I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience shipping a surfboard domestically? I'm heading out to San Diego / Orange County area and I would like to avoid paying a fortune to bring my board on the plane. I will either ship my board or rent one while out there.
Where do I get a box?
Approximately how much does it cost (going from NJ to CA)?
Packing suggestions?
How long does shipping usually take?
I wouldn't bother trying to get a board shipped.
SD and OC have a wealth of good used boards, try craigslist- you could probably buy one and leave it for resale @ a shop cheaper than the min $200 R/T fee on airlines. Plenty to rent out there also- shoot Zach619 a PM he has lived out there for a few years, I am sure he has some specifics on shops- might be able to find you a good hook up.
Have fun good time to head west- JN
JTS is right, its not worth the time and money on shipping. Depending on you airline, it could be cheaper to take it on the plane.
If you go to San diego OB (ocean beach) my buddies have a surf shop, its called Rocky's. they got some good deals on boards or i dont know how long you will be out there but they also own a board factory about a mile away from seaworld. they do a lot of customs..
Really good thing is they will do ding repair in a couple hours.
I agree unless you really want your own board, you can get great deals on great boards out there. If you can get one for the cost of board bag fees (to and from should be about $150-$200) then what you do is right before you leave, find a kid at the beach trying to stand up on a body board or a kid on a complete beater and just give him the board for free. Spread the stoke. It will cost you the same amount of cash as it would have to fly your board out there but the good karma you will get from it is hard to put a price on. Also i have never flown a board and not had my stick beat to hell. I dont care how well I protect it, I have used pipe insulation on the rails after wrapping the board in large bubble wrap in a padded board bag and still have dings after suitcases are landing on it while its thrown in the bottom of the carge hold
I suggest Craigslist before you go and check out the surfermag classifeds on their forum too, tons of stuff for sale. I see tons of boards for sale at decent prices out there.
I was looking at how to get a board from L.A. back to the East coast and baggage fees are ridiculous. Largely it just not worth it and it almost better to buy one or find a good place to rent decent boards.
If you really have your heart set on surfing your own board, take a look at Amtrak.
You can ship a board from Baltimore to L.A. for about $60 depending on the size of the board. You still need to pack it and protect it well. If you drop off your board and buy a freight ticket it takes a bout 1 week to arrive cross country. Amtrak will hold it for days until you can pick it up.
I've done this a couple of times, because I'm particular about the board I ride. I have a "coffin" bag that will protect it from the worst kind of abuse, but I've also fabricated boxes out of several used boxes that I would scavenge. Then, I'd ship it via Greyhound. It takes a few days and will cost around $40-$60 bucks.
Not worth it just rent or buy used out there and sell it back ... Cost me 85 with no insurance to send my boards home from san fran ando it took a few days.
Continental just banged me for $150. for my board bag to Mexico, Fedex wanted like $300.. freeekin dollars to ship it... I don't know whats best, at $20 a day for board rental for 7 days, with a stick that may not work for you, or you take the one your dialed in with. I like to take my own board...
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