The surfboards you should try on your next wave pool visit
Based on our experiences with high-performance thrusters, twins, fish, mid-lengths, and longboards, along with insights from pro surfers and shapers, we’ve compiled this list to help you choose the best board for wave pools. Below you’ll find 5 board options for your next surf park session as well as notes on how the craft work at which wave basins. We even throw in a few wave setting pairings.
In the early sun-faded days of surf travel, stoner-era travelers had to pack in their water craft. Granted, a 7’2” pintail with trippy airbrush is what you surfed day-in-day-out, so whether you found 2-foot point waves after jumping a Taiwanese cargo ship or an 8-foot Pipe-esque A-Frame, you simply used just one board.
Today we have traded that seventies steez for ease as a host of platforms offer us terabytes of information. The average surfer has (depending on the internet source) three to five shred sticks. We have padded bags to port quivers around the world. In fact there are so many of us that we get special dedicated oversized baggage areas at the airport. To further fray our once true grit fabric, we can even hire a board at our surf destination. It’s all way too easy.
Despite all this easy there is still the question of which board to ride at which wave pool for which setting. We’ve had the privelage to surf many of the world’s wave pools and test a variety of boards. How? Well it not being the year 1978 has a lot to do with it. But mostly it has to do with the availablity of surfboards via rental fleets at the worlds’ surf basins. In this article we share where your high-performance shortboard, twin fin, mid-length, longboard, fish, bodyboard and foamie work best. This is a guide to seven types of surfcraft for the wave pool.
Note: WavePoolMag editors have sessioned at the following wave pools: Surf Lakes, Wave Park South Korea, Surf Stadium Japan, URBNSURF Melbourne and Sydney, Waco Surf, SkudinSurf American Dream, The Wave Bristol, Palm Springs Surf Club, Rotterdam, Wavegarden HQ, Alaia Bay Switzerland, O2 SURFTOWN MUC and Lost Shore Surf Resort. At each pool we’ve ridden a different board, mostly due to our mantra of “travel light and ride whatever you find.”
Celebrate your inner WSL CTer on a High-Performance Shortboard
Best Wave Technologies for an HPS: Kelly Slater Surf Ranch, Waco Surf, Munich and a few more.
Best Settings: Advanced Plus to Expert helps most surfers get up to speed on minimal amonts of foam.
The HPS, the staple surf craft of the ’90s, ’00s and ’10s, excels in waves with a lot of curve and push. Their extra rocker fits well into the relatively tighter transitions found at many surf parks. Because more rocker equates with a slower board generally, a wave with more push, such as URBNSURF’s Beast mode or O2 SURFTOWN’s expert setting means reduced hopping and pumping for speed during your session.
If your HPS is a little short, that can be a good thing.
“My boards are so small I can’t even paddle them out in the ocean anymore,” OG pool surfer Jo Dennison told us. “Wherever you surf you have to try and find a board that fits the wave shape. You don’t really need to paddle in the wave pool so you can get away with smaller boards than you normally would in the ocean. The pocket of the wave is small but punchy, so you want something that fits in nicely, otherwise, you just have too much rail.”
The other line of thought is that if the surf in the wave pool is good enough, there’s no need to adjust equipment. Christiaan Bradley points out that if your go-to favorite shortboard works while salted, chances are it will still work when unsalted.
“If the wave has enough power to drive the surfer, you can use your standard shortboard,” Christiaan told us. “Waco Surf has a lot of punch, so a standard shortboard would work. Same with Kelly’s wave so your standard shortboard is going to work.”
Versitile twin fins can be the new HPS or the new Groveller, depending on volume.
Best Wave Technologies for a twin fin: Any wave technology that produces a moderately punchy wave.
Best Settings: Any setting from intermediate to expert
The high performance twin fin is the money maker for a whole new crew of paid non-contest surfers (think Asher Pacey). While Asher has slid through multiple wave settings at URBNSURF in his native Australia, American surfboard geek Noel Salas has set up shop near Waco Surf in Texas. So far he has tried and tested dozens of boards at the Texas surf park and really likes the high performance twin segment of board design.
“I really like this new category, a twin fin that has a high-performance outline where you can get the board in the lip really quick and it’s carrying twin-fin speed,” said Salas. “Being a thruster guy, I’m still really excited about this new category.”
The sometimes limited length of surf park waves means that the immediate speed of a twinnie, when compared to the initial couple pumps necessary to make a thruster start moving, help make it a great wave pool board. That, combined with the quick, subtle adjustment capabilities inherent in two fin designs, means that twinnies are a great choice for unsalted surf sessions.
The big win for these high performance twins is their ability to respond quickly to subtle adjustments thanks to updated foils and template lines. Welcome to a new era of craft that fit in the tight, quick sections typically found in waves at a surf park.
Step down boards like a Fish mean you can skip leg day at the gym.
Best Wave Technologies: Any wave technology on almost any setting except where the wave is top-to-bottom.
Best Settings: Beginner-to-intermediate-to-advanced.
A fish (or a mini-simmons if you’re hip and roast your own coffee or brew your own beer) helps a surfer glide over flat spots and softer sections of a wave. While this shape favors smaller, more open-faced waves with big shoulders (a trait not typically found in wave pools) the short rail line and the fish’s ability to pivot means it’s an incredibly versatile craft.
Mikey February recently visited o2 SURFTOWN MUC, pulling out his go-to fish design and making it fit into the pneumatic technology. Depending on wave pool maker, the shape of the wave can change. Fish love open, sloppy walls which can be a challenge to create in a wave pool.
During his visit, engineers programmed the wave to have a more open shoulder, perfect for washing off speed with a big roundhouse. While the average punter doesn’t have access to the engineer at the controls, the session bodes well for fish aficionados looking for more carving space.
While we’ve yet to see a “fish” setting come up in any of the world’s surf parks, current longboard settings and the more gentle offerings, like URBNSURF’s Cruiser sessions, are a great call for fish designs.
Poster child of cool Rob Machado likes to surf, among other craft, a deep swallowed fish. In this case, his new Too Fish design, which is available in many wave pool rental fleets.
“My favorite in small and weak waves because of how thick and floaty it is in the forward two thirds of the board, but this shape is also thinned out aggressively in the tail to enable hold in powerful waves,” said Rob. “I’ve ridden the Too Fish in everything from overhead waves on the North Shore to perfect days on the reef at home, and also the weakest most disorganized junk surf at the beach break in front of my house. This is my favorite board for all conditions.”
And by extension, Rob means all wave pool settings as well.
A Longboard is often the perfect board for beginner and intermediate wave pool settings
Best Wave Technologies for a longboard in a wave pool: Waves that provide a long ride like Kelly’s or Wave Park in South Korea
Best Settings: Wavegarden’s Malibu and Waikiki settings, Endless Surf’s Progressive setting. URBNSURF’s Cruiser setting
Most longboard interactions with wave pools are with foamies. Why? because every wave park in the world is stocked to the brim with soft surfboards. It’s way too easy to grab one and just go. But spend a little time and search out a proper longboard and book the right setting and the fun is just beginning.
Longboards are ideal for the slower, cruisier settings at wave pools and each technology has softer offerings for their beginning and intermediate clientele. Wavegarden’s Malibu setting and Endless Surf’s easier waves as used in Munich.
A longboard is typically at least 9 feet long, while “mini-mals” range from just under 9 feet to 7’6″. The larger surface area of longboards allows for faster paddling, early wave entry, and the ability to walk up and down the board, including noseriding.
Within longboards, there are various shapes, so the wave setting-wave pool match has a lot of wiggle room. Performance longboards have less volume and a narrower tail for easier turning, while noseriders feature more volume towards the nose for better balance when walking the board.
And despite media attention drawn each day to the biggest air possible, many surf parks are longboard friendly. Surf Lakes, which made headlines with it’s slab waves, can run in soft mode as well.
“It’s a really good wave, easy to surf on a longboard,” Luca Doble says of the Surf Lakes test facility in Yeppoon. “I wasn’t expecting that and then the first wave was just perfect for a longboard.”
Best Wave Technologies: Kelly’s for sure, but don’t rule out Endless Surf, PerfectSwell, Wavegarden, Allwaves, and many others
Best Settings: For now, Cruiser and intermediate settings at the most accessible public pools
It’s no secret that midlengths favor perfect waves and wave pools offer this A-Plus environment. Since midlengths have a longer template consider a wave pool location and setting that can fit all that extra length into an hour-long session. Since wave pools have typically smaller, tighter waves, look for either gentle, intermediate settings (longboard settings will be too slow) or longer rides. Yes, the length of ride depends on the surf park design, but next to that the right wave setting can make or break your session on a mid-length.
An added bonus for mid-lengths is their volume, which adds to padability meaning you wont fatigue like you would on a high-performance shortboard, twin or fish.
“I’ve ridden mid-lengths with great success at Kelly’s in Lemoore, and I’ve also been twice to the one in Japan similar to Waco Surf,” said Devon Howard. Because of the size of Kelly’s wave face, and the ruler edge nature of the wave, it’s pretty on point for Mids. The only liability is if you have super low rocker you need to not get caught off guard when those barrel sections come at you.”
Devon described how even if you’re not in Lemoore or Abu Dhabi, you don’t have to rule out the mid-length concept.
“In Japan I also rode the 6’11 Mid Twin and while I really liked the wave the wave was shorter and tighter in some spaces and the rail was a bit of a liability in some instances. I think in that style of pool where wave face is not as tall, and ride is shorter shorten the rail 2 to 4” so it fits in the pocket easier and you can get tighter arcs.”
Bodyboards
Best Wave Technologies: Any wave technology on almost any setting except where the wave won’t have enough push to get you moving.
Best Settings: Intermediate-to-advanced, but expert is where a sponge comes alive.
Bodyboard clubs in Melbourne and Bristol love their local wave pool. The tube settings at both surf parks push out a square compact barrel that is perfect for prone surfers. While stand up brethren can have trouble fitting into dimunitive pits, kneelos and spongers reign supreme.
Ben Player broke the internet with some of the best barrel pov footage filmed in a wave pool. Likewise fellow Aussie Jacques La Roux has done the same. In the Old Country the Bristol Bodyboard Club revolves around the heavier, tube settings at The Wave.
Bodyboards work in wave pools because the facilities consistently provide waves with enough push to get a low-volume, short template design moving. And pneumatic waves have the ability to create wedge waves that we typically associate with Boogie Boarder flips, rollos and airs.
Foamies
Best Wave Technologies: Any wave technology on almost any setting, so basically – Everywhere!
Best Settings: Beginner-to-intermediate.
Most pools have foamy boards available for free with your paid session. These are great, fun cruisy beasts that make the beginner and intermediate sessions a blast. We’ve found them useful on several occations. Here’s why: Many parks offer discounts for on-site additional surf session purchases. While the Advanced and Expert aren’t always available, it’s hard to pass up an intermediate or cruiser session that’s the same price as an artisan sandwich and drink in the cafe.
Skimboards
Best Wave Technologies: With a winch, any wave pool is skim-able. Or simply join Blair Conklin in Munich.
Best Settings: Advanced-to-expert with plenty of push.
To date there are only a few pools suitable for run ins. We’ve watched Blair Conklin and Austin Keen run in at Kelly’s in Lemoore. But let’s face it, they are way up there on the talent level. Blair recently made inroads at the new Endless Surf pool in Munich (see above). For a skimboard to work in a wave pool you will need to winch in, or to have an A-Level run in game. The board itself once up and riding on the wave, needs a lot of push (think of the most anemic high-performance thruster).
Final Note: Surfing is such a personal endeavor. There are no hard and fast rules, merely design generalizations. If you’re happy place is taking a foamie to Surf Lakes’ Island Slab, then more power to you. We’ve compiled the above information from conversations and our visits to 14 A-List wave pools around the world. Hopefully, this article will help narrow-down your board options going into your next inland surf trip.
Related Coverage
