Description
Order a custom handboard and boardbag set for yourself, or stoke out your favorite bodysurfer! If this is a gift, please indicate in the notes and we can include a gift certificate printed on heavy cardstock, and ready to wrap! When redeemed, your salty friend can choose the color and model for their own custom, upcycled foam handboard w/ white fabric inlay…and they will receive a coordinating handcrafted boardbag as well! It’s the perfect gift for a bodysurfer you love, (or yourself), it includes FREE shipping in the US!
Manukai Handboards are crafted in our studio at Manukai Designs on the Hamakua Coast of the Big Island of Hawai’i. 2nd generation Hawaiian surfboard shaper, Keith Tallett, shapes them out of old and broken surfboards, before painting and glassing them, and his wife Sally sews adjustable straps out of old wetsuits and nylon webbing. Custom foam handboards take 3-4 weeks to make and ship. Or you can choose from what we currently have in stock…View all boards in stock now.
Handboards are used for bodysurfing, providing lift and glide that allow for long rides on a wave. All you need for an awesome ride, is a board and a good set of fins. They are easy to carry with you and you can bodysurf all kinds of waves, from mushy shorebreak to big barrels, so it’s really for all skill levels. Manukai Handboards are made to order, and each board varies slightly. There may be slight flaws in the foam, due to nature of using upcycled materials, however each board is crafted carefully and if you treat your board well, it will last you for years to come.
We currently offer 4 handboard models, which you can read about below – Koloa (The Sea Duck), Malolo (The Flying Fish), The ‘Iwa (The Wave Thief), and The Nehu (The Shorebreak Silverfish).
Koloa (The Sea Duck)
The Koloa is a larger board at 7 ¾ x 14.5 . With more surface area, it’s faster, so you can actually catch waves on days where the surf seem non-existent. While the Koloa works great in mushy shorebreak – it also performs well in bigger barreling waves. It just takes a little more work to get it out back in the big stuff. This handboard can make the worst waves and closeout barrels rideable and fun. You will leave the beach STOKED.
We named this model after a koloa that we surfed with at our homebreak on the Big Island. It was a big, windy swell, and this crazy duck came out and cruised in the lineup for a good hour, duck diving, fishing, and enjoying the storm more than anyone else out there. Koloa Maoli, Hawaii’s native duck, has been a part of the ecosystem of the Hawaiian Islands for tens of thousands of years. It is unique to these remote islands – found nowhere else on Earth. Like many native species it is threatened with extinction from the combined forces of habitat loss, introduced predators, historic overhunting, etc (the list goes on), but is unusual in that it faces an additional threat – that of hybridization (or cross-breeding).
Malolo (The Flying Fish)
The Malolo model measures 7.25″ x 12” and if you want to have just one handboard to throw in your trunk, this is the one! The Malolo is small enough for easy maneuvering in bigger waves, but also has enough volume for great buoyancy & lift, and less drag. The fuller volume results in easier wave catching, yet it’s still easy to swim with. This board is great for intermediate as well as seasoned bodysurfers – in both softer AND hollower waves.
Hawaiian flying fishes, malolo are sleek and quick creatures notorious for jumping out of the water and “flying” a great distance before diving back in. A recent study found that malolo can glide over the water’s surface as competently as some seabirds.
‘Iwa (The Wave Thief)
The ‘Iwa measures 7” x 11.5”, and is a low-volume handboard designed for a more advanced bodysurfer. It has aprox the same width and length of the Malolo, but with less foam, meaning a faster swim getting out in larger waves, and less strain on your arm and shoulder. Smaller handboards have less surface area and work better in bigger more hollow and powerful waves. The better you get, the more you’ll like this one.
One of the seabirds we often see in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are ‘iwa, or great frigate birds. They are consummate flyers, and can soar, dive, turn on a dime, and use their long powerful hooked beak to snatch food from the water, ground or while on the wing. Their Hawaiian name, “iwa” means thief and refers to one of the more colorful behaviors of these birds.
Nehu (The Shorebreak Silverfish)
The Nehu is our smallest handboard, measuring 7″ x 10″, and is designed for shorebreak conditions and competition tricks! It’s smaller, thinner size allows for quick in & outs, easy paddling, and high maneuverability for tricks. While this would be considered our “pro” board, it’s also perfect for smaller hands, or those simply preferring a smaller board.
The next time you are out in the shorebreak and a school of little silver fish streak past and maybe jump your board, those are the Nehu. Quick as lightning, they surf and leap the waves in large schools.
