Shoreline Board Hire

Six shops · Sea and lake · Open early

Boards for
Whatever the
Water Is Doing

Six hire shops on four sea beaches and two lakes, stocked so that there is always something that works: shortboards and fish for the days with proper waves, longboards and mid-lengths for the days without, foils for the flat mornings on the lake, and paddleboards for everyone else. Wetsuits run from child sizes to triple extra large in three thicknesses, changing rooms and hot showers are free, and the workshop will fix a ding in an afternoon. Hire by the hour, day, week or season.

Hire & Lessons Shop Locations
Surfers walking along the beach carrying boards after a session
Surfer carving off the lip of a breaking wave

About us

A Hire Shop Run by People Who Still Surf

The first shop was a container on a beach car park with fourteen boards, opened because the nearest hire was forty minutes away and rented the same battered foam board to everybody regardless of conditions, size or ability. The rule from the start was simple: match the board to the person and the day, or say honestly that today is not worth paying for. That approach cost money in the first two summers and has since produced six shops and a customer list that mostly comes back every year.

Every shop is staffed by people who surf or paddle the same water every week, which means the advice at the counter is current rather than generic. They know when the sandbank at the river mouth is working, which lake beach is sheltered in a north wind, when the tide makes a break unrideable and when a beginner should be sent to the other end of the beach entirely. Nobody is upsold a performance board they cannot ride, and nobody is charged for a session we would not take ourselves.

The fleet is replaced continuously rather than run into the ground, and everything is repaired in our own workshop between hires: dings filled and sanded, fin boxes replaced, leashes and pads renewed, wetsuits washed in proper wetsuit shampoo and hung to dry rather than dumped in a heap. We also run the beach clean before the season, sponsor the local junior club and keep a free board and wetsuit set at each shop for kids who cannot afford the hire.

Advantages

Why Hire Here

Six reasons the same people come back with their own boards later and still rent from us in winter.

Rocky lake shoreline with clear water and pine trees

A Fleet Wide Enough to Match the Day

Most hire shops stock one type of board in three sizes, which works on perhaps twenty days a year. We carry soft-tops for first-timers, mid-lengths and longboards for small clean surf, fish and shortboards for the days with power, foils for glassy mornings, touring and all-round paddleboards, and a handful of wave skis and bodyboards. Staff choose with you rather than for you, and swapping a board mid-session costs nothing if the first choice turns out wrong. On a bad day they will tell you to take a longboard and enjoy yourself instead of selling you frustration.

Wetsuits That Actually Fit

A badly fitting suit ruins a session faster than a bad board. We stock three thicknesses across every adult and child size including women's cuts and long and short leg variants, plus boots, gloves and hoods for winter. Suits are washed after every hire in proper shampoo, hung on shaped hangers, checked for seam damage and retired when they lose their seal rather than being patched forever. Changing rooms, hot showers and a rinse hose are free with any hire, and there is a drying rail for anyone doing two sessions in a day.

Honest Conditions Reports

Every shop posts the day's forecast, tide times and an honest one-line assessment written by whoever surfed that morning, and the same information goes out on our channel at seven each day. If the answer is that it is small, blown out and not worth the money, that is what it says. Beginners get a specific recommendation about which end of the beach to use and which hour will be calmest. We would rather sell nothing on a bad day than have somebody drive an hour for a session that was never going to work.

Workshop on Site

Each shop has a repair bench and two of them have a full workshop, so dings are filled and sanded the same day, fin boxes and leash plugs are replaced within twenty-four hours, and a cracked rail does not end a holiday. We repair customers' own boards as well as our fleet, service inflatable paddleboards, replace fins, pads and leashes, and will happily explain how to do a temporary repair yourself if you are travelling on. Prices are posted on the wall and small jobs are often done free while you wait.

Open Early, Open Late, Open in Winter

Shops open at seven in summer and stay open until dusk, because that is when the wind is off and the water is worth using. Two locations stay open all winter for the people who surf in a five-millimetre suit and know that the best days come in January. Season storage, long-term hire and winter-rate deals exist for exactly those customers. Nothing here is built solely around the eight weeks of high summer, which is also why the same staff are still behind the counter in October.

Prices Without Tricks

Hire rates include the board, leash, wax, wetsuit, boots if needed, changing rooms and showers, with no separate charges added at the counter. Deposits are modest, clearly stated and returned the same day. Damage is assessed at real repair cost rather than at a punitive fixed fee, and normal wear is never charged for. Multi-day, weekly and family rates are published, students and locals get a standing discount, and if the sea is unusable when you arrive we refund without asking why.

Wide sandy beach with low surf under soft light

Services

What the Shops Do

Hire, lessons, repairs, storage, demos and support for clubs and events.

Board and Wetsuit Hire

Everything in the fleet available by the hour, day, week or month, with wetsuit, leash, wax and changing facilities included in the price. Staff match the board to your weight, ability and the conditions, and swapping mid-session is free. Roof racks and straps can be borrowed for taking a board to another beach, and boards can be collected at one shop and returned to another. Family bundles cover two adults and up to three children on any mix of equipment.

Lessons and Coaching

Surf and paddleboard lessons in groups of five or fewer, taught by qualified instructors on the beach appropriate to the day rather than the one outside the shop. Beginner courses run over three sessions and cover safety, positioning, paddling, standing up and reading a beach. Improver coaching addresses turning, trimming, duck diving and wave selection with video review. Private sessions are available for anyone who would rather not learn in a group.

Repairs and Servicing

Ding repair in polyester and epoxy, fin box and leash plug replacement, delamination, snapped board joins where worthwhile, deck pad and traction fitting, and full servicing of inflatable paddleboards including valve and seam work. Wetsuit repairs are sent to a specialist weekly. Prices are posted, turnaround is usually one day in season, and we will show you how to do a temporary fix yourself if you are moving on tomorrow.

Storage and Season Deals

Secure racks for private boards at every shop, with ventilated storage, wetsuit hanging space and access during opening hours, charged by the month or the season. Long-term hire lets visitors keep a board for a whole holiday at a fraction of the daily rate, and locals can take a winter package covering board, thick suit, boots and gloves for the cold months. Season storage customers get priority on demo days and reduced repair rates.

Demo Days and Test Boards

Several times a season we bring shapers and brands to the beach with a full quiver of test boards that anybody can try free for an hour, alongside foil and paddleboard demos on the lake. It is by far the most useful way to work out what to buy, since a board that suits a friend may be entirely wrong for you. We sell no new boards ourselves, so the advice at a demo day carries no commission behind it.

Clubs, Schools and Events

Equipment packages and instructors for schools, youth clubs and adaptive surfing groups, at rates that reflect what those organisations can actually afford. We supply boards and safety cover for local competitions, junior contests and charity paddles, provide the free kit set that each shop keeps for children who cannot pay, and run the pre-season beach clean with the municipality. Club members hire at a standing discount all year.

Contacts

Shops, Conditions and Bookings

Call or write to ask which shop is closest, what the water is doing today and whether a lesson has places. Hire never needs booking in advance except for group equipment and week-long packages.

Clubs, schools, event organisers and anyone needing a repair quote should use the same address.

OfficeVia dei Fori Imperiali 1, 00186 Roma, Italy
Phone+39 06 6920 4471
Emailshorelineboards@gmx.com
OpeningSummer 07:00–dusk daily; two shops open all winter