What does bodysurfing mean?
Bodysurfing is the practice of riding a breaking wave without any flotation device such as a surfboard or bodyboard, relying instead on one's own body positioned on or in the water as the wave carries it toward shore. Practitioners often use swim fins on their feet for propulsion and sometimes a small handboard (or handplane) to improve lift and control, but these are aids rather than essentials. The word combines "body" and "surfing," reflecting its status as the simplest and most elemental form of wave-riding; it is widely regarded as the original way humans rode waves, long predating modern board-based surfing equipment. Bodysurfing is most common as an uncountable noun describing the activity itself, and it appears frequently in beach, travel, and sports writing. Its connotations are relaxed and playful, evoking summer, spontaneity, and direct physical contact with the sea, though skilled practitioners treat it as a demanding discipline requiring timing, strength, and ocean awareness.
nounThe sport or activity of riding on a breaking wave without a surfboard, using only one's body, often with the aid of hand paddling and sometimes small handboards or swim fins.
- The activity of riding a breaking wave directly on one's body without a board.
"He spent the whole afternoon bodysurfing in the shorebreak at Waimea Bay."
"She grew up bodysurfing every summer at Newport Beach."
"With a pair of swim fins and a handplane, he turned casual bodysurfing into an art form."
Rarely used; bodysurfing is almost always uncountable, so no plural form is needed in ordinary usage.
"His many bodysurfings over decades of summers left him with an intimate knowledge of the shorebreak."
Bodysurfing is the oldest form of wave-riding — humans were surfing with nothing but their bodies centuries before the modern surfboard was ever shaped.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bodysurfing
The term is a compound of "body," from Old English "bodig," and "surfing," which derives from "surf," likely via 17th-century English nautical usage of uncertain earlier origin. As a compound word, bodysurfing emerged alongside the broader development of surfing terminology in English, particularly in 20th-century American and Australian beach culture, where distinct terms arose for different styles of wave-riding. Its related forms include the verb "bodysurf" and the agent noun "bodysurfer."
Related word forms
How bodysurfing is actually used
The word is typically uncountable when referring to the activity in general ("I love bodysurfing") but can be used countably to refer to instances of it. It is informal-to-neutral in register and strongly associated with beach and surf culture.
Easily confused with bodysurfing
Bodyboarding involves riding waves on a buoyant foam board held under the body, whereas bodysurfing uses no board at all, only the surfer's own body.