Firewire Seaside Volcanic 6'1 review: a wide fish that never felt right
Updated 2026-09-20
The Firewire Seaside Volcanic is a 6'1 EPS quad fish, one of the most recognised fish-style shapes on the market. It is a genuinely well-made, well-regarded board, and it still ended up sold because it simply never felt right underfoot.
What it is and why I bought it
I bought this Seaside stock, an EPS board just under 23 inches wide and 3 inches thick, coming in at 46.5 litres over 6'1, with a modern fish bottom running single to double concave into vee, finished with a swallow tail and a quad fin setup. I sized it up on purpose: at 6'1 it is an oversized board for my height, bought as an easy, effortless glider for the smallest, softest days.
How it surfed
It was built and kept as a quad the whole time I owned it. It replaced an earlier Go Fish in the quiver, and I never rode it as a twin even though plenty of people set this exact model up that way. Mostly I ran a regular quad set of its own Firewire fins on it. It moved on despite the board's reputation and build quality. The plain truth was that its unusually wide outline felt wrong every time it came off the rack. A Channel Islands Feb's Fish of similar length and volume, with a straighter, less bulbous outline, ended up doing the same job better as a twin than the Seaside managed as a quad.
Who it suits and who it does not
A wide, quad-fin fish like this suits someone who prefers extra width underfoot and does not mind a bulkier outline; plenty of surfers get on well with this exact shape. It is also genuinely easy to replace, since it is a stock model sold through surf shops everywhere rather than anything custom. It simply did not suit this particular rider's preference for a straighter, narrower outline, which is the entire reason it moved on rather than any fault in the build or design itself.
What happened to it
It has since sold. Not because of any flaw in the build, but because a straighter, less bulbous board of similar size and volume ended up doing the same job better.
Questions people ask
Why was the Firewire Seaside sold despite being a well-regarded board?
Its unusually wide outline never felt right, and a straighter, less bulbous board of similar size and volume ended up doing the same job better.
What replaced the Firewire Seaside in the quiver?
A Channel Islands Feb's Fish of similar length and volume, which paddled better as a twin than the Seaside did as a quad.
Was the Seaside ever ridden as a twin?
No. It was kept as a quad on purpose, the setup it replaced an earlier Go Fish with, even though some riders convert this model to a twin.
This one has sold; more on the boards that came and went sits on the quiver hub. For the board that replaced it, see the Channel Islands Feb's Fish. For the wider story of boards it helped push out, see the purge.