Morris and Mango Surfboards are surfboards 100% hand made by Myles Morris. Myles is a local San Diego surfer, shaper, and is one of a handful in his generation who can build a board from start to finish —shaping, laminating, hot coating, installing hardware, sanding, glossing, and polishing.
At Morris and Mango Surfboards, the customer’s surfing experience comes first. Each board is specifically tailored to the customer’s specifications. The continuous evolution and pursuit of perfection is what has drawn Myles to the craft of board building and he strives to make every board leaving the factory better than the last.
TURNAROUND TIME
We strive to get you your new board in a timely manner. Our current turnaround time is one month or less.
PRICING
There are many variables that affect the price of a surfboard including length, stringer, fin system, airbrush color, resin color cutlaps (tints and swirls), pin lines, and finish (sanded or gloss and polish). Let us know what type of board you are interested in and we’ll get you a quote asap.
STARTING YOUR ORDER
I strongly believe in getting to know my customers and what they are looking for in a surfboard before I begin the shaping process. That’s why you won’t find any generic order forms on this site. Contact me with what type of board or which model you are interested in and I’ll work with you to fine-tune your idea into your next custom surfboard.
About Myles
I was born and raised in San Diego. I grew up surfing from OB to La Jolla, spent summer vacations camping on the beach at Cardiff and in high school I joined the surf team. My Junior year I recieved MVP. That year, Micah Wood, of Wood Custom Surfboards, donated a custom surfboard as the prize for the MVP just as another shaper had done for him when he received the award years before. I ordered a custom noserider, picked out the color swatches for the resin tint and hot coat color, and met up with Micah to watch him shape the board. While watching Micah shape I had no idea that moment would ignite the spark that launched me into a career handcrafting surfboards.
A couple years later I found myself working at Rocky’s surf shop in Ocean Beach part time to pay for boards and surf gear. When Rocky’s closed their storefront, their factory Superior surfboards remained open producing Native surfboards and doing contract glass work for other labels. With Rocky’s closed I began working at Superior doing ding repair. Whenever I had a spare moment, I was watching and learning from Doug Yates as he shaped and glassed boards. Eventually after watching Doug so much I wanted to give it a go myself. I ordered a blank and with Doug explaining each step of the way I built a 9’6” pig from start to finish. I shaped the board, did a fabric inlay, laminated, foiled and glassed on a custom D-fin, hot coated, sanded, did pin lines, glossed, and polished all for the very first time. Around the same time, one of my best friends, Ryan Mango did the exact same thing. We decided to print up some Morris and Mango surfboards logos to put on our first boards. We each made a few boards after that and tag teamed a few shapes as well. Eventually, Mango wouldn’t continue into the surfboard industry but I would. I continued to use the Morris and Mango label and have ever since.
I kept learning to build surfboards from the bottom up. Doing ding repair was a way to be around the factory, learning whenever I had a spare moment and making money to continue funding my own boards. I would go on to move from ding repair into production laminating. Just as I did with ding repair, I approached laminating as a chance to learn. When laminating you go over every inch of a board multiple times. It becomes easy to tell the difference between a well shaped board and a not so well shaped board. I quickly learned what makes a surfboard work well. For 8 hours a day I had, and still have, my hands on boards shaped by some of San Diego’s finest shapers. I’ve glassed boards shaped by Doug Yates, Kevin Connelly, Gordon and Smith, Chris Darby, John Holly, Robin Prodonavich, Dane Perlee, Chris Dierks, Skip Frye, Bob Mitsven, Bill Minard and many others. The boards I’ve laminated have all influenced my shaping and some of these shapers even more so. In my spare time working at Superior and Gordon and Smith Surfboards, Doug Yates, Kevin Connelly, Chris Darby, John Holly, and Dane Perlee have all allowed me to observe their varied shaping techniques, have shared their theories on board design and the shaping process, and critiqued many of my finished shapes.
Aside from the boards I’ve glassed and the shapers who have mentored me, my schooling has heavily influenced my surfboard design. I have a mechanical engineering degree from the University of San Diego. During my time studying mechanical engineering I did in-depth studies of both fluid mechanics and composite materials. My study of fluid mechanics has influenced every one of my shapes and the development of my stock models while my study of composites influences my foam, stringer, fiberglass, fin system, and resin selections for every board as well as my glassing techniques.
I choose Engineering because I knew it was a field that would never become stagnant, there is always a need for improvement and evolution. This is also what drew me to the craft of surfboard building. My passion is combining my classical study of fluid flow and composites with my knowledge of surf history, the surfboard industry, and the wisdom imparted to me from other shapers to handcraft the best possible boards for my customers.
Thank you for your interest in Morris and Mango surfboard.
I hope to work with you soon!
-Myles Morris
