Wax is the stuff you rub on your board so that your feet stick to it. Without it, you’ll just slip right off when you catch a wave and try to plant your feet on the deck (the top of the board). There are several different kinds of surfboard wax, from Mr. Zog’s Sex Wax, Mrs. Palmer’s Sticky Bumps surf wax, and numerous other brands. They all have their own pluses and minuses, and they’re all really cheap. At around $2 per bar, you really should try out the different types of surf wax at your local surf shop to find which one you like best.

Once you arrive at the beach, pull out your board and lay it on the ground, with the deck (the part you lay on) facing up. This is the side you want to put the wax on since this is the side you put your feet on. You can also apply the wax while the board is standing up, propped against a car or truck.

While you’re learning, you should put a really thick coat of wax on your board, using as much as a whole bar of it before you get in the water. Rub the wax up and down and left to right to get it all over the deck. Pay special attention to the places where you know you’ll be planting your feet, but also put it in places you’re not sure about. For example, applying wax to the nose is a good idea in case you have to scramble up there to balance, and at the back in case your feet don’t hit the track pad. Surf wax is cheap stuff and it’ll keep you on your board, so use it and use it some more.

Once you have a thick coat of wax on your surfboard, you can improve the traction of it by using a regular cheap hair comb to scrape some grids into the wax. Basically, pull the comb down across the wax in one direction, then scrape it down in the other direction, to create squares or diamonds, depending on which way your head is turned.

Grids in surf wax.

The best surf wax is not only sticky, but “bumps up” as it’s applied. This means that bumps of wax are created on the board’s deck as you wax it. This also increases traction.

Wax that has bumped up. This board was waxed with Mrs. Palmer’s Sticky Bumps.

If you’re wearing baggies, more commonly known board shorts, put some wax in your pocket because you’ll likely need to re-wax your board after you catch some waves. While you’re in the water, just slip off your board and into the water, then hold onto your board while you wax it up. Surf wax also floats, so you’ll only lose it if a strong current grabs it from you and runs away with it. If you’re wearing a wet suit, you can slip a bar of wax into the calves of your wet suit for use in the water.

Be sure to take plenty of surf wax with you to the beach because you never know when the waves will be so awesome that you’ll be too stoked to leave before dark!

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