The Best Surfboards for Summer (2024)

Summer is coming, and we all know what that means. Beautiful weather, days at the beach, and…kind of average waves. Depending on where you live, those beautiful, warm, windless mornings with 3 to 4-foot waves might still pop up from time to time, but most people around the country will need to be willing to battle it out in less than ideal conditions if they want to get wet with any sort of consistency. Which means, of course, that a board which can excel in smaller waves is a necessity. With that in mind, these are six of the best surfboards for the summer of 2023-24.

Firewire Seaside

Firewire is renowned for their versatile range of boards, and the Seaside is a prime example of that. This is the evolution of Firewire’s Go Fish, but with a narrower nose and less area in the tail it’s got a bit more scope for high performance. Still, the Seaside is a big, fat quad, so while it gives you the ability to rip, it’s still a board that will enable you to catch plenty of waves in weaker conditions. The 6’0” version of this board, as an example, gives you a hefty 44.8 litres of board to work with, so you’ll be paddling on top of the water and gliding into summer waves with ease. Designer Rob Machado named the board after his local break, and reckons that at smaller point breaks and beachies, this kind of board is ideal. If you’re looking for a summer stick that will enable you to spend more time in the water doing more than just paddling around aimlessly, you can’t go wrong with the Seaside. 

Firewire Greedy Beaver

The Greedy Beaver has been a popular Firewire design for a while now, with its unique longboard shape in a mid length board giving it a great combination of the glide of a bigger board, while maintaining the manoeuvrability of a shorter one. The distinctive design has a tight tail and a whole lot of volume through the mid-section and nose, giving you plenty of paddle power and the ability to catch bulk waves in a variety of different conditions. A six-footer of this design is a fair bit lighter than the Seaside, coming in at 37.5 litres, but as mentioned, with a lot of that volume up the front of the board you won’t have any problems in weaker waves with the Greedy Beaver. What’s more, this can also be a fun option in waves up to six-foot, too, so while it will give you plenty of extra waves in the summer, it can still hold its own once conditions get a little heavier.

Channel Islands Ci Mid

The Ci Mid is the brainchild of Devon Howard, a surfer from Southern California who has plenty of experience surfing exactly these kinds of boards. The Ci Mid is an egg-shaped mid-length which makes it easy to cut clean lines in a variety of conditions. These kinds of boards always fly down the line, so if you’re looking for something that will enable you to generate speed with ease in less powerful summer waves, this stick will do exactly that. Equally, in overhead conditions the Ci Mid remains a viable option, with raking, retro style turns the modus operandi on this board. It’s got a 2 + 1 fin set up, meaning you can easily tinker with your fins to suit the conditions. What’s more, the Ci Mid is an aesthetically beautiful board, available in a light green, blue or orange in a nod to its retro nature which really helps it to stand out from the crowd.

JS Industries Big Baron

JS Industries are far more well renowned for their quality range of shortboards than they are their lengthier alternatives, but in the Big Baron they’ve created a great alternative for the warmer months. This board is available in a range of lengths, starting from 5’10” and going all the way through to 7’6”, but for most is probably best suited as a mid-length somewhere in the middle of that range. The Big Baron has a flat rocker which makes it easier to both generate and maintain speed in softer conditions, while its low rails will enable you to turn with relative ease. The shape of this board means that it’s not suitable for punchier, shorter waves, but in waves with a little less power and stretched out walls which give you plenty of time to set up, it could hardly be more perfect. In the little waves that we invariably surf in the summertime, the Big Baron is a great option, while when things get a bit bigger it can still be a whole lot of fun on longer, walled out waves.

Ocean and Earth Ezi Rider 6’6” 

Now to the softboards, a style of board which has grown increasingly popular over the course of the last few years. Ocean and Earth have a range of different Ezi Riders ranging from 5’6” shortboards through to 9’0” mals, and the 6’6” edition provides a versatile option which is ideal for the summer. Coming in at 52 litres, there is plenty of volume here to get you into waves which don’t have a whole lot of oomph. They can also be used for beginners, but if you’re already an accomplished surfer, don’t let that put you off – you can still rip on this one. Also worth noting is that, as with many softboards, the Ocean and Earth Ezi Rider comes in super cheap at just a little over $500. While you probably won’t want to take this out in overhead conditions, in the smaller, shorter period waves which are so common across large parts of the country in the summer month, this 6’6” softboard is a great option.

MF Beastie

Mick Fanning’s range of MF boards have been a key driver behind the softboard revolution in recent years, and the MF Beastie is one of the best softboard options for your summer quiver. Advertised as the ‘ultimate fun board’, this is a super stable board with the volume distributed evenly from top to tail; the wide nose means that it paddles super well and gets you into even the mushiest of waves, while the wide tail gives you great stability and the ability to easily generate speed. A single to double concave also helps with maintaining control during turns, making this a board which gives surfing smaller, more technical waves an added element of ease. And, as with the Ocean and Earth Ezi Rider, you won’t have to break the bank to add this board to your quiver.

The summer months are great for many things, but – as much as we all love to be in the water during warm weather – surfing isn’t one of them. Around most of the country, the consistency of quality waves is significantly less than it is in the summer, and even those swells that do arrive don’t typically pack the punch of their winter counterparts. That’s why it’s so important that you have at least one summer suitable board in your quiver, and the above are six of the best options for the summer of 2023-24.