I thoroughly enjoy reading articles and books about bodysurfing. I also love watching videos of people bodysurfing.
The only problem with this somewhat niche obsession of mine is that there are relatively few bodysurfing resources that exist on the internet today.
When it comes to board-surfing, however, there are hundreds of books, magazines, films, and websites to be found when browsing the web. A simple google search of the term “surfing” turns up over 750 million results, while “bodysurfing” turns up less than 5 million.
What is more, board-surfing has a nearly 500-page book dedicated to the topic: The History of Surfing. Bodysurfing has next to nothing of the sort.
But I can’t blame the surf industry for this oversight—bodysurfing is nowhere near as sexy or profitable as board-surfing.
In fact, I am grateful that there is so little information about bodysurfing accessible on the web. Not only has it provided me with a fun challenge in tracking down the information that does exist, but it forces me to produce original and creative content.
Bodysurfing is a passion-driven niche topic that I am more than happy to fill, and have done so with surprising success. I had no idea when I started writing one of my very first blogs on bodysurfing back in 2019, Everything You Need To Know About Bodysurfing, that it would ultimately become one of the top-read blogs about bodysurfing on the internet.
While writing said article, I stumbled across several helpful and interesting bodysurfing resources that I stored as a list of links on a Google Doc. Today, I am sharing this list with you, my valued reader.
I hope you find this list of bodysurfing articles, books, and videos as compelling as I do!
Best Bodysurf Reads
Books
- The Art of Wave Riding (1931), Ron Drummond
- How To Body Surf (1970), Nelson Dewey
- The Art of Body Surfing (1972), Robert Gardner
- Bodysurf – Aux origines du surf (2002), Verlomme & Masurel
- North Shore Chronicles: Big-Wave Surfing in Hawaii (2005), Bruce Jenkins
- Passion Bodysurf (2008), Muguet, Verlomme & Masurel
- Bodysurfing (2009), Neville de Mestre
- The Progressive Art of Bodysurfing: A Style Manual (2011), Paul Kosten
- The Plight of the Torpedo People (2012), Keith Malloy et al.
- The Yoga of Bodysurfing (2018), David Lane
Articles
- A Strange Diversion
- All Stripped Down
- Being the Wave
- Big Wave Bodysurfing
- Bodysurf Skills Required
- Bodysurfing San Francisco
- How to Bodysurf
- Kaku: Mark Cunningham Profile
- Mathematics and Bodysurfing
- My Boardless Bestie
- Pointless Beauty
- Real Bodysurfers
- Regardless of Circumstance
- Sandy Beach: The Paralyzer
- Sessions Measured in Millimeters
- Skin of the Ocean
- Surf Riding is a Favorite Summertime Sport
- The Body Will Suffice
- The Closest Thing To Being Born
- The Lip Comes Down
- The Natural State
- The Rush of Bodysurfing in Rio
- What Lies Beneath
- Why I Bodysurf
- Why Surf Schools Should Teach Bodysurfing
Bodysurfing Films
- Slippery When Wet – 1958 (38:24)
- Barefoot Adventure – 1960 (40:58)
- Water-Logged – 1962 (26:24)
- Waves to Freedom – 1988
- A Brokedown Melody – 2004
- Sprout – 2004
- Come Hell or High Water – 2011
- Dirty Old Wedge – 2016
- Fishpeople – 2017
- Fueled by Water – 2017
- The Yoga of Bodysurfing – 2018
- The Church of the Open Sky – 2018
- Mark Drewelow, Bodysurfer – 2019
- Kalani: Gift from Heaven – 2020
- The Art of Bodysurfing – 2022
Wipeout to Bodysurf Recovery
- Billy Kemper at Puerto Escondido
- Brett Burcher at The Right
- Koa Rothman at Jaws
- Mikey Wright in Indonesia
- Nathan Florence at Teahupoo (5:46)
- Ramon Navarro in Chile
- Sebastian Williams at Jeffreys Bay (1:58)