Surfing Waves

I am having great difficulty trying to figure out what kind of board to buy for my first board. I plan on buying used. I have only been twice and realized I need a lot of boyancy. I was on 2 different 8' and had a pretty hard time. I am 5' 10" and vary between 260 to 280 lbs. I have been extremely athletic all fo my life. I do not want to limit myself with a barge, but I also would like to stand up and enjoy myself. I have heard all kind of reccomendations. Please help. The more details the better. Thank you so much.

A lot of people have a lot of varying opinions. I am 5'9 240 lbs., I bought 4 different boards before finding the perfect board for me when I was starting out. It took the insight of another big surfer to break if down. When you are a beginner you will not get any better if you don't catch waves. PERIOD. So what you need is boyancy. I rode a 9' 3.75" thick, Infinity Secret Weapon. As I got better I was able to go down in size. But it all starts with getting the right board. I spun my wheels for a year getting frustrated. Like I said, a lot of people had jokes about the size of my board, but now I surf better than them because I was able to catch a lot of waves and learn. Good Luck!!! Have fun.

When I look at the recommended charts on Walden's website, I am off their charts as a 250+lb beginer....and they go up to 12'! I didn't think I wanted a 12' barge. Thanks for your help. Any other advise for big guys would be great.

The laws of physics suggest two options...
1) lose about 80 pounds or more. And then purchase the performance board you desire.
2) be content with a board you can actually float and catch waves on at your current weight.

What other choices are there????

No chance of 80 lb weight loss. Do you agree with bigboy's assessment as well (9ft, 3.75in thick)? I wasn't thinking a 9 ft was too bad. Thanks for your help. Picking a board is not so easy. Plan on picking up something this week, or next.

go as thick as possible (3.5" or thicker) and I guess a 9' would be ok

Bigboy, I am going to take your advice and go down to Infinity Surf Shop in Dana Point, CA, today. I may come back with a board. Thanks for all your help. I did not realize there was such a thick board out there without being so long.

Everybody that I've talked to in the shop was right on. But if you get a chance talk with Steve, he shapes a lot of boards specifically for bigger and/or older guys that still want performance. It made all the difference in the world for my surfing. Check out there website. Have fun.

Bigboy, you were dead on. I talked with Steve and bought a board from him. After much discussion we (Steve and I) decided on an 11' X 4.0in longboard. Steve is a great guy and I really liked what he had to say about surfing with respect to bigger surfers. I told him I would buy other boards in the future. He also told me that the Secret Weapon was a little too advanced to a first time surfer like myself.

Thanks for your advice. I am very pleased with my purchase.

Right on! I am glad I was able to help you. I hope you will continue to enjoy the journey of being a surfer.

if you havnt bought your board yet there are a couple things you want to consider

1) how big are the waves most of the time?
because with this question the smaller the waves the longer the board has to be

2) what do you feel comfortable with?
i started on a custom fry surfboard 9'0 and i like it alot of coarse where i live you cant ride short boards because they are to small

3) what are you going to try to do with your surfboard?
if you try compitions with your board for future use and you only feel like buying one board learn to surf it practice makes perfect

Meat wrote:No chance of 80 lb weight loss. Do you agree with bigboy's assessment as well (9ft, 3.75in thick)? I wasn't thinking a 9 ft was too bad. Thanks for your help. Picking a board is not so easy. Plan on picking up something this week, or next.

9'0 is the minimum standard for ANY beginner. Most all shops will tell you that, and that it should be no less than 2 7/8 thick...MINIMUM.

If I were you I'd go 9'6~10'6, 3" thick and like 23" wide if possible.

Function first...then style!

Just my .02