im gonna be 16 in nov, and l wanna get into surfing asap, ive been boogieboarding for years now, and ive always wanted to surf

should l just get a popout board for my first?? does not being able to nose dip through the waves that big of a deal? thanks :p

im hoping john f:D

get a g&s, they have great quality pop out boards for a pretty good deal

and no, its fine. there are many other ways to deal with oncoming waves :)

Get a good used surfboard off of craigslist or from your local shop. Do not waste your money on junk pop-outs.

Yeah, getting pounded by wave after wave is no fun at all so not learning how to pass waves is not an option. You will get it in time tho.

good luck on your board search

Do not buy a pop-out. Buy a quality name brand board off craigslist or at your local surf shop. Make sure you get a longboard to start out with while you are learning.

The Surfboard Man
http://thesurfboardman.com/

Unless u do not have another choice l would avoid a popout. If John posts he will give u the link to the anti-popout article. Try looking for a used board via craigslist or through one of ur local shops that takes trade ins. Just be smart about what u buy, bodyboarding & surfing r very different & u may be really disappointed with how slowly ur progress if u do not get a board that works well for you. Fortunately u already should have good wave knowledge so u wo not have to overcome that hurdle.

As far as duck diving , yeah it will take a while to figure that out, & if u go with a longer board u may never be able to fully duck dive it, there have been several posts in the past about duck diving alternatives so read through those.

yeah John F always has great . anyway, dont get a pop out. it is not a good idea. for the ''nose dip through the waves'' part, its called duck diving & its almost impossible to do on any other board except fish, shortboards, & semi guns. the best way to get past the breaking waves on a longer board is to turtle roll. grab the rails tight when u see a wave about to come, then pull ur body into the water so the fins r sticking up & it looks like u r paddling up side down. then flip back over & continue paddling. it makes it a lot easier to get out to the line up.

for ur first board, l suggest getting a used board that u buy from a surf shop & is made by a shaper. since it is ur first board, dont worry about it getting beat up & stuff. it happens. but yeah just dont buy a pop out & get a good quality surfboard. hope this helps. have fun surfing!

Do not buy a pop-out. Check out yesterday is questions. Look at the problem f311x87 is having with his Canyon (a Chinese made popout). While l can understand that sometimes u just can not get the money together to buy a good 'new' board, there r always lots of decent used boards for sale.

My first board was a piece of junk, but l did not know any better. My next couple boards were nice boards, that l bought used. And l subsequently sold them to somebody, who got a nice, used, third hand board in the deal. l have owned dozens of boards & l really think that u will do much better with either a good quality new board, or if u can not afford it, a nice used one.

l really like boards from local shapers. They know the local wave conditions better than the big name manufacturers. But the big guys make some nice sticks also,

At 16, u should really learn on a decent board. For little kids, l think that soft-tops r the way to go. And get a lesson or two. You will be surprised what u learn, that would have taken u weeks or more to figure out on ur own, like my pals & l did in the 60s.

As much as l dislike popouts, l will say one last thing. If u end up buying a popout inspite of what lots of us have told you. At least buy a Bic, u can drive a pick-up over it & they exceptionally bouyant. (and like u mentioned, they r a bear to duck dive, but lessons will explain more about that).
http://surfing-waves.com/beginner_surfboard.htm
http://mckevlins.com/nopopstory.htm

Good luck! And thanks for the confidence u seem to have in my opinion. Lots of the other u got to the question r great, too.

you want to get an almeric flyer it is a good board and l light and sturdy and it is good also it has a god up curve in it and it tears up ocean side