30 Best Surfboard Brands, The Ultimate Guide

When it comes to the best surfboard brands, it can sometimes feel as if we get caught up on a handful of the ones that get the best sponsor jobs.

They are the Starbucks of the surf game. If you avidly watch some of the world’s top surfing competitions and keep an eye on the gear that is most popular, you’ll typically find that most pro surfers are on the same fatter boards just under 6 feet.

If you’re in the pro game and have a grand to drop, that’s awesome. If not, what do you choose? Most of us struggle with the decision and typically pick what’s most in front of our faces as opposed to what kinds of waves we’re riding or what kinds or surfers we are.

Though we’re watching the number of sales peak for boards that are shorter and fatter these days, everyone should recognize that what surfs for someone such as Jordy Smith, may not surf for someone like you.

Luckily, with all that in mind, we’ve come up with the best surfboard brands to help you expand your horizons and hopefully find the best board for you!

#6 Giantex

Probably the most volume in any board on our list, the Giantex boards are extremely buoyant boards, which are great for beginners! We learn to surf best when we don’t have to worry about sinking and our boards are easy to paddle and maneuver. With a unique bottom concave that separates it from other slow foam tops, these boards have the capability to go much faster than you would believe. The best part is, you can pick up these insanely cheap boards at your big box retailers such a WalMart, making them very accessible.

Check out our full review page of Giantex here. 

Official Website: N/A

#7 BZ

Though you’ve probably seen BZ body boards out on the water more than any of their other products, BZ has an excellent line of surfboards for beginners. With dual maple wood stringers and a strong PH core that make these boards unique, they surf incredibly and can withstand harsh conditions. The buoyant construction makes catching waves a piece of cake. These boards are those that you can truly learn and advance your skills with faster than most others.

View our full brand review page of BZ here.

Official Website: www.bzproboard.com

#8 Gold Coast Surfboards

Gold Coast Surfboards prides themselves on sourcing some of the best materials in the game to create high performance soft-top surfboards and SUPs. Though named after the Gold Coast of Australia, this is a Southern California company that tests and designs their boards for the gorgeous, blue pacific coast waters. Simple, clean, stylish, and functional, these boards are great for beginners and experienced surfers alike, and can be found just about anywhere you can think of from a readily available customer service team. No matter where you choose to call your Gold Coast, these boards are an excellent and inexpensive option for high-performance surf.     

See our full blown review of Gold Coast boards here. 

Official Website: www.goldcoastsurfboards.com

#9 Storm Blade

With years of experience and development under their belts, Storm Blade supplies some of the most high quality soft-top surfboards in the game. With classic graphic decks, proven shapes, ultra lightweight cores, and modern specs, these boards are superb all around. For the surfers who want to get into the world of progressive maneuvering, to those just looking to ride some sweet barrels, none can go wrong with a Storm Blade board.  Drive fast or float around and watch the sunrise. Storm Blade has just about every standard length and design covered.

Check out Storm Blades full review page with all their boards right here. 

Official Website: www.stormbladeboards.com

#10 Body Glove

Coming from one of the top wetsuit manufacturers in the game, Body Glove has a line of incredible inflatable SUPs for more serious watermen and women. Created by Luke Hopkins, veteran whitewater paddler, these boards were designed to improve upon the flaws of traditional inflatable SUPs. The rubberized noses and poly vinyl fabric put their durability to the test and the deck pad ensure secure foot maneuvering. Ultra-lightweight and extremely versatile, these boards are excellent for kids and beginners, as well as those who have been paddling for years.

Official Website: www.bodyglove.com

#11 Hang Ten

From their humble beginnings as a California board short company, Hang Ten has now built themselves into one of the world’s classic surf lifestyle brands. They now design some extremely high-quality foamies that have both function and style. For the beginners or surfing veterans, the company helps all surfers to embody a “coastal state of mind”. When it comes to minimizing their carbon footprint, the company is constantly working towards decreasing waste and coming up with new methods for recycling. An environmentally sensitive business needs an environmentally sensitive company behind it. Lightweight, rigid, thin, and fast, you’ll have an amazing time riding a Hang Ten board!

To see Hang Tens full review page click here.

Official Website: www.hangten.com

#12 Triple X

Not for the dirty minds, Triple X is a family owned and operated surfboard company founded in 2004. While making use of modern board technologies, they are able to live by their philosophy of keeping boards affordable for all levels of income. Not only do they have one of the largest inventories of boards in the country, with a wide range of different shapes and sizes, but they also carry an array of soft boards that are perfect for beginners. The designs are unique and fun, as well as allow for versatility depending on what kind of rider you are.

Check out our full page brand review of Triple X's right here.  

Official Website: www.triplexsurfandskin.com

#13 North Gear

For another great company that manufactures extremely affordable and durable soft-top boards, check out North Gear! Their boards are great for kids just getting into surfing, or those looking to paddle around in smaller breaks. With colorful Polynesian print designs, ultra-slick bottom, lightweight design, and buoyant quality, it’s the absolute perfect entry-level board to start learning on. Being able to catch waves quickly as a beginner, as well as being able to carry your own board down to the beach as a young kid, can be a big confidence booster for newbies. Having a board from North Gear will guarantee a good time out in easy waters.

Check out our full page brand review of North Gear here.  

Official Website: N/A

#14 Softech Surfboards

Softech makes a variety of different boards that are great for beginner surfers, as well as surfers who want to add a little spice to their surfing. With foam cores and soft tops, the longer boards are ideal for beginners who want a more stable and durable ride at a low price, while the shorter Rocket series boards are excellent for surf veterans to bust out some moves in the waves. Designed using proven manufacturing techniques, Softech boards are made to withstand the harshness of the ocean and the aggressive riders that ride them. With an array of cool and colorful patterns, there is no doubt that you’ll find the perfect Softech board for you.

Check out our awesome full page brand review of Softech boards right here.

Official Website: www.softechsurfboards.com

#15 Channel Islands Surfboards

Moving to a company that focuses more on hardcore surfing, Channel Islands Surfboards has been a player in the game for over four decades. From a small grassroots operation to a world-renowned surfboard company that caters to some of the best pros in the sport, Channel Islands Surfboards has continued to keep quality and innovation in mind as they’ve created new board designs over the years. It is a rider-driven product no doubt, and the brand continues to develop incredibly high-performance boards for some of the most advanced surfers in the world. 

Official Website: www.cisurfboards.com

#16 Rusty

As one of the most popular surf brands in the 1990s, Rusty still makes some of the world’s best surfboards. With an array of minimal and simplistic designs across a line of short and long boards, Rusty surfboards are nostalgic looking and fully functional. The company, under its father Rusty Preisendorfer, holds some of the world’s best surfboard shapers that have changed the evolution of surfboards forever. With Rusty, you can obtain an array of custom shaped boards that are crafted precisely for the specific needs of any surfer. The strength in communication with the best surfers in the game has made Rusty surfboards the Cadillacs of the surf community.

Official Website: www.rustysurfboards.com

#17 Lost

When a Lost surfboard catches your eye, there is definitely a reason for. One of the defining characteristics of Lost surfboards are the unique and colorful designs created by some of the most famous graphic artists in surf. Not only are the designs exciting and different, but with the array of shapes and models from the famous Round Nose Fish to the F-1, there is something for just about anyone. Derived from a band of misfits in 1985 in Southern California, the once brand logo that was scribbled into a high school notebook can now be seen across the world in some of the best surfing spots you can find.

Official Website: www.lostsurfboards.net

#18 Firewire

If your ideal surf brand is one that puts a large chunk of their time and resources back into the oceans that we surf, then Firewire might just be your new favorite brand. From their creation of eco-label surfboards to their up-cycling initiatives to their many outreach organizations, Firewire is the epitome of a humanitarian brand. Not only that, their team is comprised of some of the world’s best surfers in the game like Kelly Slater. With low impact on the environment around them, as well as an array of innovative design materials and construction methods that give birth to high-performance boards, Firewire is truly a brand that gives us surfers the best of both worlds.

Official Website: www.firewiresurfboards.com

#19 INT

The surf community is something that relies heavily on locality. INT agrees with that sentiment, designing and delivering each and every board from their home factory in Carlsbad. With 100% recyclable foam blanks and epoxy resin, they create some of the most innovative and functional boards in the world of surfing while maintaining a responsible business. It is no surprise that some of the most fun-loving surfers in California have brought passion and excitement into creating the best soft-top boards you can find. With their patented iFoam core that can be found throughout all of their boards, it is fair to say that there are no foam top boards more lightweight, durable, and waterproof than the ones at INT.

Check out our epic full page brand review of INT here.

Official Website: www.intsurfboards.com

#20 Greco

Home of the Soft Performance Surfboard, Greco’s team of designers manufacturers what much of the general public believe to be one of the top soft performance boards on the market. Continuously pushing industry standards and designs on what a soft performance board should be, the technology is number one factor for Greco. Not only do they have some of the most lightweight boards on the market that are ultra fun to ride, they are also on the inexpensive end of the spectrum meaning they are great for entry-level surfers.

Official Website: www.grecosurf.com

#21 T&C Surf Design

From the islands of Hawaii, these guys perpetuate the Aloha lifestyle and bring it to surfers around the world. Founded in Pearl City over four decades ago, T&C has a history in creating some of the most high performance surfboards in the world coming straight from the hands of Hawaiian craftsmen. Their motto is “Commitment, Power, Style, and Respect”. These are the reasons that they continuously design superior surfboards. The logo is probably one of the most applicable to the world of surfing. With the Ying and the Yang representing the balance that all surfers strive to achieve, T&C has utilized the important spiritual aspects of the sport to crafts some incredible surfboards.

Official Website: www.tcsurf.com

#22 JS Industries

Though they might not have the lengthy history behind them like most of the giant surfboard companies, JS Industries quickly marked their name as one of the most respected in the world of high performance surf. Jason Stevenson, the company’s founder, talented surfers, and world-class shaper, has built a team of elite surfers to make this possible. His tractor logo can now be seen on the boards of some of the best in the game. Though they are now developing some of the most innovative and limit-pushing boards the world has ever seen, JS Industries is just at the beginning. The future is bright for this brand.

Official Website: www.jsindustries.com

#23 Haydenshapes

Founded by Hayden Cox at only 15 years old, Haydenshapes is now sold in 70 countries around the world. With performance and technology at the forefront of their design practice, the premium board designs work well with just about anyone in the world surfing. They are also easily recognized by the minimal aesthetic that comes from their monochromatic black and white look. The Future Flex parabolic carbon fiber rail, which can be found on every board, is a patent from Hayden Cox that makes these boards unique to any other in the world. With strength and persistence, Hayden has made these boards some of the best on the market. Period.

Official Website: www.haydenshapes.com

#24 Chilli

The devil is in the details. Chilli puts much time and effort into making sure their one-of-a-kind boards are unique and powerful. For starters, their LegRope plugs are unlike any other, their S-Cloth allows for board flex like you’v never felt, and their carbon flex designs make for some of the strongest and high-performance boards out there.  They are also extremely durable, you know, if you don’t feel like breaking your board all the time. With Project Black, their research and development sector, they take feedback from their team of world-class surfers to continuously put out some of the most functional boards they possibly can. If the surfboard game had a mad scientist brand, there is no doubt that it would be Chilli.

Official Website: www.chillisurfboards.com

#25 SUPERbrand Surfboards

Taking the skate aesthetic and design to the surf world seems like an impossible job, as they are so vastly different. Thankfully enough, SUPERbrand has done it by taking a youthful and progressive approach to the surfboard design industry with a team of shapers that has a love for both. Though the brand’s roots are firmly placed in surf culture, the company who just got their start in 2008 is on a mission to fulfill the visions and ideologies of the young surfers who will soon be taking over the game. For just about any surfboard design that you can possibly come up, SUPERbrand has probably already done it.

Official Website: www.superbranded.com

#26 Von Sol

Von Sol bases it’s philosophy on having all surfers share the same sincerity in their virtues when they paddle out. They’re a group of idealist surfers who strive to be progressive in and out of the waters. Mindfulness, discipline, and eyes to the future is what makes the surfboards from Von Sol come out so honestly and beautifully. They continuously find apexes in designs to fashion them together in a line of boards that work harmoniously. Coming from a madman Sean Mattison, a surfer whose list of accomplishments could fill an entire page, the boards exemplify the perfect recipe of functionality, precision, and aesthetic.

Official Website: www.vonsol.com

#27 Tomo

From the mind of a man who has been said to have found the sixth sense in surfing, Daniel Thomson created Tomo as a way to express his vision of the future of surfboard design. What other company has created a wakeboard-style surfboard that matches up to his? The ultra-modern concepts that fuel his designs are what make him the guru of surfboard design. The boards are a high-tech mix of art and functionality that will soon bring light to a new era of surfing. It is only a matter of time until the rest of the world catches on to this progressive movement.

Official Website: www.tomosurfboards.com

#28 Takayama

Now obviously the idea of futuristic surfing doesn’t sit well with everyone. Some surfers are all about the nostalgic and classic sense of surfing that made it what it is today. For those, legendary surfer and shaper Donald Takayama crafts some of the world’s best classic surfboards that you can find. Mostly known for his handcrafted longboards, Takayama is easily one of the most trusted names for board manufacturing on the entire planet. If you’ve ever wanted to ride the nose like some of the original pros in the sport of surfing, there is nothing quite like a board from Donald Takayama.

Official Website: www.surfboardsbydonaldtakayama.com

#29 McCallum Surfboards

Having worked under one of history’s greatest surfboard shapers, Chris Christensen, Jeff McCallum learned to stray away from the traditional aspects of surfboard shaping to create what we now know as some of the most interesting modern performance boards in the world. Handcrafted from the man himself, he keeps performance in mind when shaping his boards. His philosophy is that though aggression when ripping in the water is very important, the alternative of riding smooth is what makes surfing so great. His boards are for those looking for a one-of-a-kind ride that they can be proud of owning because they know the hard work and dedication that went into it.

Official Website: www.mccallumsurfboards.com

#30 Gary McNeill Surfboards

In collaboration with the Lab, one of the industry’s most respected glassing companies, master craftsman Gary McNeill makes some of the most well-designed and constructed surfboards the surfing world has ever seen. He does this all while making sure the company has minimal impact on the environment around them. They do so by crafting the most durable surfboards they can so that avid surfers can surf them for years without snapping them and needing to go out and by a new one. If Apple has the same mentality, we’d probably be rocking the original iPhones right now. Though their focus is on longevity, the high-quality materials they utilize help to create lightweight, high-performance boards. With the sacred geometry art that covers each board, McNeill combines the best of balance, uniqueness, art, and functionality in creating boards that have the ability to span generations and bring a special light to the world of surfing.

Official Website: www.garymcneillconcepts.com

Conclusion

Well that wraps it up for the 30 best surfboard brands...

If you thought this was an epic post, you ain't seen nothin! 

We put together the biggest and most comprehensive list on the Internet for the best surfing brands. Click the link to see our list of the top 70 surf brands!