Am I asking for too much?

[GeoffreyLevens]

Whitewater....the final frontier.

I do remember as a young child having an absolutely ecstatic, wonderful time ducking under whitewater. Maybe there's something in that to consider!

[nomastomas]

Bottom line with small closeouts is that they will remain small closeouts. If they have no power you're not going to be doing much other than experience getting wet and soaking up being in the water. The thicker the board the less sensitivity/more out of the water you are.

While I agree with Bob for the most part...there is some satisfaction in catching a re-form that develops into a miniature barrel just prior to the inevitable roll up the beach.

[zensuni]

Small but clean waves with a curl, I would go for a plywood paipo, with more or less a UK bellyboard shape, meaning narrow, long and flat. This is my all around board, I can catch really small waves on it. It is easy to ride, it is fast, it fits in micro barrels and being closed out is kind of fun, cause you have less board's width to deal with. In these conditions, an alaia might be fun too (I have never tested).

Regarding bodyboards, even a large one has its limits in small waves. You may catch small waves with a big board, but the lack of stiffness might result in difficulties to build speed during the ride.

I would not recommend surf mat in weak small waves, I think it needs some power to start going fast (unless you have a lot of experience). However, if there is enough power, they can fly and can be very fun to ride, plus they are safe. Sometime I start with the paipo, then if it gets bigger I'll switch to the surf mat.

Another interresting option when it closes out too much is to simply bodysurf, using an handplane...or not. It is something I have been wanting to practice more these days.

[PhillyViking]

I ride 4GF and G-Mat surf mats in conditions from tiny to OH+. There are fatter mats available for small conditions but I find that technique on an all around mat can do the job in small junky conditions.. Less air (I mean barely any) makes catching waves easier (reverse rocker suction effect) and the superman takeoff turns you and your mat into a long board.

Mats are easy to carry when you have to walk way down there to get away from the crowd and there is no fin to catch in shallow tiny surf.

Depending on the break and conditions I switch to my Xylem paipo with knubster fins when duck diving a mat (downside of mats) becomes an issue.

I also use my 52" Austin big boy in small conditions (it works well) but I like the mat feel better. Some of my OBX buddies say I perform better on the Austin than mats in small conditions but this is not about the spectators.