I was introduced to Almond Surfboards by a good friend shortly after we opened in 2010. He and I had taken a trip down to Southern California to catch some waves and check out a couple surfboard brands we were thinking about bringing into the shop. From the moment we walked into Almond’s old retail store in Newport Beach, I was a fan. Not only are their boards stunning to look at, the glassers at Waterman’s Guild are some of the best around, but their shapes are clean and precise. They offer a complete range of longboards, mid lengths, and shorter boards, with every shape being well thought out and filling their niche perfectly.
We also got a chance on this trip to meet their head shaper Griffen. He shapes all their boards by hand and had an apprenticeship with Bruce Jones for several years before coming to Almond. His philosophy of shaping boards that get you into waves early and often hit home with me and just makes sense. It’s why my go-to longboard for the past 8 years has been their Lumberjack model. It’s stable enough for a novice longboarder like myself to practice my cross-stepping while still feeling light and agile for turning. It’s a wave catching machine and super fun to ride!
The brand itself is all about enjoying yourself in any condition of surf and tries not to take themselves too seriously. It’s a small operation that continues to produce world-class products, all while keeping it light and fun. If you like supporting small brands and have high expectations of quality, you can’t get any better than Almond Surfboards!
