Short boards and Fun boards
Short boards come in many sizes (under about 7 feet), shapes, and fin placements. Short boards are so specialized and so much more challenging to use that a long board is almost always preferred for learning. A hybrid type, the fun board, is about 8 feet long and has many of the properties of a long board with some of the rapid response of a short board.

Long boards
Long boards start at 9 feet. With their larger surface area, long boards catch waves more easily, are faster to paddle, and float better. Choosing your first board is daunting, but custom body boards are similar in price to brand-name boards. Spend some time with the local shaper and be honest about your skills and abilities; you can get a unique and appropriate body board both for learning and the long term.

Glass or Foam?
Today's surfboards have a shaped foam core, wooden reinforcement strips, and a fiberglass skin. The fiberglass is very hard but also brittle, and "dings" must be covered promptly or the core will soak up water. There is a low-maintenance alternative: the foam board, which uses different foam and no wood or fiberglass.
The two most popular foam makes are the Doyle board, with a soft foam top and a plastic bottom, and the SofTop, a denser foam body board with a sticky-rubber surface and a more rigid epoxy resin bottom. Surf schools usually use these body boards, and you may be able to pick up a used one cheap. As your surfing improves, you may want to go to higher-performing, more rigid fiberglass. A SofTop can also be a good choice for casual surfing and is virtually indestructible.