Types of surfboards, and which one you should actually be standing on
Soft-tops, funboards, longboards, fish, guns. There are a lot of types of surfboards on that rack, and only one or two of them are right for where you are right now.
Walk along any board rack and the types of surfboards on it look like a wall of identical fibreglass. They're not. Short ones, long ones, pointed ones, blunt ones, some soft enough to hug. Every shape is trading off the same three things: how easy it paddles, how much speed it holds down the line, and how hard it turns.
You don't need to memorise any of it before your first lesson. But knowing roughly what you're looking at, and which end of the rack a beginner should actually be standing at, makes the whole learning curve a lot less confusing. Here's the full picture: every shape on the rack, and exactly what we put new surfers on at Elsewhere, and why.
01 How it works
Board dimensions explained
Before any of the shapes make sense, you need the three measurements that actually decide how a board behaves. The tail shape, the fins, the name printed on the rack: it's all just a variation on these three.
Length
More length, more glide
Longer boards paddle easier and catch waves sooner, because more length means more surface gliding across the water. That's why beginner boards run long. Shorter boards paddle harder but turn faster once you're up, which suits surfers who've already got their speed and timing sorted.
Width & thickness
Stability and float
A wider board is a more stable platform, same way a wide plank beats a narrow beam. Thickness adds flotation: a thicker board sits higher and carries more weight. Put a beginner on a wide, thick board and it holds them up with barely any effort.
Volume, in litres
Volume ties length, width and thickness into one number, and it's the single most useful figure you'll come across as a beginner. More litres means more flotation relative to your bodyweight: easier paddling, earlier wave-catching, steadier balance once you're up. Rough guide: look for a litre count at or above your bodyweight in kilograms while you're learning. Someone around 75kg wants a board somewhere in the 80 to 95 litre range as a complete beginner. Get that number roughly right and the board does half the work for you.
The bit nobody tells you
The board that gets you standing fastest is rarely the one that looks good under your arm. Volume beats vanity, every time, in those first sessions.
02 Start here
Soft-top boards (foamies)
A soft-top, or foamie, has a soft foam deck instead of a hard fibreglass one, sitting over a foam core rather than a resin-and-glass shell. They're usually long, wide and generously voluminous, with a soft rounded rail and a flexible fin setup. Often three fins, sometimes softer plastic ones instead of sharp fibreglass.
The whole design is built around forgiveness. A soft-top floats a beginner easily, catches waves earlier than almost anything else on the rack, and doesn't hurt when it hits you. And it will hit you, repeatedly, in your first few sessions. This is the board almost every surf school starts people on, us included, and there's zero shame in that. It's simply the right tool for stage one.
03 The next step
Funboards and mini-mals
A funboard, often called a mini-mal (short for mini-malibu), sits between a longboard and a shortboard. Typically 6'6" to 8'0", with plenty of width and volume but a slightly narrower, more shortboard-like outline than a full longboard. Most run a standard three-fin setup and a flatter rocker, the curve running along the board's length from nose to tail.
The appeal is versatility. A funboard paddles and catches waves nearly as easily as a longer board but turns with noticeably more response. It won't feel like a ceiling the second you start popping up reliably. It's the natural next step once whitewater on a soft-top gets too easy, and plenty of intermediate surfers happily stay on one for years instead of rushing towards a shortboard.
04 The classic shape
Longboards
Longboards run 9 feet and up, with a full, rounded nose, generous width through the middle, and either a single fin or a "2+1" setup: one centre fin plus two smaller side fins. That rounded nose isn't just for looks. It's what makes noseriding possible, where you walk forward and ride with your toes hanging over the front of the board.
Longboards paddle beautifully and hold speed through flat, mushy sections other boards would stall on, which is why they're brilliant in small, gentle waves. Knee-high swell is genuinely enough for a proper ride. The trade-off is sheer size: a 9-foot-plus board is harder to duck under an incoming wave and a lot more physical to wrestle around on land and in a crowded line-up. Performance longboards (narrower, harder rail edges, modern contours) trade some glide for sharper turning. Traditional longboards (wider, flatter, heavier, softer-edged) lean fully into smooth trim and noseriding.
05 The playful shape
Fish boards
The fish traces back to 1960s kneeboard design and you'll spot it instantly by the tail: a swallow shape, split into two points, instead of a single rounded or pointed tail. Fish boards are shorter and noticeably wider than a shortboard, with a flatter rocker and usually a twin-fin or keel-fin setup rather than the standard three fins.
That width and flat rocker are built for one job: generating speed in smaller, softer, weaker waves where a narrower board would drag and stall. The result is a loose, playful ride. But the wide tail takes some getting used to, and a fish tends to reward surfers who already have wave-reading and turning experience, not complete beginners.
06 For once you're moving
Mid-lengths and performance shortboards
Mid-length boards
Mid-lengths run roughly 6'6" to 8'0" and borrow heavily from retro 1960s and 70s shapes, updated with modern fins and bottom contours. They sit between a funboard and a longboard in feel: easier to paddle and more stable than a shortboard, but with thinner rails and a more responsive tail that rewards a surfer who's already got some turning experience.
Performance shortboards
Performance shortboards are what most people picture when they think "surfboard". Narrow, thin, usually 5'6" to 7'0", with a pronounced rocker and a thruster (three-fin) or quad (four-fin) setup. A concave shaped into the underside of the deck helps generate speed and lift in steeper, more powerful waves.
They're also the hardest board type to learn on. Less volume means harder paddling and a much thinner margin for balance error, so a shortboard only really makes sense once your paddling, timing and turning are already solid. Starting on one is a fast route to a frustrating session, not a faster one.
07 For the record
Guns, briefly
A gun is a long, narrow, heavily rockered board, usually 7 feet and up, shaped with a pintail (a narrow, pointed tail) to hold a line on big, fast, powerful waves. Built purely for control at speed on serious swell. A specialist tool for experienced surfers, and not something you'll ever need to think about as a beginner. It's in here only so the picture's complete.
The rack, the ride, and where beginners actually end up.
08 Before you paddle out
What to look for as a beginner
With all that in mind, here's what actually matters when you're picking, or being handed, a board in your first few sessions.
| Look for | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Volume ≥ bodyweight (kg) in litres | Easier paddling, earlier wave-catching, steadier balance |
| Soft foam deck | Comfort during the falls you'll have, a lot, early on |
| Wide outline through the middle | Stability while standing |
| Length of 7 to 9 feet | More glide, more time to find your feet |
| Flatter, forgiving rocker | Catches waves sooner than a curved one |
| Standard multi-fin setup | Predictable, stable tracking |
Not sure which board's right for your first session? At Elsewhere's surf camp in the heart of Canggu, your coach matches your board to your level before you paddle out, and swaps it as you progress. No guesswork, no wrong sizes.
See the Bali surf camp09 In practice
What beginners actually ride at Elsewhere
Nearly every complete beginner at our camps starts on a soft-top: long, wide, high-volume, and genuinely hard to hurt yourself on. It's not a lesser option. It's simply the board that gets you standing and riding whitewater fastest, and that early momentum matters more to your progress than looking the part.
- Day oneSoft-top: long, wide, forgiving. Built to get you standing, not to make you look sharp doing it.
- Mid-weekFunboard or mini-mal: once your pop-ups get consistent and turning starts feeling intentional, coaches move you up. Enough responsiveness to shape a turn, still forgiving enough that one missed wave doesn't end the session.
- LaterPerformance shortboard: nobody gets rushed onto one. The board changes when your surfing does, not before.
This progression is also why our lesson structures look the way they do. In Bali, lessons run once daily, so every session is coached properly from board choice through to the last wave of the day, with 2:1 coaching and never more than 3:1. Enough attention that your coach actually watches you get to grips with a new board instead of just handing it over and walking off. It's also a genuinely social, 18+ camp, so plenty of first-timers arrive solo and progress together with people at a similar stage.
At our beachfront camp in Weligama, Sri Lanka, the structure's different: two surf sessions a day, sunrise and sunset, alongside daily gym and yoga. That extra water time means beginners often move through the soft-top-to-funboard progression a bit faster, simply through repetition, with coaches there working at roughly a 5:1 ratio.
One more thing worth knowing before your first session: tropical water around 27 to 29 degrees rarely needs traditional surf wax on a soft-top deck. The textured foam already grips bare feet, one less thing to think about while you're learning everything else.
Learn on the right board from day one. Every board provided and matched to your level, in Bali or Sri Lanka.
See the Sri Lanka camp10 Good to know
Frequently asked questions
What type of surfboard should a complete beginner use?
A soft-top (foam) board, long and wide with plenty of volume for your bodyweight. It paddles easily, catches waves sooner than smaller boards, and that soft deck is far more forgiving during the falls every beginner has in their first sessions. Almost every surf school starts new surfers on one, us included.
What's the difference between a funboard and a longboard?
A funboard, or mini-mal, is shorter, typically 6'6" to 8'0", with a narrower outline than a full longboard but still plenty of stability. A longboard runs 9 feet and up with a rounded nose built for noseriding and smooth trim. Funboards turn more responsively. Longboards paddle and glide easier, especially in small, gentle waves.
How do I know what volume of surfboard I need?
As a beginner, aim for a litre count roughly equal to or above your bodyweight in kilograms. More volume means easier paddling, earlier wave-catching and steadier balance while you're learning. As your surfing improves, you gradually move to lower-volume boards that turn sharper.
Do beginners at Elsewhere get to choose their own board?
Your coach matches your board to your level before your first session, then adjusts it as you improve. Typically that means starting on a soft-top and moving to a funboard or mini-mal once your pop-up and turning are consistent. All boards are provided, so there's nothing to bring or hire separately.
Is a shortboard ever a good idea for a beginner?
Not really. Shortboards are narrow and low-volume, which makes paddling harder and balance far less forgiving. They're built for surfers who already have solid timing and turning ability. Starting on one tends to slow your progress rather than speed it up, however good it looks under your arm.
