Newbie looking for advice...

[KC89]

Hi,

I have just registered with this site and I am probably about to ask something that you are all sick of seeing!

I am new to surfing (having only been once) and I am looking to buy my own board and wetsuit as I would like to get into it properly. I have spent a few weeks now looking around various forums, blogs, info pages and I am struggling to find out which board would be the best purchase for me. I am currently living in the SW of the UK and would like to go as often as possible really (I have just started Uni, so work permitting) but find it can be quite expensive for hubby and I to both hire wetsuits and boards out every time we go. When I had my lesson a short while ago, I used a soft board which I found I got on okay with. I am not sure if that is one that I would want to purchase to be able to use for the next 6 months - 12 months or not?

Does anyone have any advice on which would be the best to invest in at the moment? Am I correct in thinking that maybe a longboard would be a good investment? And which 'brand' is better as I don't want to buy a board and then find out it's rubbish afterwards!

Cheers guys!

[oldmansurfer]

Welcome to the forum. My opinion is that if you felt ok with the board then that would be a good one for the next 6 months. It really depends on how much time you will spend in the water and what you want to accomplish. I think most brands would be fine for 6 months but others my have their opinions about it. I think initially you want to give it a good go and see if you become addicted like many of us are. Then you could get a board custom made for you or maybe pick a board based on your goals skills, weight and the waves you will be surfing. Wetsuits??? I know nothing about.....who needs a wetsuit in Hawaii?

[KC89]

Hi oldmansurfer, cheers for the reply! I am very much looking for a new thing to dedicate all my spare time too. I know it will take a while to get to a decent standard, rather than falling off every 10 seconds, but I got the bug instantly! We are planning on going surfing again on Saturday, so will see how which board I am using then and how it works for me. I am thinking of longboard until I am a pro (yup, forever the optimist!) and then switch over to something a bit niftier. Paha, Hawaii... I wish! Maybe one day, when I know what I am doing I can make it there minus the wetsuit!

[drowningbitbybit]

A longboard is definitely easier to learn on... and also to properly progress on
Size will depend on your height/weight, but around 3ft longer than you are tall is a good ballpark figure.

Boards come in two basic types (way way oversimplifying here) - pop-outs and shaped. The pop-outs, from NSP for example, are good tough boards for beginners and will keep you going for a while. A properly shaped board can be the board after that. So take a look at the NSP website. Most surf shops in the UK will have them too.

As for the SW UK, you'll need a 3:2 mm wetsuit in summer, and if you're planning on sticking it out through winter, then you'll need a 5mm wetsuit plus boots, gloves, hat, campervan with kettle on

[KC89]

Thank you - that reply has helped a lot! I was looking at the NSP boards yesterday. I think next time I am due to go down past some surfing shops I will have a look inside and see what they have and if I can purchase one from there. Same with the wetsuits. I don't fancy buying offline and then ending up with something that wasn't quite what I was after or doesn't fit! Not until I at leafs know what I am looking for, anyway.

Haha! Yeah, I bet! I am not the best at dealing with the cold, so maybe a sauna will be required afterwards! I need to man up and stop being a wuss this winter I think and just crack on with it!!