The newest addition to my personal quiver has been the South Bay Huevo (Links: South Bay, Amazon). It’s a 4’10” egg with a ton of volume for its size (37 L!).

I originally rode a friend’s, and I realized that the board would fit a nice quiver spot for me. Nikki’s at River Run Park tends to punish hard boards at low flow, and I liked the idea of a short, high-volume board for other shallow waves that I don’t get to surf a lot, like Eagle. I had been surfing my modified Loco Poco at Eagle. It’s a fun board, but due to its width, not super high-performance. It seemed like the Huevo would fit that slot nicely – durable and high-volume, but snappier than the Loco Poco.

So far, the South Bay Huevo has fit the bill nicely. It’s short enough to surf on steep waves without pearling. The quad setup provides plenty of bite, though I still need to play around with fin configurations a little more. Given the wide tail, I think it may surf better as a twin. As a quad, it has a bit of a longboard feel to it, wanting to lock in once you set an edge. Which can be fun on a wider wave like Nikki’s. I also think it would serve newer surfers well, given the large-volume-in-a-short-package setup. The nonslip top is quite a lot nicer than a lot of the other soft-top boards. It’s grippy, and I don’t feel any need to wax it.

A word on pricing: keep an eye out for markdowns. I bought the board for $275 shipped, and I was able to hunt down a discount code for it for an additional 5% off. Now, a few weeks later, they’re listed on South Bay’s site for $379, while Amazon has them for $300. It seems like a solid board for the $260 I paid, but I’m not sure I’d pay $380.