Handmade Skimboards from New Zealand

It depends on your beach and budget. Tidal pools or rails: a Slipeezy. Flat shoreline: a Gromlin (best value) or an e-glass wave board. Shorebreak: your chosen wave model in the right size. Sizing matters more than model while you learn — and carbon is worth the extra spend.

No formal warranty — if a board has a genuine defect (about once a year), we simply replace it. Damage from hitting rocks isn’t a defect.

A $40 store special doesn’t really work. These are handmade here in the Bay of Islands from the best materials, and in this part of the world they’re hundreds of dollars cheaper than similar boards made overseas.

Boards go out in cardboard packaging with several couriers. They’re well protected — and if anything happens in transit, you’re covered 100% and we handle the claim.

For true flatland skimming, look out for smaller creeks running onto the beach, or tidal pools, fairly free of shells and rocks. Shells and rocks can be hard on boards, and particularly hard on human flesh. For waves, a lot of beaches need slope, which isn’t always there, so checking at all tides (usually around high tide) helps. Once you have your eye for detail, it all comes easily.