About surfboards, surfing, and making the most of everyday waves.
1. You can turn a single fin.
This is a common misconception that we hear all the time “I don’t want to ride a single fin because I want to be able to turn the board”. Turning your surfboard is about getting your foot back closer to the tail, on top of the fin(s). Whether it’s a longboard, mid-length, or single fin shortboard, you can absolutely turn a single fin—proper foot placement just helps make those turns even tighter.
2. Foam is your friend.
No one in the parking lot or surf lineup is measuring the volume of your board. I see far more surfers struggling to catch waves because their boards are too small than I see surfers struggling because their boards are too big. A little extra foam might cost you some responsiveness, but too little foam can cost you a whole lot of waves.
3. The same guy has shaped every custom Almond Surfboard for the last 18 years.
We crossed 10,000 custom surfboards earlier this year, and each one of them has been brought to life by the same guy: Griffin Neumann-Kyle. I met Griff in the Fall of 2008 and we’ve been at this thing ever since.
4. You’re still not catching waves early enough.
I'm going to keep saying it forever: you're probably not catching waves early enough. Through effort, attention, and the right equipment, work on catching waves earlier in their formation. Everything else you want to do on a wave gets easier from there.
5. A mid-length does not have to be a stepping stone to riding a shorter board.
For a long time, the prevailing idea was that longboards and mid-lengths were just stepping stones on the way to riding a shortboard. That's firmly not the case. Some of the best surfers I know surf longboards and mid-lengths exclusively. Grab the board that gets you surfing more often.
6. Everything in surfboard design is give-and-take.
There can be no perfect surfboard, only a surfboard that's particularly well suited to a particular purpose; and that's actually good news. It means surfboard design isn't about finding "the perfect board." It's about deciding which tradeoffs make the most sense for the kind of surfing you want to do.
7. Small waves are fun.
The “two feet and firing” mantra is as core to our belief about surfing as anything else. With the right attitude and the right equipment, few things are more fun than racing down the line on a waist-high wave. Embrace the small waves and you’ll surf way more often.
8. Recyclability only matters if you can actually recycle it.
Our R-Series surfboards are recyclable, AND we'll give you a $50 gift card when you bring yours back for recycling at the end of its life. There's a difference between being theoretically recyclable and having the infrastructure to actually do it. Surf your R-Series, enjoy it for years, and when it's time, bring it back to us.
9. Your board choice depends more on where you want to take your surfing than where you’ve been.
When you're thinking about your next surfboard, consider what you want to do more of. Catch more waves? Learn to noseride? Get more comfortable turning? Surf smaller waves? The board you've been riding might not be the best board for where you want to go next. (Not sure where to start? Take our surfboard matching quiz)
10. Surfboards are meant to be used.
This is something we've learned over many years of building surfboards. Yes, we want them to be beautiful (often they're wall-hanger worthy). Yes, we want to take care of them when they're not in the water (where I'm convinced 75% of dings happen). But at the end of the day, surfboards are meant to be used and enjoyed.
They're tools for accessing all the fun the ocean has to offer. The fact that we can paddle out and harness the power of a wave for our own personal delight still seems almost too good to be true.
