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What are the Best Surfskates for Beginners?
Just starting out in surfskating and looking for the best surfskate for beginners? Use this guide to choose your beginner surfskate.
Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no cost to you.
Surfskating originated with surfers wanting to practice surfing on land. But it quickly exploded into a board sport all its own as skateboarders and longboarders discovered the thrill of surfing on land.
Today there are more than fifty surfskate brands around the world, each with their own style and many different deck sizes and shapes to choose from.
If you’re a surfskate beginner, it’s hard to know which surfskate is right for you.
Thankfully, I’ve done all the research for you. To date, I’ve tested more than 60 surfskates from 28 companies in 11 countries around the world, which includes 30 different surfskate trucks. So I can tell you from experience which are the best surfskates for beginners.
To save time, money, and hassle in choosing your best beginner surfskate, get my free Surfskate Selector app now.
Your Beginner Surfskate Depends on Your Experience and Skill Level with Board Sports
If you come from a surfing, skateboarding, longboarding, or snowboarding background, you already have the balance down. From here, it’s just learning the specific body movements of surfskating.
But if you’ve never done any of these, you’re starting from ground zero. You first need to learn how to balance on the board before you actually start surfskating.
In either case, you’ll want a more stable surfskate for beginners than many of the surfskates used for surf training specifically.
So as a surfskate beginner, I recommend you eliminate any of these surfskate trucks and brands: SwellTech, YOW, Smoothstar, and SpiceSkate.
These surfskates are surf trainers for more advanced riders and are not the best surfskates for beginners. They have a more delicate balance and are harder to ride and control than more mainstream street surfing brands. The best beginner surfskates are more stable.
For Your Beginner Surfskate, Get a More Stable Surfskate Truck
For beginner surfskates, I recommend surfskate trucks that are more stable.
My top two recommendations for the best beginner surfskates are Carver CX and Slide.
Carver CX Surfskate Truck for Beginners
If you want the best beginner surfskate, look no further than Carver surfskates. Carver is the original surfskate brand and the most well-known and popular.
Anyone who’s ever ridden one knows why. They are the gold standard for everyday street surfers who want the most classic surfskate feel.
Carver has two different surfskate trucks: the original C7 surfskate truck and the CX surfskate truck.
The C7 uses a spring and is heavier and feels more loose, flowy, and fluid than the CX. It’s suitable for surf training and a softer, glidier cruise. The CX uses bushings instead of a spring and is lighter, tight, snappy, and more stable.
For beginners who just want to street surf, I recommend the Carver CX truck because of its stability. The CX is also easier to work with and maintain.
Read my article on which Carver surfskate to buy.
Or to make it quicker and simpler, get my free Surfskate Selector app and it will tell you exactly which Carver surfskate is best for you.
Slide Surfskate for Beginners
Founded in Spain, Slide Surfskates are among the most popular surfskate brands in Europe. Their U.S. distributor is Roller Derby.
They are touted as a competitor to Carver, with a feel approximating a Carver but at a cheaper cost. Think of them as the affordable street cruiser for beginners.
Slide surfskates are designed for all levels of skaters, and they’re very easy to ride. Their low truck height, tighter spring, and constrained turning angle of the front truck torsion system make them among the most stable and pushable surfksates. This is why they’re one of the best beginner surfskates.
Slide surfskates are excellent surfskates for beginners, short-distance commuters, and carving lovers. Their surfskate models come in a variety of shapes and range in length from 30″ to 35″.
My free Surfskate Selector app will tell you exactly which Slide models are best for you.
The Best Surfskates for Beginners on a Budget
If you’re on a budget and you’re looking for something cheaper than either a Carver or Slide for your beginner surfskate, then I recommend Carver Triton Series, TailorShape, or Mindless for your beginner surfskate.
Carver Triton Series Surfskates for Beginners
Price: $170 US
Carver Triton budget surfskate models are almost identical to regular Carver models. But since they are built in Asia and the decks use slightly lower-quality material, they cost only $170, compared to other Carver models that cost between $250 and $265.
Since they use the same Carver CX surfskate truck used in all Carver models, the only real difference is in deck construction. For me, this makes Carver Tritons a steal of a deal, and the best budget surfskate option.
Watch Shane Lai’s Carver Triton review on YouTube here.
TailorShape Surfskates for Beginners
Price: $179.99-$199.99
TailorShape is a company out of Israel that makes skateboards and surfboards. Their surfskate truck is a Carver CX clone that feels and performs similar to the CX, though not quite as well.
TailorShape currently offers four surfskate models ranging from $179.99 to $199.99 US.
Mindless Surfskate for Beginners
Price: $164.95
Mindless is a longboard brand out of the UK. Like TailorShape and many other companies, they created their own Carver CX clone.
They currently offer two models, the 29.5″ fish tail and the 30″ standard deck. The one drawback is that only riders with a fairly narrow stance width will feet these short decks.
Is the Waterborne Surf Adapter a Good Surfskate for Beginners?
The Waterborne surf adapter was designed to be retrofitted to any skateboard or longboard deck to turn it into a surfskate. Instead of buying a complete surfskate, you can just buy the Waterborne surf adapter for as cheap as $59 and you can have a surfskate.
But will a Waterborne surf adapter work well as a surfskate for beginners?
My take is that I don’t think the Waterborne surf adapter is the best beginner surfskate. I say this for two reasons: First of all, the Waterborne performs similar to the YOW Meraki in that it has a very wide range of motion and very deep lean. This means that it’s not the easiest to ride surfskate for beginners.
But an even bigger issue for me is the fact that it’s very difficult to put your own surfskate together that works well. There are so many factors that influence the ride, and the chances are that you won’t get it right.
I think you’re much better off buying a complete surfskate model for your beginner surfskate.
Get your beginner surfskate now and get surfskating!
If you’re ready to start surfskating, then the Carver CX and Slide surfskate trucks are the best beginner surfskates.
Choose the one that resonates with you most and get your surfskate on!
For more help choosing your beginner surfskate, get my free Surfskate Selector app now. In just 8 questions, I’ll tell you exactly the right beginner surfskate for you and your riding style.
