher quality materials has meant that the potential performance in these boards has increased hugely which is why they have become more attractive to better surfers. Brands like Catch Surf and Softech amongst others have led the charge in this area with high performance shapes and collaborations with established surfboard manufacturers like Lost.

At Boardshop we specialise in getting new surfers on the right board, we have years of experience of doing this and pride ourselves on giving the right advice. One of the most frequently asked questions regarding foam surfboards is why some are more expensive than others - it’s a simple answer, the more you spend the better the product you get. The higher priced soft boards use better materials - denser foam, a thicker base on the bottom of the board and then a single or series of stringers. All these features aim to make the board stiffer and more responsive. This then leads to faster progress and more performance. The choice of board is mostly dictated by how often you’ll surf, if it’s for a couple of weeks in the summer then a more basic foamie model will be fine, if it’s the start of regular surfing then it’s worth spending a little more.

[marcoslucas]

Really good video. Thanks for the info, very helpfull. 😊

[laurahales]

This is good information - my cheap foamy lasted about 4 years of beginner practice but it finally snapped so i think its time to invest in a better one XD

[clarat.]

Thank you for the info! I have a question regarding the shorter foamies like the 5.6 catch surf skipper: how different is the thruster setup compared to the classic quad? does it take away a lot of its magic speed in exchange for manoeuvrability?

[jetmoseby]

I surfed a few times and am a beginner butcan already get up on waves here and there and even rode a pipe once, can i start on a shorter foamie? Or do i need to stay in the 7-9 foot range?

[comicgainz]

Thank you so much for the great info!! If I am 5’10 and 185 lbs, what is a good size board to get? I am a beginner and never surfed before. Also favorite brands? Willing to spend around $500

[ivydune]

I'm thinking about buying a cheap foam board (my size 5'7 =short) for the really small summer waves. I ride a 5'8 hybrid, but it's a normal shortboard. Summer's coming, waves will be very small and mushy and my board will not catch any. The foam boards I see are all potato shaped - wide round nose and small round or squash tail. Can these boards on a short size perform well? Or they're just meant to trim and cruise?

[pedromarquez]

Hi! I cant decide in between Filipe Toledo 5.11 or Mason Ho Twin 5.8 (Both 3 fins) I’m 65kg and intending to use this on summer and mainly when I visit the wave (my board is a 6 but no volume at all so I end up using bigger boards at The Wave, can’t spend more renting there) What are the differences on performance in between these two? Thanks!

[Mapparrott]

I'm a complete beginner apart from owning a body board. I'm 6ft 2 and weigh 220 pounds. I've seen osprey boards what would you recommend please

[bkjfzeg]

Im an intermediate surfer but have small waves where i live is there a type of foamboard that can let manuver but also catch small waves?

[Mannsy]

Great video. The cheap ones are horrible for the environment, use few times then straight to the rubbish tip.