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Surfboards are long, buoyant decks used in the sport of surfing. They are relatively light, but strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding a breaking wave. Like the sport itself, they were invented in Hawaii, where they were known as Papa he‘e nalu in the Hawaiian language, and usually made of wood from local trees, such as koa, and were often over 15 feet in length and extremely heavy. The major advances over the years were the addition of one or more fins on the bottom rear of the board to improve directional stability and a change of materials and shapes.

Modern surfboards are made of polyurethane or polystyrene foam covered with layers of fiberglass cloth and polyester or epoxy resin.The end result is a light and strong surfboard that is buoyant and maneuverable. Since 1995 a new breed of shapers including Paul Jensen, Tom Wegener, Roy Stewart (surfer) (Power Surfboards), and Peter McMahon (Empress Surfboards) have re-invented hollow wooden surfboards. A few specialty surfboards are made out of hollow carbon fiber or aluminum for added lightness. Most modern surfboards can be divided into two main categories: longboards and shortboards. Longboards as the name suggests are longer (often eight or more feet), and are also thicker and wider with a more rounded nose than a shortboard. Shortboards are shorter (5-7ft), thinner, and have a more pointed nose. They are not as wide as longboards and are typically more maneuverable. Other variants include guns, longboard guns, olos, fun-boards, fish, eggs, bonzers, quads, tow-boards, and hydrofoils. In order to discuss board design, it is helpful to have basic knowledge of the vocabulary used to reference each part of the board.

Parts Nose — The front tip of the board. This can be pointed or rounded.
Tail — The back end of the board. The shape of the tail affects how a board responds. Tail shapes vary from square, squash, swallow, diamond, and so on—each one in turn having its own family of smaller variants
Deck — The surface of the board that the surfer stands on. Surfwax is applied to this surface.
Bottom — The surface of the board that rests on the water.
Rail — The edges of the board. A rounded rail is called "soft", while a more squared off rail is called "hard".
Fins — Fins create stick and drive on the wave face. Also known as "skegs." They keep the board from sliding sideways on the wave uncontrollably. There are countless fin designs. One of the most common fin arrangements is named the thruster, whose invention is commonly credited to Simon Anderson of Australia. It consists of three fins, one at the tail of the board and two slightly further towards the nose. However, as Surfer magazine documents, "Over a decade before Simon Anderson introduced his revolutionary Thruster in 1980, Duncan and Malcolm Campbell had already produced a functional triangulated-fin system." That system, a shortboard called the Bonzer Board, is documented to have been frequently used and erroneously claimed credit for by others. The bonzer's two ventral fins are angled inward slightly, and convey exceptional speed and agility. The Campbell brothers subsequently improved upon that design by turning out a faster, five fin setup. Circa 2005, boards with 4 fins (quads) were being experimented with again, after a brief appearance of quads in the eighties, - these have a pair of closely mounted fins on each side - and in 2007 acceptance was gaining.