Surfing Waves

Hi all,

I'm living in Bali and trying to get my first board. I found a secondhand one that seems like a pretty good deal and might be a match for me. It's Rp 1.5 million (USD 112).

The board: Exp... 6'10" x 21 3/8 x 2 3/4 (45 liters)

Me: 5'4", 67kg, 27yo female

I took lessons at a surf school awhile back to get the basics of standing up, took a long break (like a full year) and have since taken a few more sporadic lessons this year. But now I've started to go out with a friend and am renting a foamie, catching whitewater and getting on to green waves though very inconsistently--which also means I've now had the lovely laundry experience! Because I live in Bali, I'm trying to go at least once a week, hopefully even more now that I feel I've caught the bug.

Based on the surf guide board chart posted to this website, this board seems like the right dimensions but some of my friends who are not experts by any means, but do surf regularly, think the board might not be wide enough for a first buy. I like that it's nice and tall and has a lot of volume, but yea, not sure if the width is enough? I'm sick of renting the foamie because I feel like I'm burning through money and I want to challenge myself to go to the next level, though maybe I'm not ready yet to surf on this kind of board! But I'm also looking at the price, seems pretty good! It had a couple of dings but owner says she's had them repaired by Naruki, which is supposedly the best ding doc in Bali. What do you think, pass or go for it? Any advice much appreciated!

I saw that board on Facebook buy and sell too....ok boards, decent shape, good price.......not for you at this stage. Bigger, longer and wider is what you need.

Where do you surf? There is a shop in Canggu called Half King in the road to Brewa....they always have second hand boards 8-9ft long relatively cheap. Keep your eye on the Facebook page.......you'll see a suitable board before long.

Big H wrote:I saw that board on Facebook buy and sell too....ok boards, decent shape, good price.......not for you at this stage. Bigger, longer and wider is what you need.

Where do you surf? There is a shop in Canggu called Half King in the road to Brewa....they always have second hand boards 8-9ft long relatively cheap. Keep your eye on the Facebook page.......you'll see a suitable board before long.

Hey! Thanks for your input, I wasn't sure if anyone would really answer me since I just joined this forum (I'm actually not sure if I'm responding correctly to your reply or if I'm just responding to my own post :/ )

I will have to follow Half King on Facebook! What would you say would be the dimensions I should be after at this stage? And style? Mini malibu? I'm trying to do so much research, but seems there's still so much to learn and a lot of differing opinions!

I'm in Bukit, mainly been going out to Thomas Beach. Went to Jimbaran when the swell was big 2 weekends ago and there were actually waves there.

Here are a few currently for sale...

1) How big is the foamie you're renting ? 8'0" ? 7'0" ?
I would stay as long or longer than the foamie.

2) "but some of my friends who are not experts by any means, think the board might not be wide enough for a first buy. I like that it's nice and tall and has a lot of volume, but yea, not sure if the width is enough?
The board: Exp... 6'10" x 21 3/8 x 2 3/4 (45 liters)"
The width and thickness is not too far off from my longboard dimensions. The width is plenty, you're not going to find much mid-length / hybrid / big guy shortboards over 22 inches anyways. It's the POINTY nose that's not going to support you enough. Find something more along a mini-mal or mini-tanker or funboard.

Another one.....



Jimbaran will work today on high tide in front of the seafood restaurants and on low further down past intercon hotel.

Agree with the others - something maybe 7ft6 - 8ft 6 (longer is ok but at your height/weight it may not be needed; wouldnt go shorter at the moment) with a rounded longboard nose (like below - although you dont need to go quite that rounded). Around about 22 inches wide (can go a bit narrower but not below 21) and maybe 2 3/4 thick or there abouts (somewhere between 2 5/8 and 3).

Keep in mind that you might surf this board for 6 months or 6 years; but there is no reason to get a board at this stage of your development that makes anything harder than it needs to be (ie going shorter, narrower nose etc)

Btw that 7'8" is 3" thick and surftech tuflite ultraflex construction which is pretty durable and lightweight. You'd be able to sell any of those for just about what you pay when you are ready to leave so think if it as a deposit rather than a purchase.

Those EXP boards have decent rails which means too thin for a beginner....the pic from Half King last weekend shows a lot in stock in the used rack so maybe worth a look though it's miles away from where you are. Have a look in White Monkey surf shop in padang2....lots of secondhand boards though not many over 7ft.

I'd go for the 7'8"....best of the available boards at the moment.....strong, light, lots of float.

yeah, that 7'8 looks good. Probably put a lot of wax on to cover up the spray job tho!

Another one......snapped longboard with a good repair can be a good learning board....the bit of extra weight from the repair materials can smooth out the ride. Cheap as....

Hi everyone, thanks for the answers and support! I've decided the main step for improving is taking a few more lessons--at least. Although expensive, at least doing these for now covers the cost of a board and I can try different boards from the school. I went out to Jimbaran today like you suggested Big H, with my new teacher and was all over the green waves! Beautiful conditions and caught some really long ones, felt like I was flying--though tbh I got some real good pushes from the teacher and the paddling totally drained me... At least that's a better improvement from the last time when I got tumbled. I've bought a set of lessons from my teacher so I'm going to delay on board buying for now and see how this goes... Teacher says we can move down from 8'4" to 8' for next time and experiment. Thanks though for all the board suggestions, you sending these def makes me realize just how many there are out there in Bali!

Balinewbie wrote:Hi everyone, thanks for the answers and support! I've decided the main step for improving is taking a few more lessons--at least. Although expensive, at least doing these for now covers the cost of a board and I can try different boards from the school. I went out to Jimbaran today like you suggested Big H, with my new teacher and was all over the green waves! Beautiful conditions and caught some really long ones, felt like I was flying--though tbh I got some real good pushes from the teacher and the paddling totally drained me... At least that's a better improvement from the last time when I got tumbled. I've bought a set of lessons from my teacher so I'm going to delay on board buying for now and see how this goes... Teacher says we can move down from 8'4" to 8' for next time and experiment. Thanks though for all the board suggestions, you sending these def makes me realize just how many there are out there in Bali!

Good to hear and good times. Half the battle is finding the waves; Jimbaran rarely breaks but today was one of those days.....when it does it is one of the best beginner waves around........ Good luck!