Stupidly, we forgot sunscreen on a warm, very sunny afternoon. This small shop had exactly what we needed 50 SPF spray. Weren't cheap, but that's on us. The woman behind the counter was proactive and helpful. Whole transaction took only a couple of minutes and we saved ourselves hours of looking like lobsters. Selection is small and focused on the beach and surf. read more

Expensive, but really nice equipment and foam boards. We rented for 2 hours and a wetsuit and two boards came out to $80. Really steep price imo even for the summer. Nice service though. The showers and set up of the whole place are really nice though. read more

Exceptional service from Savannah H on point knows menu knows the food. Very efficient best server I've had here in 20 + years. And I come often. !!! Great food as always thanks fir a great experience read more

Paid $90 for 2 boards for 2 hours. I was late by 12 minutes to return them so they racked up the cost: full day fee plus late fee, no flexibility. If that's a way of making a buck, good luck with retaining customers. The shop down the street charges $10/hr for great boards ‍ read more

Great shop in Rockaway. The owner, Steve was super helpful fitting me with the perfect size booties and gloves. Didn't let me leave until I had all the right gear. In my opinion, customer service doesn't get better. This shop has multiple sized lockers to store gear and equipment, showers, changing area (well ventilated) and super close to the beach. Looking forward to coming back. read more

Super friendly employee, close to the water, decent selection of boards and wetsuits. My only complaint is that the women's wetsuit sizes are generally a 6/8 and anything beyond that is super hard to find so I had to wear a man's wetsuit which was a little annoying. Boards are in good shape. All in all, though, a decent surf shop. They have a bathroom, shower and changing rooms as well, which is great (although I couldn't find a light in the changing room and it was pretty dark). They also offer locker services if you're around the area and need a place to store your board. Good price point - $35 for board rental up to 4 hours and $5 more for wetsuit. read more

I took a 2 hour lesson with Boarders and had a great time. We had quite a large number of people taking lessons but they were able to keep the ratio of instructors to students to about 4:1 or 3:1. They were all very patient, attentive and encouraging. I was especially impressed with the detailed review of safety and surfing etiquette. I just wish it was a little cheaper. It came out to $90 for 2 hours with a 5% discount if you paid in full ahead of time. read more

As long as I'm here in NY, I'll support this shop. They make you feel like family. They even make me miss my family, cuz I always call my mom after I leave here and tell her how much I love and miss her. How's that for service they didn't even know they provided. No. 1 Son (sorry bro) read more

I really love this board shop and it's one of the best in the whole NYC. Which might not be saying much because NYC isn't known for its surfing but if you come take a trip down here in Rockaway and you're into surfing you will NOT be disappointed. They sell top of the line surf and body-boards and other swim gear such as flippers, wetsuits, snorkels, board wax, leashes, the whole nine, it's here. Plus, you can rent surfboards for something like 35 for 4 hours and 50 for over 4-5 hours. Pretty steep but it's not so bad. The people at this shop also give surf lessons and they are the most encouraging, nice, motivating, fun instructors this side of the East Coast. There's lockers and showers for when you finish renting out your surfboards here. The people that work here are awesome and I once purchased a leash for my bodyboard here and they installed the leash for me. I tried giving the guy 5 dollars tip for installing it but they politely refused and were more than happy that I just purchased the leash for my bodyboard and were just happy enough that I came and stopped by the shop. They were helpful and informative about everything surfing. Great people that work here. Definitely a spot to stop by for your surfing needs. read more

One of many reasons I miss Queens so much, is this shop. When I moved to Nassau from NNJ, Rockaway became my new home break. Found Boarders randomly one day in 2004 on my way up the beach, stopped in, and ended up having a great conversation with Steve, who is cool as could be and will go out of his way to help with anything you need in the shop, as well as friendly advice in general. I had my custom quad fish shaped though their shop (Mike Becker at Nature Shapes) back in 2007 and still love it to this day - board was priced very fair as well. Both Steve and Christian really are stand up guys, and overall show how a NYC shop SHOULD be run. Fair prices, great gear, and great help. What makes it different than other LI/NJ shops? As I'm sure many here would agree that have been in there more than twice, a sense of family/part of the community from day one. That to me is rare, and what sets it apart from other shops in my mind. Can't wait to be there on 6/24. It's been way too long! read more

Came in to get a New Leash for my board, they were all out of 6' leashes and the kid at the counter said he'd charge me less for the 7' leash they had in stock. Paid $25 for the leash and support the shop. I also asked if he knew of any lockers nearby the beach and informed me that i could use their free lockers, as long as i retrieved my stuff before they closed at 6pm. Their on beach location isn't set up yet, but an awesome store to get gear/equiptment service/ board rentals. Glad to see they're back up and running, i'm sure ill be back in here my next trip to the rockaways. read more

Great shop! I spent my first summer surfing renting from them, and they could not have been nicer. Steve was happy to answer any questions people had, and makes people feel really at ease. Plus, when they didn't have something available, the sales person even recommended I check out Breakwater. (Another great surf shop in Rockaway.) Really good vibes here, and the warm showers that are available are a definite plus after you get in from your session. :) read more

Located two blocks from the boardwalk, Boarders lets you rent surf boards and borrow wet suits for the day. I went surfing for the first time last week (10/11) and the guy who worked there showed me a few pointers. Rentals are $25 for 4 hours and $40 for the whole day. Since it wasn't too busy he let us have it for $25 for as long as we wanted. Of course they sell all the goods as well, including skateboards. Definitely a great place to check out and probably the only shop I saw close enough to the beach. Winter surf season coming up, whose down to boogie? read more

I took my 13 year old daughter to NYC for a week, and she wanted to take surfing lessons. We contacted them and set up a lesson. Upon arrival at the beach we were met with smiles, and introductions. Immediately these people put my daughter at ease. As for the lesson itself, Eddie was a great instructor, he had her up and on the board in no time. Listening from the shore, I could hear him yell praise every time she did well, and words of encouragement when she didn't. We walked away at the end of the lesson knowing our money was well spent. read more

This place is the best. Super friendly, helpful staff and everything you could possibly need for a Rockaway surf. My boyfriend and I rented two longboards and grabbed a couple of wetsuit tops for $40 each (for the whole day). NYC surf shops typically reek of pretentious hipsters who've likely never been on a board in their lives, but I was pleasantly surprised by the smiling, chatty employees at this cool spot. Bonus: there are lockers where you can stash your valuables while you're in the water. This will be our go-to board rental shop from here on out. See ya soon, Boarders! read more

My home away from home and family when I'm back. I miss Steve and the great family of surfers that have met and revolve around our nucleus - Boarders. First, the staff is excellent, friendly, and will help you with everything from your rentals to which surf lockers and wet suits best fit your needs. The locations is unbeatable. Within two or three minutes you're at the water's edge with your surfboard. All set. I recall rentals being cheap and very easy to set up and go. I miss this place and the family of surfers and friends it delivers. Looking forward to being back sooner than later. They are running and offer all-season equipment. Winter is just as good (if not better) than summer. read more

Can someone confirm whether or not Boarders is closed for good? Last I went after Sandy, the shop was flooded out, but haven't been able to go back to check if they're up and running again? Phone number is disconnected and the website is down... it'd be a great loss to the community if they did shut down, cause as everyone is saying, this place is awesome. read more

The best. Surf rentals and sales for good prices. The owner is a great guy that clearly cares for the community. You want to support shops like this, there aren't many left. read more

Just had a horrible interaction with John, the manager of the Jacob Riis location. My husband and I bought two umbrellas and then immediately realized it was way too windy to use them. Within 5 minutes I came back to the shop to return the unopened umbrellas. The women behind the counter were about to process the return when John piped up from a lounge chair out front to yell "we don't do returns!" I explained the problem and also the fact that, if that was the case, the policy should have been explained at check out and also that he should have mentioned that umbrellas would be useless today. He then got belligerent, "you come to MY neighborhood, with that attitude - we don't do returns!" The women seemed extremely embarrassed but obviously couldn't do anything to help. Boarders would be well advised to relieve John of his job and promote one of the two very capable, very professional women working under him instead. read more

Board and full body suit only $40 for 4 hours. Great service, lockers, showers, changing area. The water was cold today but the sun was blazing :) read more

I'm a bit surprised by the reviews on here. When I went with some friends, those that helped us seemed a bit condescending as if we shouldn't be there. To make it clear, the waves weren't that big that day, but we still wanted to have a bit of fun. It didn't help that we were greeted by who I assume is a local telling us to "Get the f*** out, you're not surfers". Other than these few moments, the pricing for rentals are great. A board and wet suit for about 3 hours only cost $40. One of the guys was really helpful (I wish I remembered his name) and answered our questions. read more

Remarkably easy, walk in and they hook you right up. 45$ for a board, suit + booties for the afternoon.

The guys who work here are assholes. I understand it's a business, but stuff is over priced and the employees are condescending. One of the owners sold my friend who was a new surfer a used rental board for $250 bucks. The thing is $250 bucks online, and they sold him a HEAVILY used one for the same price at the end of the summer. My friend didn't know any better (his fault) but it was greedy and lame of them. Go to Breakwater, though it's not as conveniently located, they are 100 times better and cooler. read more

I took surfing lessons with my friend today and they did a great job! I had a blast and the instructors were really attentive and knowledgeable. Kat and Richie were AWESOME. The prices are super reasonable, since it was two of us it was $90/each for 2 hours. They had us up and riding waves in no time. I will definitely be back to take another lesson or two. read more

Terrible service every time. Just walked into the store to rent a board overnight. Employee was on the phone renting a surf board. He told the the person on the other end of the line, "I'll set out a board for you now" and then took down the person's info. Five minutes later he got off the phone and asked me, "how can I help you?". I said, "can I rent a board?". He replied, "we are closed". read more

They lose one star for becoming more expensive place to rent the surfboard (35$ for 4 hours and 50$ for more then 4 hours). But still they are the best! Their service provide all you need (free locker room, shower etc). Friendly staff which always ready to help you with any questions. Totally love this place! read more

Boarders has blossomed. Really love the new look. If you're looking for real Rockaway, start here. Walk to beach. End up back at Boarders telling them what a great day you had. read more

Great shop! We hit the onje on the boardwalk & were suprides by the cool tee's on sale. Staff was superhelpful on giving info. We rented bikes at their other local and enjoyed every second!! read more

i generally hate going to surf shops in nyc because they've become a hipster or rich folk haven kind of thing and its depressing. what i love about boarders is there's no BS. straight up great service, great tools for surfing, at reasonable prices. I only go to boarders now, and i live nowhere close to them, and i don't care. I'd rather trudge two hours out to the rockaways for my needs than a hop down to soho or williamsburg which is closer to me. Also the changing room and shower is just the best thing. There's no other shop in the rockaways that offers that, plus its location is the best. you will be pleased! read more