Hey guys - looking for a little advice. 46 yrs old, 285lbs avid surfer and athletic guy for my size - looking to get into SUP surfing on knee to chest high waves here in NJ. I have been flat water paddling for about 2 years on a big ole 12 ft Surftech (12x34x5) and want to take up SUP surfing. Have recently demo'd the 9'10 Finatic allwave and feel like its a little wobbly and lethargic paddling for waves and a heck of a workout just standing waiting for waves. Of the waves I did catch the board seems to "surf" great. Thinking the JP 10'2 x 35 wide body would give me the stability and float while still offering a "fun" maneuverable experience on small to medium sized surf. Any thoughts? have any of you guys tried this board? I really appreciate any advice or help here. Aloha.....and thanks!

Well like everyone else I've found myself at the home of SUP.

Ok so a long story to lead me to my question.

Over the easter and ANZAC period I was in Noosa visiting my parents for 10 days, and my fianc? and I had been planning on trying SUP. We had a blast in the first lesson on the Noosa backwater canals. Our instructor was impressed with our quick pickup and technique, and recommended an open water lesson to really challenge us.

We tried open water 2 days later. And what a difference that was. All over the place, really unstable, and even on 10'6 fly fanatics I was really struggling for the first 10mins. Anyways we got our sea legs and then paddled to get our lunge strokes and pivot turns happening. Which it didn't really, fell off a lot, but had fun. Then we tried surfing which I did fairly badly and my Mrs did better than me, and actually caught a wave.

We hired some 11' boards down at Maroochydore a few days after that, and I demo tested a naish glide GX, (very nice)

After that we thought we might want to buy some boards. but the only problem is, we live in Melbourne, and my parents live in Noosa.

So here's my options;

1. Buy boards and keep them in Noosa and only use them 2-3 times a year. (not so good as we hardly get to use them)

2. Buy boards and keep them in Melbourne and rent some up in Noosa 2-3 times a year. (better as we have access to our boards more times of the year, but Melbourne is colder, and we wouldn't paddle a huge amount in winter, as we ski a lot)

3. Buy boards for both Noosa and Melbourne (ideal but expensive)

SUP users

Me, 6'4 90kgs
Mrs, 6' 75kgs

SUP usage

Noosa; I reckon we'd be open water paddling on noosa beach and some small beach/point breaks and the occasional back water paddle on the rivers/canals.

Melbourne; I reckon we'd be doing more flat/open water paddling and hardly any waves. (we live In Footscray, close to Williamstown, etc)

We'd love to be able to afford new but it's a fairly $$$ investment. We're thinking second hand/used to begin with, and I prefer flat/open water paddling, I'm leaning towards a DC coconut 12'6 as I like flat/open water and some occasional crumblers, and the mrs is pretty keen on a fanatic fly 10' to use on waves/open water and the occasional flat water paddle.

So what's everyones thoughts? TIA. bigbunny.