If you’re trying to find the best skateboards for females (or girls) check out our top feminine skateboard picks which come straight from an experienced, lifelong female skater! We’ll also help you select the right size skateboard & get a grasp on the intangible hallmarks of a “OMG that’s SO PRETTY skateboard!”.
Some of you may have landed here because you have a female friend, girlfriend, wife or daughter that wants to start skateboarding. Or maybe you’re a girl who is new to skateboarding and you’re not sure what you should be looking for in a female specific board.
If you’re not super familiar with this sport it can be a bit intimidating to try and pick out the best skateboard for a female or girl.
We’re going to hit on all the technical points of a good skateboard for a female but there are some intangible “style” factors that will appeal to women and not men….we’ll cover those too.
Just to be absolutely clear, there really isn’t a skateboard you can buy that is purposely “made for females”. It’s really comes down to a comfortable board size for someone who is smaller and has smaller feet. You can find graphics that might be more feminine & seem like they might be made for girls but skateboards are unisex. So just because a board has flowery graphics…doesn’t mean it’s “made for a girl” so to speak.
We only recommend products that we personally know and trust. You won’t find us recommending ultra budget/cheapy skateboards because those skateboards are generally speaking…dangerous, unsafe garbage.
I would hate it if something happened to you or your female skateboarder that made her never want to skate again. My goal is to get more women into the sport…not drive them away in tears.
Our recommendations are from reputable, trustworthy companies in the skateboarding community. In all cases, they are brands I’ve personally used in the past.
The best time to buy a skateboard is in the late winter/early spring when new models/designs are being released prior to the summer/better weather months.
Generally speaking, skateboard graphics change every year to coincide with changing tastes…SO if you see a setup you really like then lock it down. Don’t assume it will be in stock all year or more will come back in stock.
Manufacturers make what they think they will need for the season and can sell out of that stock quickly. This was especially the case during the global pandemic when EVERYONE was looking for outdoor sporting equipment (and something to do) during quarantine. It was almost impossible to find a decent skateboard in the summer 2020.
We’re going to be recommending the best complete, fully assembled skateboards for females and girls. Now let me explain what I mean by “complete”.
There are two ways that you can buy a skateboard. The first is buying a “complete” skateboard where all the components come fully assembled/optimized and the skateboard is ready to use right out of the box.
The second option is to purchase all the components separately like the deck, trucks, wheels, bushings, bearings & grip tape. You then assemble these components at home on your own.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS unless you are an experienced skateboarder or willing to take the time to watch quite a few Youtube videos on how to assemble a skateboard. It is possible to assemble a skateboard incorrectly and cause an unsafe situation for you or your female skateboarder.
We’re going to assume that you arrived here because you aren’t experienced at skateboarding and need recommendations. We’re also going to assume that assembling a skateboard might be a bit intimidating…and therefore we’re only going to recommend the best complete skateboards for women. Every skateboard we recommend are ALL ready to ride out of the box.
So we’re going to be dividing up our best skateboard recommendations based on the use. At this point you’ll need to ask yourself how this skateboard will be used….
Will you or your female skateboarder using this to cruise along the boardwalk or local paved trails?
OR…
Will you or your female skateboarder be heading to the skatepark as soon as possible?
If you or your female skateboarder is just going to be cruising along, skateboarding for fun & exercise (which is mostly what I’m doing at my advanced age) then we recommend purchasing a cruiser skateboard with cruiser type wheels (we’ll explain the difference here shortly).
If you think that she’ll be headed straight to the local skatepark as soon as she has the basic skills mastered then you’ll probably want to look at a shaped skateboard with special skatepark designed wheels (again we’ll explain what this means shortly).
Let’s Talk Safety…
Before we dive in to our skateboard recommendations I want to urge new skateboarders to PLEASE wear a helmet and pads while you’re learning. It will save you so much skin…and possibly much more.
The good news is that they are finally making helmets and pads that are female specific & will appeal (visually) to female skaters. So you can look good AND be well protected.
Check out my recommendations below for some very highly rated and colorful pads and helmets for women & girls. They come in multiple sizes & colors to fit little girls up to adults.
The Triple 8 Helmet comes in 13 different styles and 4 different sizes. With this amount of selection you’re bound to find a color combo to suit you or your future female skateboarder. This helmet has thousands of 5 star reviews you can read HERE.
The overall shape of the helmet is minimalist, it’s very lightweight & the inner material breathes nicely. My personal recommendation is the colorful ombre, gradient helmet (pictured above) which you can find HERE.
Lets talk pads now….
As an added bonus you can find matching Triple 8 Pads to go with your colorful female specific helmet! There are 5 different color combos and 4 different sizes to choose from. These pads will work for young girls up to adult women. There are THOUSANDS of 5 star reviews that you can read HERE. You can see them in action below in a short, 1 min Youtube video:
In addition to the colors, I love the flex in these pads. The break in time for these was pretty short and I’m always getting asked “where can I get those?!?!” from other female skaters….so in the opinion of more than one female skater…these are TOTALLY RAD PADS!
What is a cruiser skateboard?
Cruiser skateboards have wide and flat decks. These wide & flat cruiser skateboards are more comfortable for both feet to rest on the deck over long periods spent cruising the local boardwalk or commuting.
The wheels that accompany a cruiser board are larger in diameter and blocky- they aren’t “rounded off” like skatepark wheels you’ll see here shortly. The wheels are softer so your ride will be more comfortable.
This larger diameter means that you’ll get more distance out of a push than smaller diameter, “rounded off” skatepark style wheels that are meant for short distance and getting the most help with your skatepark tricks.
Cruiser boards are much wider in width and longer in length than skatepark setups. The nose and tail can be blunt, square or fishtail shaped.
While you can do some basic tricks with cruisers (like ollies & kick turns), they aren’t ideal for some skatepark tricks like grinding rails & kickflips.
What is a shaped, “Made for the skatepark” skateboard like?
A skateboard that is well suited for the skatepark or street skating has a deck that is “concave” or more concave than a cruiser. This concavity of the deck allows for more board leverage on tricks (like a kickflip).
This concavity can make it slightly more uncomfortable (although not completely unbearable) to cruise on. This type of board has a rounded front and rear deck.
A skatepark setup also has what I’d describe to a non-skater as “rounded off”, spherical looking wheels that are better for skatepark tricks.
These “rounded off” wheels have a smaller diameter than cruiser wheels and bring the skateboard closer to the ground (less overall ground clearance). Smaller diameter wheels mean you get less distance from each push which makes them not so good for cruising or commuting.
You’ll also notice (looking at the wheels from underneath the board) that the wheels are slightly “rounded off” on the inside and outside. This is great for riding curbs, grinding rails etc. The wheels are also harder which makes them better for all the abuse they’ll see at the skatepark.
Skatepark boards are narrower in width and shorter in length than cruisers. The nose and tail are completely rounded. This is sometimes referred to as a popsicle board or popsicle shaped board.
Is there a skateboard that is good for Cruising & skateparks?
Unfortunately, there isn’t much out there that straddles both of these worlds but it is possible to take a skatepark setup and turn it into a bit of a cruiser by replacing the “rounded off” wheels with larger diameter wheels down the road if desired.
Personally speaking, I have a skatepark specific board & a separate cruiser skateboard. I don’t love changing
How to choose the right size skateboard
As you progress with skateboarding you’ll learn what width of skateboard you prefer or feel most comfortable with. When you’re starting out it’s best to choose a width based on your shoe size (more specifically the size of your feet).
You’ll also have to think about the intended use of a skateboard to choose the correct width. If you intend on hitting the skatepark mostly then you’ll want a narrower, more concave board is best suited for tricks, rails & riding ledges.
If you’re just in it for the fun of it then a wider, flater cruiser board is best suited.
The most important measurement to look going forward is the width of a skateboard. See our illustration below which shows you the difference between length & width and where those measurements are taken.
Widths can vary…usually from 7-9+ inches. This doesn’t include longboards or penny boards which can vary quite a bit more.
The Best Skateboards FOR FEMALES – Cruisers
The handful of skateboards we are about to talk about are wider, flater boards that are best suited for cruising the pavement or boardwalks. You’ll be able to do some basic tricks but these setups aren’t ideas for the skatepark (we’ll get to those recommendations shortly).
You’re going to see a lot of Santa Cruz brand skateboards & there’s a good reason for that. They’re quality setups, at a reasonable price. You’ll find quality trucks, bearings & wheels assembled and ready to enjoy right out of the box.
After testing lots of brands and setups, Santa Cruz brand skateboards are still my favorite. You’ll find that all of these complete skateboards have fantastic graphics along with reliable wheels, trucks & bearings that will last.
Before we dive in to our recommendations, take a moment to measure the length of you or your female skateboarders shoe/foot so you can decide on a width of skateboard that will work for you.
I’ll just run a quick example by you. I wear a 7.5 (US women) and my feet are 9 inches long. My cruiser skateboard is 9.25 inches wide. With my shoes on, my feet are 95% on the board surface with just a little toe overhang. It’s okay (almost beneficial) to have a little toe overhang on the board for cruising but not too much. It can get uncomfortable with too much toe overhang. You use your toes for turning the board so having a little leverage (overhang) is good for control.
This Black & White Santa Cruz Street Cruzer comes in at 29.4″ long x 8.4″ wide. This is a great little cruiser skateboard with beefy 60mm diameter, perfectly matching wheels that are nice and soft for long rides (78a on the durometer hardness scale).
The graphics on this setup are timeless in my opinion and will look sharp for many years to come. This is the narrowest board on our list & is great for girls or women with smaller feet.
The Santa Cruz Neon Green complete skateboard comes in at 29.05″ x 8.79″ wide. This board comes in right in the middle of the pack on width. This board incorporates all of the same specs as the Black & White Santa Cruz Street Cruzer just with different colors.
Neon is all the rage as the colors & styles of the 80’s make their way back into fashion. You really can’t got wrong with these, bright retro graphics.
The Santa Cruz Classic Dot Cruzer comes in at 31.7 x 9.35″ wide which makes it one of the widest and longest boards on the “best of” list. It has all the same specs as the previously discussed cruisers but it gives you another color choice. If your female skateboarder has feet on the larger end of the spectrum this width (or the 9.51 width coming up next) may be best choice.
The Santa Cruz Time Warp Cruzer Skateboard comes in at 32.26″ x 9.51″ wide which makes it one of the widest and longest boards on our best skateboards for females list. If your female skateboarder has feet on the larger end of the scale (or you just want a really comfortable ride over long distances) this may be the best choice.
In my female opinion, this skateboard has the the radest, retro graphics & I LOVE those teal Krux trucks. Any skater girl would LOVE to have this colorful, retro board in her stable.
BEST SKATEBOARDS FOR FEMALES – SKATEPARK READY
Now, we’ll take a look at our top picks for skatepark ready complete skateboards for those readers who think they’ll be hitting the skatepark as soon as humanly possible.
You’ll notice that all the following completes have a much narrower width (relative to the cruisers discussed previously) and that’s because a narrower board is better for successfully completing tricks. The boards are also shaped (concave) so you can get more leverage on the board (while completing a kickflip as an example).
Take a moment to measure the length of your female skateboarders shoe or foot so you can decide on an appropriate width of skateboard.
With skatepark completes you’re going to have a lot more toe overhang and that’s okay because you need a lot of leverage on the board for tricks. You won’t be cruising around on these boards most likely, so comfort over a long distance isn’t that important.
The Santa Cruz Super Dot complete is another highly rated, 5 star skateboard. It ticks all the boxes on bearings, trucks and wheels and looks good while doing it. It measures 27.00in x 7.25in wide which brings it in on the narrower end of the scale for those with smaller feet.
The Santa Cruz Floral Decay complete is 5 star rated and has some really killer (yet feminine) graphics. It comes in at 30″ x 7.75″ wide. This is a quality starter skatepark board that comes in at the lower end of the price range which makes it a great value. The florals give it a feminine vibe & for skatepark ready completes we think this is the best skateboard for females.
The Santa Cruz Classic Dot Blue comes in at 32.2″ x 8.5″ wide which places it at the wider end on sizing. This board has a really nice setup with excellent bearings and trucks. The colors are neutral and timeless. I think you’ll love this one for years to come.
I hope you’ve learned a little bit more about how to choose an appropriate skateboard for girls or women. The best skateboards for females are as reliable as they are beautiful. Some females may want something very feminine, while many will just want to fit in with everyone else at the local skatepark.
If you’ve got your skateboard picked out then check out our article on Where to Put Your Feet on a Skateboard (which is the next step in the learning process). We’ve got tons of helpful illustrations and videos to help you get rolling as soon as that skateboard comes out of the box!
