Finding the Perfect Surf Hat

When it comes to hitting the waves, having the right gear is essential. While most surfers focus on their boards and wetsuits, an important accessory that often gets overlooked is a good surf hat. A good hat for surfing not only protects your skin from the sun's harmful rays but also keeps your head cool, eyes protected from the sun’s glare, and gives you added visibility in the water. When it comes to hats for surfers, we’ve got you covered, literally. In this guide, we’ll explore the technical features of what you want to look for in a surf hat, and what makes our Peach Surf hats a perfect fit. We want to keep you protected from the sun so you can focus on riding the waves in style and having your best surf session yet.

Material Matters

The first aspect to consider when choosing a surf hat is the material it’s made of. Opt for hats made from quick-drying and lightweight materials such as nylon or polyester. These materials will allow water to easily evaporate, preventing your hat from becoming heavy and uncomfortable, and prevent water from dripping into your eyes.

Additionally, choose a hat with ventilation features such as mesh panels or eyelets. These will allow air to circulate, keeping your head cool and preventing excessive sweating.

At Peach Surf Co., we tested a lot of different fabrics in the ocean in order to land on the perfect materials that provide a lightweight and quick drying performance feel, mesh panels for breathability, and a soft neoprene sweat band and top for extra comfort. We’ve taken our hats out for hours long 3-a-day sessions, to make sure we maximize comfort, performance, and fit.

Secure Fit

A well-fitting surf hat is crucial to ensure it stays in place during the biggest waves and toughest wipeouts. Look for hats with adjustable chin straps that can be tightened to comfortably fit your head. We’ve found that hats with a drawstring work for the most mellow of days, but they’ll fall off too easily, get lost after a fall, and are too distracting where we were constantly trying to re-adjust the hat after each ride. You should be focused on catching your next wave, not on chasing down your hat or adjusting it every time, so go for a hat that enhances your performance, not distract from it.

Our Peach Surf hats are made with a soft neoprene adjustable chin strap and a buckle to ensure a comfortable, unique-to-you fit. We also have an adjustable bungee for an additional layer of secure fit that allows you to adjust the hat to fit any size head.

Wide & Stiff Brim

To shield your face, neck, and eyes from the sun, opt for a surf hat with a wide and stiff brim. Our Peach hat optimizes for the perfect brim length - wide enough to prevent sunburn and protect your skin and prevent you from squinting from the sun’s glare, but not too wide that it obstructs your peripheral visibility when paddling for the wave. We opted for a bucket hat both for style but also for maximum sun protection —we found that while baseball caps help with some sun glare, they don’t offer as much sun protection and our face and neck would still get sun burned.

Another feature key to a good hat for surfing is a sturdy brim. Unlike your typical bucket hat, a stiff brim is important when taking it out to the water — no floppy brims where water drips in your eyes and distracts you from surfing here. Our Peach Surf hats not only have a stiff brim to hold up through duck dives and getting thrown around under water, our brim material also floats, so even if you toss your hat into the ocean, your hat will resurface meaning you’ll never have to lose another hat to the ocean again.

Style

Gone are the days of looking kooky in boonie hats and baseball caps. The idea behind our surfing bucket hats started because we couldn’t find any hats we wanted to wear ourselves- everything out there was black, flimsy, and ugly. We didn’t want to choose between style and function, so we decided to make bucket hats in a range of colors and prints so you can express your unique style in the lineup and beyond. Whether you want to go for more neutrals like our toasted coconut surf hat, or opt for a fun pop of color to help you stand out like our seaweed surf hat, we’ve got you covered. We love matching our hat to our board and suit, and switching it up each time we paddle out!

Now that you’ve got the lowdown on all the essential technical features that go into a surf hat, time for the fun part of picking out the look that best fits your vibe—take a peek at all of our cute color options here. We can’t wait to see you rock it in the lineup and beyond!