Surfing Waves

Good day
My 6 month back packing trip has turned in what should be a 6 month surf trip. So far I have been renting boards and now in Philippines and the boards in the place I am that are for rent are wrecks. Looking around today for other rental options a guy suggested I should buy one. So I did the math and it makes money sense.
I am 1.80m 80kg been in the water twice a day almost everyday for the past 6 weeks. Can pop up without thinking about it, riding unbroken waves but haven't got the turning nailed yet. In Indonesia I was using a longboard after a foamie and then borrowed a mates rented mini mal 7"2 x 21 3/4 x2 7/8 for the afternoon and did much more on it than I had the previous few days on the long board. So I rented that board after and really enjoyed it.
I have checked the airline policies for my onward flights and I am limited to 2.3m in length.
So my questions: what would be the shortest mini mal that I could realistically use without hampering my learning curve?
And what would be a ball park figure for a good used mini mal in Europe or US so I have some idea when it comes to buying one.
A friend I made here a few days ago sourced a used mini mal but it is 6"8 x 20x 2 1/2 and I think it is too small?
It was a long post so thank you for reading and any suggestions and comments greatly appreciated.

rental board

Rental board

This is the mini mal my friend helped find. Price is around US$190 maybe can still negotiate, but I think it is too small

How small is it?

Hi Big H
That board is 6"8 x 20x 2 1/2

Try all the boards you can rent where you are, get the "feel of what suits you" buy something similar when you get home ( where is that?) possibly more choice then without the impost of airline fees.

Hi Jaffa194
Well the choices here are foamie, shortboards and a collection of wrecked long mini mals and long boards. I still have over 4 months so since board rental here is between $6 and $10 a day and there is no additional flight baggage charges if the board is less than 2.3m long, I thought it just makes sense to buy something here. I have tried a few and feel most comfortable on a mini mal. Reason for my post is that I may not be able to find a 7"2 mini mal like I used in Indonesia, so need input on what's the shortest mini mal I can go, of course if I find a thick 7"2 or 7"4 then everything is ok, the question just came about once my friend found a 6"8 for sale.

Stop wasting time, just buy it and go surf. ( make sure it's water tight and not a snapped repair ). If something else pops up for sale that's 7'2" x 21 x 2 7/8 later , then get it and sell the 6'8" for $150. You would only be losing out $40 bucks, but if you surfed it more than a week, it'll be worth it more than renting.

Thanks waikikikichan, will go see it tomorrow.

Yep good way to go,

Thank you to everyone who have commented and given suggestions, my friend found me another three boards but they are in Manila 6 hours away so I can't look myself. I have pics of the best of the three, the other two, one is cracked repair and the other looks like it's had a really hard life.
Will post the pics of the best board below and ask that you take a look and tell me what you think. Of course it doesn't have to be the greatest board, just something that I can improve on. It's size is 7'0" x 20 1/2" x 2 5/8" and the dents on the underside have been repaired.

Pics of the best looking board

Ok, this is the second board which is 7'4" but looks like it has a lot of compression marks on it, the third board won't post pics cause it is a cracked repair so not interested. This board is about $20 cheaper than the Satire but doesn't have fins. Reason I decided to post it just in case it is a better made board than the satire, I have no knowledge, maybe they are similar. Opinions appreciated.

How much is the Satire board ? By the way, if the Yellow side fins say "Occy" on them and the Red fin in the center says "TC" on them, let me know.

It was $240 but my friend negotiated it to $200 including getting it to me overnight by bus if I decide to buy it

Ok, so to end my thread. My luck another board came up for sale almost exact size I was after. It was a 10 hour bus journey to get it and now a 10 hour bus journey back. Picked it up with bag, fins and leash from a guy at least 2" taller and 5kg heavier than I.
Thank you again for the comments suggestions and advice.

Now just surf, and if things go bad then its you and not the board. If things go well - its you and not the board

Wow I thought it had some strange damage near the stringer but you pixelated the name out Go surf it and tell us how it went