Once you try it out. It’s hard to deny how much fun bodyboarding is.
Although boogie boarding, AKA bodyboarding, was once seen as the inferior option to surfing due to it seeming to require less skill to perform, having a silly name (“boogie” as in boogie-woogie), and not being as impressive visually to watch, time is the great equalizer eventually showed in recent times that bodyboarding was and is just as cool as surfing.
Basically, once enough people stopped guffawing at bodyboarding, many people realized what a great water sport it actually is, and here we are today – it’s just too much fun to ignore!
Today’s post is all about this cool sport that is getting more popular all over the world. So, here is what we are going to cover today:
- Is bodyboarding better than surfing?
- What to Look for When buying a Bodyboard?
- Best Boogie Boards on the Market 2020
- Bo-Toys Lightweight Body Board
- Slick Lizard Pro Series Bodyboard
- Lucky Bums Body Board with EPS Core
- Morey Mach 7
- BZ The Big Bruddah Body and Boogie Board
Let’s start by discussing whether bodyboarding is better than surfing…
Is bodyboarding better than surfing?
Short answer: no, one sport is not better than the other, but here are some reasons you might want to try bodyboarding before you go surfing… Let us mention some of those reasons:
It’s fairly easy to learn
Bodyboarding is easier to learn than surfing, because you don’t have to stand up. If surfing seems just a bit too crazy for you, as taking a board out and balancing on it might be too hard, bodyboarding allows you to be closer to the water and steering is a lot easier because your hands can be in the water as you skim along.
Also, if you manage to master bodyboarding you should have no problems learning surfing in the future either.
Bodyboards are more portable
Bodyboards are more portable than surfboards. You don’t need any kind of apparatus attached to your vehicle to carry around a boogie board, you just toss it in your car and away you go, due to their relatively smaller size than surfboards.
Their relatively small size makes them incredibly light as well. You won’t have any problems carrying them around the beach while looking for a prefect bodyboarding spot.
All ages activity
More of an all-ages activity than surfing. With surfing, you need to stand up, balance and steer with your lower body. You need a lot of core strength and dexterity to do that.
With bodyboarding, anyone can do it – young or old. It’s easy, you can ride in on a small wave, and it still is lots of fun.
Less dangerous
Bodyboarding is also less dangerous than surfing. Because of the size of surfboards, there is always the desire to go out further and ride bigger waves. That means you’re more likely to get injured as the wipeouts can be pretty gnarly.
With bodyboarding, you can still get hurt, just as much as you can get hurt tripping on the sidewalk. But, relatively speaking, it’s less risky to bodyboard than it is to surf.
You can take it up a notch if you like
Bodyboarding may be more of an all ages sport than surfing, simply due to the nature of the sport being easier to learn and such, but if you want to take it up a notch, you sure can.
There are many pro bodyboarders who have proved time and again that the sport can be just as thrilling as surfing, like Iain Campbell here bodyboarding in Hawaii in 2017.
Next, we bring you some tips you should follow when buying a bodyboard.
What to Look for When buying a Bodyboard?
There are several factors that go into one of the best boogie boards out there on the market, so we created a guide to make sure that you know what you’re getting when you finally make your purchase.
Without further ado here is what you need to look for when buying a boogie board:
Correct size and shape
When buying a boogie board, you should look for one that is as close to the right size for you as possible. When choosing the right size you should follow this important rule:
- The board that is too long for you will push water and be harder to paddle into waves. They will also be much harder to control
- The board that is too small for you will lack flotation and feel very loose. Due to small size, it is also a lot harder to catch waves on it.
So, when choosing the right board, stand it in front of you, the nose of the board should come somewhere between the top of your hip and your tummy button.
The width of the board also plays an important role. Different widths bring different possibilities:
Wider boards provide more flotation and are especially good for bigger riders
Medium width boards are good all-rounders but might require more push in the wave if you are a heavier rider.
Narrow boards are the fastest ones. However they are harder to pull moves off at slow speeds.
The Widepoint
The wide point on your boogie board is literally the widest point down from the nose of the board.
Boards that have the wide point towards the middle work great in most conditions. These boards are great for bot prone (lying) and drop knee (semi-standing) bodyboarding.
The further up your board the wide point is, the more directional your board becomes. These boards work great in bigger waves as your weight is pulled a bit further up the board for speed.
Flat Bodyboard
When looking for a boogie board, you should make sure the one you are buying is flat.
Hold down the board you are interested in on its edge and look down its rail; it should nice and flat.
Bodyboards with excess rocker are hard to catch waves on. They also push water and are therefore much slower.
When you need rocker (for turns) you should be able to bend it into the board whilst riding.
Flex and Recoil
Ok, here is a simple formula for you:
Flex + recoil = projection and speed
This is the magic that really makes your bodyboard work.
Although stiffer boards work great in bigger waves, clean surf, and warmer waters, they can be incredibly hard to control in choppy conditions.
Riding on a stiff board is similar to driving a car with no suspension down a rough track – slow and hard to control.
A board with good flex and recoil will literally fire you through turns, spins, rolls and airs. Even the act of catching a wave is much easier on a board with the right flex.
Build Quality
Have you ever been wondering what is the difference between a $30 board and $300 board? They look the same, have the same size and the same wide point but for some reason don’t cost the same.
Strength, build quality and performance are the key features that make the difference between a $30 board and $300 board.
When looking for a high-performance bodyboard, you should look for a board made of high-quality materials such as polyethylene and polypropylene.
Boards made of these materials will bring you the performance you need and will serve you for many years.
Now that you know some of the things to look for to qualify a boogie board as one of the best on the market, we’ll present to you our list of the best boogie and bodyboards on the market.
Best Boogie Boards on the Market 2020
#5 – Bo-Toys Lightweight Body Board with EPS Core
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This Bo-Toys bodyboard is ranked #5 on our list of best boogie boards on the market for a number of reasons.
The board is a solid length at a good 41 inches, so it’s sure to accommodate kids of any size.
It comes with the customary strap attached to it, that is supposed to Velcro around the child’s wrist. The strap will prevent your board from floating away from you in case you fall of it.
The color scheme of the board is very simple, yet effective in terms of aesthetics. It features forest green as the primary color with a splash of blue in the design of some sort of tribal design. However, it also comes in an assortment of 3 other different color schemes. One is the base color of pink with a green splash. The other is red with a splash of white, and then finally blue as the primary, with a splash of green, the alternate of the main boogie board featured.
The material of the boogie board is high-density polyethylene.
Read our full review of the Bo-Toys Lightweight Body Board
On to the next one…
Bodyboard Slick Lizard Board (Light Blue With Yellow Back, 33″)
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Coming in at #4 on our best boogie boards list is the Slick Lizard Pro Series Bodyboard. The Slick Lizard is without a doubt one of the better boogie boards that you can find on the market.
The board’s design is slightly different than you would expect from most other boogie boards that you can purchase.
It has an all baby blue base cover, with a Pro Series graphic design across the middle, as well as other words affixed around the boogie board’s cover, and a white wave design, which is pretty cool. Overall, the board looks very aesthetically pleasing.
The size of the board is 33 inches in length, so it is perfect for all size waves.
It’s designed with bright neon slick backs, has an IXPE deck as well as a tail in the shape of a bat, in order to give the board a looser frame and allows it to travel faster along the water.
The board also comes with a detachable nylon leash.
Read our full review of the Slick Lizard Body Board
Moving on to number 3 on our list…
#3 – Lucky Bums Body Board with EPS Core
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Coming in at #3 on our list is the Lucky Bums Body Board with an EPS Core.
This board is definitely one of the higher quality boards, that one can find on the market, and that’s evident from its pricing as well as the design on the board itself.
Aesthetically, the board is very simple, yet efficient in design.
In terms of features of this board and materials, the craft is amazing. It comes featured with a very unique design equipped with 60/40 rails, and high-density polyethylene as well. In addition, the board, being designed with the EPS Core, helps push it toward being one of the better boards that one can find on the market .
The high-density polyethylene bottom and the EPS core make this bodyboard incredibly lightweight, durable, and buoyant. This board doesn’t require any modification or assembly; it’s ready to hit the wave out of the box.
Read our full review of the Lucky Bums Body Board
On to the next one…
#2 – Morey Mach 7
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Coming in at #2 on our list of Best Boogie Boards is the Morey Mach 7.
The Morey Mach 7 shines in a number of ways, and one of the best benefits you get with this board is the best craftsmanship that is available currently in the industry.
Out of all of the boards covered on our list, this one has one of the simplest designs, coming in base colors of either yellow or orange with the logo of the company that manufactured it up top in black. However, the board’s prowess really comes from the features and materials that are embedded within.
The presence of a tail maximized for boogie boarding, a power rod stringer, and a unique deck are all things that make this boogie board an enviable choice. The power rod stringer gives the board solid reinforced strength.
This board is designed for riders who are between 160 and 180 lbs and less than 6′-0 tall.
Read our full review of the Morey Mach 7
Last but not least, BZ Big Bruddah body and boogie board…
#1 – BZ The Big Bruddah Body and Boogie Board
Click Here To Find The Best Price Today
Oh yes…The BZ Big Bruddah Body And Boogie Board (45 Inch). Without further ado, coming in at #1 on our list is the Big Bruddah Body and Boogie Board.
This thing is absolutely no joke, and we could probably write a book listing all the reasons that it’s the number one board on our list.
Aesthetically, this board is probably just as simple in design as our #2 board, the Morey Mach 7. The board features a very deep, ocean-blue primary color as well as the company’s logo at the top in all white, to create a nice contrast on the board aesthetically.
This board is specifically designed for bigger riders to be able to use without issue. This board is very often described as “the best big guy board on the market”.
It comes with some very desirable features such as an innovative nose grip, Zero-G PP exclusive core to increase durability and remove unnecessary weight, a dual VFS hardened strip, and more.
The dual VFS hardened strip, provides flexibility and a snappy return making it an extremely functional bodyboard.
The Zero-G PP core makes this board extremely durable and ideal for extreme body boarding performance.
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