Bodysurfing

Bodysurfing is the art and sport of riding a wave without the assistance of any buoyant device such as a surfboard or bodyboard. Bodysurfers typically equip themselves only with a bathing costume or wetsuit depending on the local water temperature, and a pair of swimfins for optimized propulsion.

Some practitioners carry or wear a small planing surface on the hand to aid with positioning on the wave face: This helps to support a recommended safety practice that anyone engaging in bodysurfing should be careful to hold a hand out in front of where their head is whenever they are on a wave in case they wipe out.