An honest beginner’s guide.
There’s a potential trap waiting for every person who decides to get into bodyboarding.
Now, if you read my first post, this may seem like I am being a bit of a hypocrite, as the board in that story was indeed one of these lower-end holiday boards.
But that was the 90s before the internet, and little did we know that there was a whole world of gear available to us. Bear with me as I try to break it down.
So you're on holiday, and you see it in the supermarket or a bargain surf shop, the £15 bodyboard, and you think to yourself, that's a cost of entry I can get behind. But as they say, buy cheap, buy twice.
Now, this isn’t about shaming affordability, and for many, this £15 could be a priceless moment of access to the ocean.
But I can assure you it will not last. Within the first 20 minutes or after one big wave, the core of that board will split into two pieces, floating loose inside the plastic sock used as the outer skin. The leash will snap, and you will ditch that board before the holidays end. Not only are you disappointed with the wave-riding experience, but you also leave an unnecessary environmental cost.
Keep Britain Tidy estimates more than 16,000 cheap polystyrene bodyboards are discarded on UK beaches every year. And that's just what gets counted. In Newquay alone, beach rangers estimate 20 boards are thrown away every day during the holiday season.
More than 14,000 of these boards head to landfill every summer; they are manufactured in China and shipped more than 11,000 miles.
Now I'm not going to deny that much of our surfing gear comes from outside the U.K so if it is going to leave an environmental impact, let's buy gear that will last for years.
I have had my first proper board since I was 14, and, apart from the bottom-right corner missing where a mouse had a nibble, it is still used today, 23 years later.
On the other side of the equation, one quick Google can land you in a sea of jargon with PP cores versus EPS cores, channels, concaves, rocker profiles, and enough variations of swim fins to leave you scratching your head as to why you are looking at £500 worth of gear to splash about in the water.
So here is my as-close-to-no-nonsense guide to getting you in the water.
Bodyboarding is one of those awesome sports that can be enjoyed by all skill levels, and there is loads of progression from your first few beach visits of catching whitewash into the beach to the unreal feeling of carving across the front of an unbroken wave. Throw in spins, rolls, and aerials, and there is plenty of enjoyment to be had for many years.
When you're first starting out, you don’t need perfect waves. You need a lifeguarded beach, a half-decent board and a wetsuit. You don't even need to begin with swimfins. It's actually really beneficial for your confidence to get used to the feeling of being bashed about by waves, but also to be able to stand up after a tumble.
Here is my top 3 beginner boards.
Buy in the middle. Skip the supermarket special and don't indulge in the full performance setup to begin with. You’re looking for something in the £60–120 range from a proper surf shop or online board retailer. At this price point, you get a board with a decent core, stringers for strength, and a base slick that won't peel away. Don’t agonise over the brand at this stage; there is plenty of time for that when you become obsessed with wave riding.
Number 3 VISION SPARK BODYBOARD
You will see this board at most of your reputable surf shops. It's a no-nonsense, family-friendly board you will outgrow and pass on before it breaks. A budget, family-friendly board that will get everyone having a go!
Buy Here
A little sustainable bonus: Vision boards also make the Vision Slab Range. These boards are very similar to my first board and are made from recycled materials, making them great for beginners and pretty hard to break. The only downside is that it flexes a lot, so it will not be great for more advanced boarding and bigger days. But if you want a family board, you can pull it out of the shed every summer and bash it about for a week or two, throw it back in the shed, and it will be ready to go year after year. This might be a great option.
Buy Here
Number 2 Decathlon 500
This board uses many of the same materials and the well-known top brands, and at this price point, this could be a really good investment. A robust board that will take you from beginner to well into intermediate. Although you don't immediately think of Decathlon for surfgear, these boards seem to be earning themselves a great reputation. I personally haven’t owned one, but my brother-in-law loves his!
Number 1 Science bodyboard pipe
This is for the person who is committing to this new hobby and will use their board year-round to intentionally build their skills. It's a great entry into the pro board ecosystem, with its stringer (a pipe or wood running through the centre of a board) adding rigidity, which ultimately helps increase speed. I was looking after my brother's one of these boards, and my middle child left it on the beach, which was a massive shame as we loved this board strong, fast, and great for duck diving.
You will also need a proper leash. I love the stuff thrash do.
Getting the right size is also pretty straightforward:
The Chin-to-Knee Test: When holding the board upright in front of you, the bottom of the board should reach your knees and the top should hit just below your chin. This represents the exact surface area you'll be riding on.
or
The Belly Button Test: Stand the board on the ground upright next to your body. The nose of the board should rest roughly around your belly button (or 1 inch below).
Most people go too small. Bigger is far more forgiving when you’re learning, allowing you to catch waves more easily.
Wetsuits
The same rule applies here: stay away from cheap supermarket wetsuits. A bad wetsuit can ruin your experience; it can be cold, hard to get on and off and rub in all the wrong places. But this doesn’t mean you need to break the bank; there are often secondhand suits online that have been barely worn. End-of-season sales also see surf schools retiring old gear, so for you super savvy surfers, there are plenty of bargains to be found.
For UK water, you want a minimum of 3/2mm for summer and 4/3mm if you’re going in from October onwards. I personally prefer the front-zip suit over the back-zip, as water can get in through the back zip, but if budget is a consideration, the back-zip suit tends to be cheaper.
You don't need an ultra-flexible suit to start with, and I have found that the super-stretchy neoprene does perish faster, even though they are super comfy and easy to get on and off.
A decent wetsuit in the £80–150 range will last you years if you rinse it after every session. It is the single best investment you’ll make.
Check out Tiki’s Wetsuits https://www.tikisurf.co.uk/collections/wetsuits
Swim Fins
Here’s the thing about fins: you don’t need them to start. Bodyboarding without fins works perfectly well in small to medium surf, and I would recommend that beginners start with them. Once you have begun to master timing, body positioning, and how the board reacts in the water, nail those base skills. So when you’re ready to start chasing green giants, it's time to bring fins into the equation and open up a whole new world of fun.
The problem with buying fins is that it comes down to personal preference. Some people like really stiff fins, some like flexible fins, and some value comfort over performance.
So you may have to do a bit of digging to find what works for you.
I currently use the OG Hydro Fin. They are pretty stiff but comfortable enough for longer sessions.
I am hoping to get some DAFin Fins later this year as I have been told they are very comfortable.
Getting in the water — the one thing that matters most
So you have your board, you're suited up, then what? Wade out to about hip height, point the board towards the beach, and push off the sand with your feet, trying to match the speed of the breaking wave. Easy right? Well, maybe for your kids, you will see them zipping into the beach almost immediately. But for yourself, it may take a while to find your position on the board and the timing for catching the waves.
Too early, and the wave will wash over you; too late, and you will fall off the back of it. If your body is too far forward on the board, your nose is going under; you are going to be rolling around in a washing machine too far back; and the disheartening feeling of not catching anything while everyone shoots past you. To start, have the base of your board just below your tummy, sort of sitting on the top of your thighs. One or two hands on the nose.
This creates a nice A-frame that you can hinge off your hips. When the wave is coming, try not to jump up onto it, but hinge at the hips, so the base of the board makes contact with the water, and give a strong push from your feet to glide into the wave. Once on the wave, keep your chest up and move one hand to the rail of the board, then lower the forearm of the hand holding the nose to the deck of the board, snug to your rail.
You want your centre of mass to be on top of the deck and not dragging in the water behind you. Subtley slide forward and back on the deck to find a well-balanced position. As I’ve said, this will take practice, so go for everything; don’t spend the day waiting for the perfect wave. Ride anything and everything. Once you have these fundamentals figured out, you will be zipping down the white water alongside your friends.
So get out there, take your family or your friends, bodyboarding is for life, not just summer holidays. It's not the baby brother of surfing; it's actually surfing's origin story. Inside the heart of every stand-up surfer is a secret sponger.
Got questions about the kit or technique? Reply and ask — I read everyone. And if you know someone who’s been thinking about getting in the water, send this to them. That’s what the Union is for.
