Whether you’re a seasoned rider looking to add another gem to your quiver or a novice surfer eager to buy your first surfboard, one burning question is in mind: How much does a surfboard cost? Knowing how much you need to save up and keep aside will be helpful right now, so when you find the board you’re looking for, you’re ready to call it your own.
In the ever-evolving world of surfboards, the cost varies depending on the type of board you want. Each comes with its price tag, from the budget-friendly foamie or soft-top surfboards to the sleek and high-performance hard-top boards.
In this guide, we explore the average cost of a surfboard, including foamies, longboards, funboards, and performance shortboards.
SOFT-TOP OR FOAMIE SURFBOARD PRICES
Soft-top or foamie surfboards, cherished for their forgiving nature and beginner-friendliness, often serve as a gateway to the world of surfing. As a budget-friendly option, foamies offer an accessible entry point for newcomers eager to test the waters without breaking the bank.
Crafted from durable foam materials, these surfboards prioritise stability and safety, making them ideal for learners wanting to hone their skills in the surf. While they may lack the high-performance features of pricer surfboards, soft-top boards remain popular for surfers seeking affordable fun on the waves.
The average cost of a foamie surfboard falls between £100-£300.
Or, if you want something with a little more of a performance aspect that allows you to hone your turning skills and are comfortable riding a shortboard, then you’re looking at anywhere between £300 and £400. Something like the Softech Eric Geiselman Flash is a motivational choice for the more advanced surfer.
We stock a wide range of beginner surfboards here at Wetsuit Centre, from top brands such as Australian Board Co, Sorted Surf Premium, Rebel, Ocean & Earth, NPS Elements, and more.
EPOXY AND POLYURETHANE (POLY) LONGBOARDS
Hard-top longboards are valued for their versatility and performance, perfect for surfers who crave manoeuvrability and speed on waves. Longboards offer beginner surfers looking to purchase their first hard-top board the ability to catch waves earlier, practise going down the line at speed, and the chance to perfect their turning skills. Longboards give surfers increased stability and buoyancy, allowing them to paddle out easily.
Longboards are also a brilliant option for the more advanced surfer, making them ideal for noseriding, hang ten, and cross-stepping. Longboards also allow surfers to go back to the fundamentals of surfing and work on their pop-ups, takeoffs, and turns with a lot of room for progression - enabling you to make as many mistakes without much consequence!
Overall, longboards are an excellent choice for everyone, no matter your ability. Their greater surface area allows for improved glide and speed, enabling surfers to navigate flat sections and ride smaller, less powerful waves that shorter boards aren’t suited for. After all, even the smallest clean waves can still be fun.
In our opinion, it’s definitely worth adding a longboard to your quiver - you never know when you might need it!
The average cost of a longboard can range between £400 and £800, but again, this depends on the brand and materials used. In general, polyurethane (poly) longboards are more affordable, whereas epoxy longboards can be a little more costly. Investing in an epoxy board, such as the Australian Board Co Pulse 9ft Epoxy Longboard, is worthwhile. Epoxy is lighter, more durable, and one of today's most innovative surfboard materials.
MINI MAL SURFBOARD PRICES
If you want to step down from your longboard and transition to a shorter board, then a mini mal surfboard sounds right for you. Mini mals offer a good amount of length and volume, so you can still catch waves and have fun. In contrast, jumping straight from a longboard to a shortboard can be much more challenging - and less fun!
Mini mals, sometimes referred to as funboards, offer surfers the same ‘feel’ as a longboard but with much more manoeuvrability. They allow surfers to hone their skills and get used to a smaller board while still offering a lot of stability, sturdiness, and buoyancy for paddling.
Depending on the brand, a mini mal surfboard costs around £ 450 but can vary between £350 and £800.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a mid-length surfboard with more of a performance aspect that shortboards offer, then something like a Pyzel Mid Length Crisis 7'2" will do the trick. Explore our other performance mid-length surfboards below, with prices ranging from £350 to £750+.
FUN AND RETRO SURFBOARDS
Moving closer to high-performance shortboards, but not quite there yet, funboards offer a very similar manoeuvrability and performance style to shortboards. The main difference is that they tend to have more volume and buoyancy. Funboards are wider and have a flatter rocker, too, allowing them to perform well in less steep and ‘fatter’ waves than a shortboard. But a longboard or mini mal should be your go-to if you want something that’ll work better in smaller waves.
Funboards allow surfers to learn shortboard manoeuvers, such as bottom and top turns and cutbacks, while having the advantage of extra buoyancy similar to a bigger board. They’re responsive like a shortboard but allow for better and faster paddling.
Whether you’re looking for a fish surfboard or a retro board, prices can range anywhere between £400 to £750, depending on the size and brand.
SHORTBOARD SURFBOARD PRICES
On to the beloved shortboard, suitable for advanced surfers who ride steep, fast, and sometimes barreling waves, high-performance surfboards are a whole other ball game - and can be seen as a completely different sport to longboard surfing.
Shortboard surfboards are thinner, shorter, less floaty, lighter, and have more rocker - allowing them to perform brilliantly when you want to generate speed through quick sections.
Most performance shortboards are now made from epoxy, making them more durable and protected (especially when travelling abroad with your board). Epoxy shortboards can be more costly than traditional polyurethane shortboards, but we think they’re worth the little extra.
At Wetsuit Centre, we stock shortboards from top brands like Pyzel, Channel Islands/Al Merrick, Rebel, Circle One Surfboards, NSP, Bulldog, and more. The average price of a shortboard surfboard can be around £500, but prices vary from £300 - £600.
If you’re unsure of what type of board you want, it can sometimes be worth asking a friend (if they have the surfboard you’re thinking of buying) if you can try out their board for a couple of sessions. Do this before you go ahead and commit to a particular board - so you can be sure it’s the right one for you.
But if you don’t want to splash out on a full-price board, why not check out our clearance surfboards at Wetsuit Centre? With a wide range of top-brand boards at a reduced price, you may get a great deal!
