The higher AR the better glide, period.
But they can be tricky to ride, and if not small turns worse.
Most wingers ride unbroken swell or waves (only)
The difficult part is, swell, the better the faster, will overtake you.
So you need a fast wing, meaning small and/or thin.
Your faster speed will make up for the loss in lift (because of the smaller area)
But if you have slower waves, say closer to shore or if wind swell and not ground swell, they are a lot slower and you can ride easier with a medium sized wing in my experience.
For average weights, 1500 cm2 thin wings can work in slow waves, but most ride 1200 cm2, and smaller often 1000 cm2.
Some ride 5-600 cm2 wings and use the apparent wind to get lift and power, and the higher speed to be able to turn on the waves or ride diagonally instead of "just keeping up" with the wave pace.
It is easy to ride with a bigger wing, but if the wave speed are close to overtake you, it is too big.
You have to find out yourself what works for you.
Anything bigger than 1500 cm2 is useless though, in my experience, and will be even worse when faster swell than we have here
If you have no idea, and average weight, go for a reasonably high AR 1200 cm2.
Peter