3 ways to transport your surfboards in your car

• Sebas R


• 17 Oct 2016

If you don´t know how to transport your surfboards in the car to go surfboarding at the beach, this article will show you three different options. Be careful, because the first option is not allowed and you might get a nice surprise from the police on your way.

1. Place your surfboards inside your car

This is commonly done, because its fast and free, as long as the police don´t stop you.

Start with putting the passenger seat back as far down as possible, and put your surfboards in from the boot, with the tail forward resting it on the front seat you have just put down.  The tail rests on the floor, at foot level of the passenger seat, so that you are able to put the surfboards as forward as possible.

Put the passenger seat´s seatbelt over the surfboards and fasten it, to hold your surfboards in place stopping them from moving at every roundabout.

Warning: this first option we´ve explained is completely forbidden.  It is forbidden to transport any voluminous object in the inside of a private car.  If the police see you on the road you can get fined.  Depending on how nice you are with the policeman, he can consider it a minor offence (the fine can be as much as €200, which is halved if you pay quickly), or a serious offence, which is even more expensive.  Although we´ve all done it at least once, you should bear it in mind if you take the risk.  On behalf of mundo-surf, although we sometimes do it, we cannot recommend it.

2. Put the surfboards on the roof rack of your car

For this option, you need a rigid roof rack, roof rack protectors and two fastening straps.

You should start by placing the foam protectors on the rigid roof rack of your car, then place the surfboards on top of the protectors with the nose of the surfboard facing forwards with face down, ensure it is well centered.

We will use the fastening straps to secure the surfboards to the roofrack. We will start by securing the front part of the surfboard.  Pass a fastening strap over the surfboard across the car and then pass it through the bottom of the roof rack, throw the fastening strap over the surfboard again and under the roof rack, join both ends of the fastening strap tightly but not too tight so you don´t damage the edges of your surfboard.

The excess bit of the strap, you can knot it onto the roof rack and and put the rest in the inside of the car by opening the front door (driver or passenger seat according to where you are).  Repeat above with the other fastening strap to secure the back part of your surfboard.

Be careful not to over tighten the fastening strap, the surfboards should be secured well but not to the extent of damaging a surfboard.  This is a very robust way of transporting your surfboards, but relatively expensive because of the investment of a rigid roofrack which is compatible with your car.  It also takes time to assemble and dismantle the rigid roofrack, as its not advisable to keep it up all the time due to the increase in petrol consumption it causes.

3. Put the surfboards on the roof of your car with a soft roof rack

If your car does not have a rigid roof rack or you don´t want to invest in one, you can use the option of putting a soft roof rack (also called Soft-Rack) on the roof of your car to transport your surfboards.

This soft roof rack is made of pieces of foam which you place on the roof of your car.  It has several fastening straps, some to secure the roofrack to the roof of your car, which you need to pass through your car, and other fastening straps to secure the surfboards onto the roof rack.

You should start with placing the pieces of foam on the roof of your car, then pass the fastening straps through the car and fasten tightly.  Place the surfboards to be transported over the roof rack, and put the remaining fastening strap around the surfboards and fasten tightly.  Centre them, and when finished, check that the surfboards and the roof rack are secured well.

It is very reliable, you can go on motorways and cover thousands of kilometres.  We tried it to go from Sevilla to Agadir in Morocco, which is approximately 2000 Km there and back, with four surfboards, and the boards didn´t move.

Out of all the legal ways to transport your surfboards by car, this is the option that offers the best cost/time ratio.  It is very quick to assemble and dismantle, there are basic versions to transport up to 3 surfboards, and double versions for up to 6 surfboards.  It is also ideal if you travel by plane and if you are going to hire a car at your destination.  Put the roof rack in the sleeve of your surfboard, and you can transport your surfboards with your hire car.

In addition, there is a wide range of offers for soft roof racks, from almost all the brands for surf accessories, with prices starting at €50.

These are the three ways we have to transport surfboards in our car, if you want to see it instead of reading it, we also have an explanatory video of the three ways to transport your surfboards:

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