Surfing Waves

Hi! I just moved to San Diego from the east coast and I am super excited to learn how to surf. I got my wetsuit, next is the board. Does anyone have any tips of what kind of board would be best for someone brand new to the sport? I'm a 5'3 female 115lbs if that helps! I've read a lot of articles and talked to a few people but it keep getting conflicting information, so please share anything you may find helpful!

Get a long board but before you go out learn surf etiquette and rules of the line up. If you are dead set on learning to surf I would go to a reputable surf shop and talk to them for advice on the dimensions of your 1st board. Maybe better advice would be to rent a board first and get some lessons. Who knows, you may not like surfing. But if you are going to buy a board first, get yourself a good used long board. If money is not an issue, get a killer new long board but 100% start off on a long board. At your size I would guess around 8' maybe 8-6". Your local shop can dial in the dimensions better but do yourself a favor and start on a long board. Dont forget the etiquette part and have fun.

Agree with SurfHound, longboard(around 8-9ft) is the way to go, at this stage even a soft top wouldn't be too bad of an idea(Wavestorm(Costco) is less than $100). Read up on the forum here regarding etiquette etc, there are discussions on here regarding what to do and not do when you're out in the water(won't cover everything but should have some good nuggets of info in there for you to keep in mind).
You might also want to look into getting some lessons so you can learn some basics before venturing out on your own. Try to find an empty stretch of beach when practicing, avoid crowded areas and other surfers(you might end up getting in their way).

Perhaps some of the guys on here from SD can point you to a good beginner beach to start on.

Agree with Surf Hound as well. Around 8ft would be about right - if you go too big (like over 9ft) you might find it hard to handle the size/weight in the surf given your weight. There is no single brand or anything that is particularly better than another. Beginners are often recommended epoxy boards, which are harder to damage and are also lighter, so that may be something for you to keep in mind. However, a traditional PU board wont be a bad choice either.

Wavestorm would also be a good choice - should be useful for your first 6-12 months at least (depending on how often you surf), by which time you will have a better idea of what you want and don't want; and they are nice and cheap relatively speaking

So length 8ft to 8ft6
width say 21 to 23 ish inches (not too wide because you may not have the shoulder width to get your arms out far enough to paddle easily; but not below 21 inches)
thickness - probably not too important because most boards with the length and width will be fine thickness wise, but lets say 2 5/8 inches thick or thereabouts. I would try to avoid boards over 3 inches thick simply because you don't need that much volume; but even 2 1/2 inches thick is fine (note: the wavestorm/foam boards will be over 3 inches thick - that's fine because they are made of different material; but for a 'hard board' stay under 3 inches)

Get a longboard shape (this really means that the rails (edges) around the middle part of the board are parallel or almost parallel to each other, rather than being a continuous curve; and that the nose is more rounded than pointed).

Fins - 1 or 3, doesn't really matter.

Lessons - highly recommended, even if its just for a couple of hours

Persistence in the face of seemingly never being able to quite make the next step - necessary

Enjoyment - just comes naturally, no need to work on that!