Surfers of STW!

Looks a bit advanced for a beginner. I'd go for a minimal or a mal, maybe 23'' wide, depending on your height and weight. Go and hire the biggest board you can get at Saunton and see how you get on before committing money. Having the wrong board is very demoralising. You plenty of board for British mush.

If you really want to buy a cheap board then the Indio Endurance Plus looks like a better board for mush with its larger volume. But I'd echo the comment above. Get yourself a hire board and give it a go before splashing cash.

As above - try loads of stuff before you buy. Unless you've ridden something similar successfully you risk a lot of anguish

Thanks for the advice folks but I'm getting a fish my own height. I take it no-one has direct experience with the brand.

It will be fine for what it is, if you are a beginner then it’s doubtful you will notice much difference between this and any of the other generic Chinese made retro fishes.

A good surfer will surf it well, it won’t be the easiest board for a beginner to progress on.

Come to Saunton and rent a big board by all means. Don’t paddle out by the rocks and get in the way.

Surf Saunton and walking on waves do great intermediate / improver lessons. Being a good skater helps but surfing has a steep learning curve. More foam = more waves caught = faster progression. Don’t make your life needlessly difficult.

Good luck with a surf board your own height at Saunton! Even on the best of days the waves are not very powerful, I would think a Mini Mal is the smallest you should consider. Otherwise get ready for many hours of frustration.

How much do you weigh? Sub 40l isn't a huge amount of volume, I'd agree with everyone else that the board is too small for a beginner

I rarely surf but do holiday in Saunton/Braunton/North Devon at least twice a year... Use a 7'6 board and it suits me fine (I'm not 7'6 tall!)

Thanks folks but based in South Wales not Devon. Hoping for a quick progression as Gower beaches are only 20 mins away. I'm 62kg today : )

I have walked this path... the skating will help when you're up but so much of surfing is about paddling. Having a bigger board is hugely beneficial in this regard. The Torq epoxy minimals are cheap and tough and will catch anything. More waves caught = more fun and faster progress!

30+ years surfer here. I know this has been said above, and don't want to appear negative, but this is totally the wrong type of board for a beginner. It's your money and your choice but be prepared for a lot of frustration.

If you do buy it, think about getting a second hand MiniMal or foamy to learn on, and then have your 'Nice' board as something to switch up to later.

Hoping for a quick progression

You'll get faster progression on a bigger board as you'll get into more waves. Grab a rent of something small like you're thinking of ordering and see how you get on.

Fwiw I've been surfing for 20 years and my current preferred board is 6'10. A shorter board only has advantages when you're really pushing turns, and by the time you're that good you'll want several boards anyway

totally the wrong type of board for a beginner

As said above, I'm VERY much a beginner still due to my infrequent trips to surf but I have a shorter board that my son uses. I've tried to use it a few times and I find it pretty much impossible to use. For a beginner, I'd DEFINITELY take the advice of people who've been there and done it regardless of whether you've skated for eons or not.

I dislike these corky little boards. Paddle like a pig, hard to duck dive at your weight and don’t surf particularly well.

Cheap at that price though so if that’s what you’re set on, get it and crack on.

I learnt to surf on a totally unsuitable board as that’s what my mate had spare. Now my shortest board is 6’8” but only 37l volume.

Hoping for a quick progression as Gower beaches are only 20 mins away. I’m 62kg today : )

...so give you live not too far from reasonably reliable surf, are light and presumably fit enough to have a quick popup etc you'll probably get away with it. Your wave count will be lower than with a bigger board and learning will take a bit longer, but that's fine by me 🙂

All I would say is that a twinnie is a bit of a funky kind of board. Lots of folks have one for when they feel like it, but not as their main go-to, and I've seen it being a bit of a cul-de-sac for one lad who's now a v solid surfer on thrusters. Not that I'm an expert, the opposite frankly, they've just felt a bit skittery and odd when I've had a go.

johnx2 gets it! If the board doesn't work out the kids can play with it. I just need something to get me back in the water.

I have used Indio boards and they are very good for a mass produced board. A surf instructor friend used to run a surf school in France that used Indo boards, they are tough and surf well. All that said volume is your friend, 8ft is the minium length of board to start to learn on and I would always recomend something larger to make quick progression on. I am heavier than you but I surf a very big 9'6" longboard. Have tried lots of smaller boards and always come back to my old big long board. Unless you are monumentally surf fit (its very hard to be surf fit without surfing several times a week) the thing that limits your progression is being able to catch lots of waves in a session. Big boards with lots of volume make it much easier to paddle out and catch waves. I have been surfing for 20 years and would only class myself as an intermiediate surfer. There is no way I could surf anything as small as the DAB Fish. I have messed around on the Indio banana and that was the smallest board I have successfully surfed but it is over a foot longer and has 50% more volume than you are thinking of buying.

The other thing to consider is that buying second hand is much better for the planet and you will feel much less pain when you ding it, which you will. Also if it does turn out to be too small a board you can sell it for what you bought it for without making a loss. There is a really good market for second hand board in south wales and they are cheaper than southwest england.

Just buy the board. Not sure why you started this thread really as you are intent on ignoring good advice.

Do one Mister-Pee. I wanted advice on the quality of the boards for the money, not whether it is the right board for me. bigsurfer came through.

Be sure to come back and tell us how easy you found it….

I see the board is now out of stock so I'll be hanging around Welsh beaches looking for a man floundering in the whitewash this summer. Should be fairly easy to spot with that paintjob.

Finding it difficult to find any objective advice on these hardy little Chinese boards. Are they worth the money? Hoping it’ll enable this near beginner to take the leap from 20+ years of skating to riding UK mush.

^ That is not asking for information on the quality of the board (which you have already decided is "hardy" ..... and quite possibly is)

bigsurfer came through.

Errr.... he said they're good quality for a mass produced board and then went on to say that, in his view, you should be looking at bigger boards if you want to progress.

But you'll look cool walking down to the water bro!

given the OP's profile doesn't seem to exist anymore I'm not sure they will care much..

Probably caught his first tube this morning.

Nah, you'll never look cool unless you've got a stringer.

he went to play with the big american kids....

https://forum.surfer.com/index.php?threads/indio-endurance-dab-twin-fish.240313/

Brilliant!   Seems to have progressed really quickly as he's no longer a noob!

'Pulled it.' I thought as much.

pull the trigger

I cannot take anyone who uses this phrase seriously.

If there was a link in the OP I'd have thought it was just bit of stealth advertising. Unless by not putting a link but easy to google it's stealthy stealth advertising. If now sold out it apparently works!

I cannot take anyone who uses this phrase seriously.

This!

I wish I still lived by the coast. I surfed briefly after leaving Uni in '95 before a job moved me away and I took up MTBing, I've still got the Ocean Magic Mini Mal I bought at the time. Lovely board but if I was buying something now to give me the best chance of learning it would probably be an 8ft soft top.

good quality of comments on the surfer.com forum:

You can always resale it if you don't like it and score a ibolic fireturd :shrug:

so that's my next board sorted

What you need is my Bilbo. Unsure of age but in the 80s I wrote a letter to the factory who reckoned it was 1960's.10' lomg and 30lb.Balso stringer. Currently used as a roof shlef alog with its 9'6"" mate in my garage.

Rhossili wave forecast is looking quite nice tomorrow. Wish I wasn't stuck in the Midlands.