The Most Beautiful Fins In The World

We caught up with the craftsmen behind these foiled beauties, Kfir Prima, to get the story straight from the source in how the world's most beautiful fins came into being.

SURFER: Tell me about the origins of Prima, what inspired you to start making wooden fins? Were you always a builder? Who are your mentors? 
Kfir Prima: It started with me wanting to be a shaper. I got a job in a surfboard factory fixing dings, hoping they'd teach me how to shape. At one point I realized they weren’t going to give me that chance, so I started searching for things I could create on my own. That’s how making fins came about. I started with fiberglass fins, but one day I noticed the timber processing factory next door throwing away loads of veneer offcuts. I’ve always been drawn to the vintage look of wooden surf gear, so when I saw those scraps in the trash I thought, cool, I can work with this! That’s how it all began—just finding those pieces and experimenting with them.

I was pretty much always a builder, yes. I come from a family that has always worked with their hands. My dad was a welder, he owns a steel construction company and is skilled in many crafts. One of my brothers is an engineer, and the other is an architect, so there’s always been a strong connection to technical knowledge and craftsmanship in my family. But while in the family it very much remains in the steel and home maintenance areas, I took it into the world that inspires me most—surfing.

So, you could say my first mentors were my family, my dad and my brothers, who showed me I could work with my hands and start a business with these skills. I also spent a lot of time searching for mentors in the surfing industry. At first, I wanted to find THE mentor who could teach me everything. But that never happened. Instead, I ended up gathering insights from different people in specific areas, and create something entirely of my own with it. 

SURFER: Tell us about the process that goes into the fins, for example, is sourcing the right wood easy and reliable or are you always on the hunt for materials? Were there a lot of modifications that needed to happen to fabricate new fins? 
Kfir Prima: Our fins are crafted primarily from upcycled wood veneer—thin slices of natural wood. To ensure strength and durability, we pair them with composite materials like fiberglass, carbon fiber, or basalt fiber, depending on the model.

The process begins by pressing layers of wood and composites together under high pressure to create a proprietary panel unique to Prima. From there, each fin is cut, hand-foiled, and finished with a combination of aqua coat and resin before I silk-screen our logo on. Every step happens in-house—even the fin screws and plates, which I make from steel scraps. Keeping production entirely in-house is important to me, to ensure the highest quality and stick to our commitment to sustainability.

When it comes to sourcing, all the veneers we use are offcuts salvaged from the local carpentry industry. These veneers are leftovers from large projects, that usually just get discarded. Seeing how much beautiful, high-value, natural material was going to waste inspired me to take action. Convincing veneer factories to partner with us was tricky at first—they couldn’t understand why anyone would want their leftovers. But over time, they understood our vision, and now we’ve built strong partnerships.

Sourcing veneers this way feels like a treasure hunt. We receive big bales of assorted offcuts and sift through them. Oak and mahogany are staples because they’re so common in local carpentry, but we also get surprises, like batches of American walnut, beech, ash, dyed oaks. Those unique finds let us create special editions, which is always exciting for us and our customers.

Another recent development is incorporating sustainably sourced composite materials. By collecting high-quality carbon fiber offcuts from the aerospace industry, we now have fins in our line that, apart from resin, are entirely upcycled. It’s a big step forward that I’m stoked to expand.

As for production modifications, making fins from natural materials required rethinking the entire production process. Wood behaves differently from any plastic, fiberglass and carbon fiber, so we couldn’t simply replicate common production methods. Every step required testing and adaptation. For instance, we had to experiment with layering techniques of different materials in our panel, to match the strength and durability of the best fins on the market. Fortunately, wood’s properties worked in our favor in some areas—for example, we use less resin in our panels.

After countless trials, I'm really proud to say we’ve created a fin that’s mostly wood yet performs at the highest level. It’s as light as honeycomb fins and as strong and stiff as top-tier fiberglass, with a distinctive flex pattern, a certain “pop” in the water that sets it apart. For me, that’s the key: sustainability can’t come at the cost of performance, or people won’t choose it. I feel with Prima, we’ve struck that balance. 

SURFER: What kind of feedback do you get from surfers after they first try your fins? Are there any scenarios, whether with boards or waves, that you would say your fins outperform traditional construction?
Kfir Prima: The first thing surfers always comment on is how beautiful the fins are. Sometimes I worry they’ll think they’re just for show—but the feedback in the water has been incredible as well. Most surfers talk about how lightweight and responsive the fins feel, often describing a unique “pop” or liveliness that can make even familiar boards feel like a new experience.

I think what’s at the core of that new feeling is the balance we’ve struck between weight and stiffness. Our fins are as light as honeycomb fins but much stiffer. It isn’t something you typically find in the market, where surfers often have to choose between a heavy rigid fin and a lightweight high-flex fin.

In terms of specific scenarios where we outperform, the feedback has been amazing across a range of boards and conditions. On twin mids, surfers have told me the lightweight fins unlock the board’s full performance potential. Kassia Meador told me she loves how light and easy our longboard fins feel on smaller days. Alex Lopez has said our single mids help his mid models hit a sweet spot that fiberglass fins sometimes miss. I’ve had performance twin riders, specifically those on the Album Twinsman, tell me about how our Upright Type 1 model pairs perfectly with the board, enhancing speed and drive.

To sum it up, Prima fins shines in conditions where lightness and responsiveness are key—which, in my experience, is most days. On the biggest swell of the year you might want heavier fins, but for daily waves of all kinds, I feel Prima ticks all the boxes.

SURFER: Tell us about the waves you normally surf and what kind of set up are you most regularly surfing at home? And, if you could go anywhere, what's your dream wave and what would you ride there?
Kfir Prima: Surfing in the Mediterranean it’s mostly small, with the occasional winter swell, so I spend a lot of time on a longboard. My go-to setup is a Thomas Bexon 9’9” Keeper paired with an 11” Prima Flex fin in oak. The Flex, inspired by George Greenough’s iconic 4A outline, feels perfect with Prima’s construction—I honestly can’t remember what it’s like to ride anything else. It just fits me, and I love it.

When the waves are getting punchy, I like my Alex Lopez 6’8” asym. I use an asymmetric fin setup: our Hybrid twin on the toe side for glide and speed, and our Upright Type 2 fin on the heel side for a more sensitive response.

As for my dream wave, that’s a tough one. To be honest, the waves we get at home have set my bar pretty low—so any proper ocean swell, big or small, feels amazing. That said, I’d love to revisit a few spots in Australia, like Bells, Lennox Head, and even Noosa. Those waves were dreamy for me.  

SURFER: Are there any other people, brands, or shops that you're collaborating with regularly? Who (or what) in the surf world is inspiring you right now? Is there any music out there that makes you feel like you are surfing? 
Kfir Prima: Even though Prima is still a small brand and I’m somewhat of an outsider, I’ve been fortunate to collaborate with incredible people in the surf world. Shops like Daydream in California, Klinika in Tel Aviv, Salty Swamis in Sri Lanka, and Drifter in Bali regularly stock our fins. Kassia Meador and Leah Dawson are good friends and trusted test pilots for Prima. I’ve worked with shapers like Alex Lopez, Shae Soma, and John Simon—we’re experimenting on his quad designs, and I collaborated with Doc Lauch on his signature model in our construction. I’d love to do more of that, collaborate with shapers and surfers on their own models. It’s a great way for people to experience our construction with something familiar, letting them compare and really feel the difference.

What inspires me most is this group within surf culture who is constantly exploring less harmful materials with lower environmental impact, without compromising performance. For me, it starts with Tom Wegener, who I consider one of the fathers of this movement. I spent time with him in Australia, and his belief in me and in the product really set a cornerstone for what we’re doing now.

Then there are surfers like Dave Rastovich and Torren Martyn, who are incredibly open to the world of alternative materials in performance surfing. They’re willing to test how different materials perform and experiment with new flex patterns, I feel like they really understand the potential of innovative constructions.

So this group of creatives and advocates—whether bringing back old materials like wood and combining them with modern technologies, as we do at Prima, or developing entirely new approaches like Verdure from NZ or Grow Blanks are doing—keeps me motivated to explore and innovate. 

In terms of music, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard’s music always connects to those high-adrenaline moments for me, whether surfing or working in the workshop. Beyond that, I’m really into local, Middle Eastern music. I’m of North African descent—Moroccan and Egyptian—so the sounds from that part of the world feel like they’re in my roots. They always get my feet moving, and I can almost hear them playing in my head while gliding on a longboard.

To check out more of Prima's fins, head on over to their website or IG and get yourself set up with some fins that'll rock your world.