When surfers ask about the best boardshorts for surfing, the answer isn’t one‑size‑fits‑all. It depends on whether you’re chasing contest‑level performance or living the everyday surf‑skate lifestyle. Below is what the testing, brand specs, and culture say — plus how ScervGear's Scurfers fits in.

In a nutshell, stretch fabric can help create slimmer designs that are flexible and great for high performance surfing. Baggy boardshorts offer flexibility and sometimes a little more drag, but they cleanup in the style category.

High‑Performance Surfing: Why Slimmer Boardshorts Win

Brands doing lab and lineup testing show this clearly:

• O’Neill points out that all of their boardshorts and swim trunks are made with stretch fabrication, but some have more flexibility than others.” Confession, we are partial to citing O’Neill because the ScervGear office is just down the street from Jack O’Neill’s Santa Cruz, CA home. He was a real innovator in our community and we miss the days when we'd see him out walking or chilling in a hammock on the side of his home.

• Rip Curl’s Mirage 3‑2‑One states: “earned a core‑following for their supreme comfort, strength, and quick‑drying performance.” It also features “Flexible Fit: Features four‑way stretch for maximum mobility.” 

So, for pure performance (contests, big surf, power turns, fast paddling), the best boardshorts are slim or performance‑cut, stretch-built, quick drying, with minimal drag.

Baggy Boardshorts: Built for Real Life Surfing

For most surfers, the trade‑offs of baggy are totally worth it:

• Baggy cuts give you more room in hips and knees for crouching, skating, walking, and paddling without fabric binding.

• You’ll lose some speed in paddling and duck diving compared to slim cuts, but the comfort and style gains are huge. 

Baggy Boardshorts: Built for Real Life Surfing.

ScervGear’s Take: Baggy With Purpose

At ScervGear, we build for surf, skate and the street. Our “Scerfers” are baggy boardshorts with performance DNA: roomy cut and quick‑dry fabrics, but with style & identity that only comes from skate‑surfer authenticity. ScervGear Designer and Founder August Duncan stated “our boardshorts don’t stop at the shoreline – they flow into the streets” in the blog titled “Ride the Wave in Style: Best Guide to Long Boardshorts and Baggy Boardshorts”. August also noted his brother is a high-performance and soul surfer in Santa Cruz and likes to wear baggy boardshorts in warm water and on the street.

The Final Word

• If you’re chasing contests or elite surfing, slim, stretchy, performance boardshorts are the best choice.

• But for most of us — the ones who surf when we can, skate, travel, and hang — baggy boardshorts give the right balance of style, flexibility, and comfort.

ScervGear’s Scerfers Baggy Boardshorts might not win every heat, but they’ll earn the respect — on land, in the lineup, and everywhere you ride.