Hi,
I'm an intermediate kiter & a beginner surfer, and I've recently discovered the joys of SUP!

I weigh 60kgs, 5'5", and have pretty good balance through years of gymnastics and yoga. What size board should I buy to learn on? I will probably just go on flat water and very little waves at first.

What brands are good quality and what sort of paddle do I need? I was hoping to buy a reasonable 2nd hand board in case i wanted to sell it and go smaller in a year.

Lastly, can you post these babies? Is it really expensive? Which transport companies are best?

thanks for all the help!!

Lots of options. Stick to 30 inches wide or more and you won't go wrong. Try to demo as much as you can. There seems to be lots more demo days now.

Have fun.

demo and borrow as many brands and sizes as you can. Also try to catch up with the suptour (check main forum) and try the starboard range all in one session. If you have limited availability to sups then it would be well worth your time spending a weekend in either sydney or the goldy and arranging to try heaps of different boards. I don't know all the shops but I am sure that windsurfsnow in sydney and greenline and roar on the gold coast would be able to arrange boards for you to try if you were gunna do a bit of a road trip. It'd be well worth the drive either way. Good luck with it.

Thanks everyone! I don't have any shops nearby but this weekend i'll get to try out a few boards in Newcastle. Might get a better idea then.

Cheers for the advice... see ya on the water!