Surfboards come in all shapes, colors, and “flavors”. Avid surfers often have more than one type of surfboard because different circumstances deserve different tools.
Here at The Girl and the Sea Surf and Skate, we love to keep a range of surfboards for ourselves and our students.
We constantly test these surfboards to gather experience and improve our teaching methods.
 
But we often use the “fish” type surfboards when it comes to leisure time and casual surfing. Stay with us to know why these boards are the favorite of many.

A brief view of the Fish Surfboard history

By the 60s, many surfers still stuck to the traditional longboards. But things started to change slowly when a kneeboarder, Steve Lis, fixed his broken-in-half longboard and create the first fish-shaped board, with the typical two tails.
In kneeboarding, you surf on your knees. Instead of looking for speed, kneeboarders look for performing tricks, rolls, and slides in the waves. Having a short surfboard instead of the traditional long one gives you the chance to have better control of your movements.
 
Steve didn’t know it at the time but his fish surfboard design helped the boom of the “Shortboard Revolution”.
In the 70s the fish board was used by some professional surfers in competitions but it never had a significant presence. Still, it remained to be the favorite of those who seek to do fancy stuff and test new moves for their surf routines.

Why fish surfboards are our favorites

Before going into details, our readers need to understand some basic surfing concepts.
Beach breaks: Where surfable waves form close to the beach. Most of the time these waves reach the shore.
Point Breaks: Where the waves form away from the beach.
Reef breaks: The presence of reefs allows wave forming. Reefs can be rocky, sandy, or coral.
 
These boards are quite good at adapting to shallow beach breaks. This gives them a lot of versatility since you do not need to wait for the “proper” conditions. If there are no reefs or point breaks, you can still surf well near the shore using the beach breaks.
Also, because of the extra thickness and width, it is easier to paddle to the waves. This is important when the time for surfing is limited and you need to catch as many waves as possible.
Then we have the speed. The best waves are in the point or reef breaks and the fish surfboards can be speedy in these.
Commodity comes into play too, walking to the beach you want to surf at could be not so close. You can carry the board easily with you.
Last but not least you cannot deny the design is unique. With the twin fins, the fishtail, and the slightly pronounced rocker, one can easily distinguish the “fish” from all the other surfboard types. It is a matter of style.

Are these surfboards good for newcomers?

It is really hard to tell others what kind of surfboard they should be using or not. It is up to the person to use whatever they feel comfortable with. But if we would have to give a recommendation the answer will be no. Fish surfboards can reach high speeds, thus becoming hard to control for newcomers.
If you do not see them often(or at all) in professional competitions, that does not mean they are for rookies.
The learning curve can be tougher if someone decides to go with fish surfboards first but we won`t blame you if you want to try. They are just beautiful surfboards with unique designs and properties.
If you are planning to become an avid surfer, you’ll need a fish surfboard in your inventory. You cannot let this pass, it can help you to improve your surf skills.

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For advanced surf lessons, we have some of these ready for renting. If you want a surf course just to master the fish surfboard we can help you with that too. We know the perfect beaches at Nicoya for these beauties. Surf camps won’t take you to those beaches because they are for more experienced surfers. Contact us if you want a lesson with us or more info about our beginner or advanced course, using the Whatsapp Button on the side or the Contact Section.