Shipping a surfboard

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.

Chino

 

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.

Have fun man SD is freaking fantastic!

 

Shipping with amtrak

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.

 

Also depends on what airline you are flying, Southwest use to be $50 one way /one board. Not sure how much that has gone up

 

Southwest was still 50.00 each way as of last January.
http://www.surfline.com/travel/boardbag_charges.cfm?id=15425

 

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...

 

bumping this thread. nobody answered the shipping part about his question. How long does it usually take to ship a board using ground shipping? i won a board in a contest from san diego and (i hope; he hasn't answered me in a while) he sent it supposedly about three weeks a go. when do you think i could expect it? thanks y'all

 

Dude, you can ship a car quicker than 3 weeks.

USPS doesn't ship anything that big......UPS says max of 6 days from CA to anywhere in the lower 48.

I'd ask him for the tracking number. If he doesn't have one, I'd be very suspicious. Good luck!

 

Thank momma! i'm gonna ask him for it. he's just really hard to get a hold of. he hates cell phones so he never answers his. i mean it was free so i didn't pay any money for it but dammit i want this board! it was a hand shaped custom Round nose fish design. plus my brother did some artwork for me that we sent and he had it painted on. here's i picture of it. I JUST WANNA RIDE THE DAMN THING! haha
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...68596678401.2058364.1338098552&type=3&theater

 

It wouldn't let me see the picture I wanta see!

 

ah damn. let me attach the file.
This was before the art was put on. ill post one of the art too!

 

I did this too. Well, it was a one way trip on Amtrak from Von Sol in SD. Von Sol packed up a board and sent it Amtrak. Took about a week. I was able to pick it up safe and sound on the east coast.

 

I'm also going out there this summer and have arranged to have a board shaped out there and shipped back when I leave. They told me it's a $160 flat rate (for a 9'6") plus $60 packing fee. The airline would cost me $150 each way. This works for me this year planning a new purchase and taking it one way.

I should mention that last year when I was out there renting a board was a joke, I ended up on a crappy piece of foamy sponge (but still had a blast) because that was basicilly all that was availible, renting something good for a week would cost almost as much as buying a new board.

I think the craigslist idea is good though and will likely do that next year. Though also if the trip is limited timewise I could see it being a drag spending a day or two looking for a board.

 

I just shipped a 6 foot board to florida. I went to a local surf shop and got a huge box that had been used to send them a SUP. Cut the box down to size, used a combination of things i had on hand...foam, carpet padding, bought a bit of bubble wrap.

Final box dims were 6 foot x 10 inches x 21 inches. Weight as shipped was 30 pounds.

It had to get shipped tto a specific street address and the cheapest option I found was UPS ground for $150. 5 days.

If the recipeint had been willing to pick the board up a bus station, Greyhound would have shipped it for $75.

 

Here is a link with some tips on how to ship a surfboard - cost and packing ideas. Good luck!

 

Ship Greyhound.