Bodysurfing is an ancient, global pastime that predates both board surfing and written history. Many Indigenous peoples developed and practiced recreational bodysurfing independently of each other for millennia. But it was in Polynesia that the sport evolved into what it is today.
Sadly, no historian has written a comprehensive history of bodysurfing. But several old books, newspaper and magazine articles, journal entries, and early photographs may provide us with clues about the pastime’s origins.
Although the “unofficial” history you are about to read is neither precise nor complete, it gives us a strong foundation for understanding where bodysurfing began and how it developed throughout the world.
A General History of Bodysurfing
The first recreational surfer could have been someone bodysurfing a wave, thrilled by the experience and swimming out to do it again, or a swimmer clutching a piece of driftwood and using it to plane on the surface of a breaker. – The Illustrated Atlas of Surfing History
In essence, there have been three distinct eras in bodysurfing history. Each era began with the adoption of new inventions that forever changed the sport. These eras are as follows: Pre Swim Fin (antiquity-1945), Post Swim Fin (1945-1970), and Modern (1970-present).
Pre Swim Fin Era (Antiquity-1945)
Prior to the invention of swim fins, bodysurfing would have been fairly rudimentary in most wave riding cultures. That is, riding a broken wave straight to shore in a simple prone position.
That said, certain outstanding pre-fin bodysurfers, such as Duke Kahanamoku, were unhindered by the lack of equipment. (In a recent video, Dave Rastovich proved that swim fins were not essential to elite level bodysurfing.)
Based on historical records, early bodysurfers were prevalent throughout Polynesia, West Africa, the Mediterranean and Black seas, India, Japan, Southeast Asia, Australia, and even China—where bodysurfers rode an annual tidal bore at the mouth of the Qiantang River in the 12th century BC.
Additionally, Indigenous peoples of the Americas (including the Caribbean) probably bodysurfed, but written accounts have been hard to find.
In 1931, California ocean lifeguard Ron Drummond published The Art of Wave Riding, one of the earliest bodysurf manuals ever written.
Drummond wrote this how-to book to educate the masses about proper bodysurfing technique: “Wave riding—without a surfboard—is a sport with which few people are familiar, and it is undoubtedly in its initial stages of development. There are no books of instruction on the subject, and at present only a few of the more athletically inclined have become proficient wave riders.”
Post Swim Fin Era (1945-1970)
Although Owen Churchill first patented swim fins in 1940, their widespread adoption occurred after World War II.
The added propulsion of swim fins allowed bodysurfers to catch waves with ease. Now they could glide seamlessly across breaking waves while performing maneuvers that were heretofore impossible.
Bodysurfing experienced a great boom during this era and was featured in surfing contests, surf films, books, and major publications such as Life, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, National Geographic, and Surfer.
Commenting on the sport’s popularity, Hawaiian bodysurfer ‘Boots’ Healani Matthews stated: “In the 1950s, if you knew how to surf, you knew how to bodysurf.”
In 1953, the first major bodysurf contest in Hawaii was held at Makapu’u on Oahu. The event was so successful that bodysurfing was later added to the renowned Makaha International Surfing Championships.
“Although surfing was becoming more glamorous,” wrote Stuart Holmes Coleman in Fierce Heart: The Story of Makaha and the Soul of Hawaiian Surfing, “bodysurfing was still revered as the purest and most original form of wave-riding.”
Modern Era (1970-Present)
Two inventions established bodysurfing’s modern era: the surf leash and the boogie board. From 1970 onward, surfers no longer needed to bodysurf after lost surfboards (thanks to ankle leashes). Plus, many would-be bodysurfers became bodyboarders instead.
Furthermore, surfing’s shortboard revolution produced a new generation of surfers who were not as keen bodysurfers as their predecessors. Then, the commercialization of board surfing took off in the 1980s, relegating bodysurfing to the cultural underground.
Thankfully, premier contests like the Pipeline Bodysurfing Classic remained, allowing iconic bodysurfer Mark Cunningham to revitalize the sport.
In 2011, Come Hell or High Water sparked a resurgent interest in bodysurfing as a minimalist alternative to board surfing.
Even professional surfers like Belinda Baggs (featured in the aforementioned film), have acknowledged their passion for wave riding sans surfboard:
I love the pureness and simplicity of bodysurfing. Feeling the cold water immersing my body, the currents pulling you and wave energy pushing. It’s wild and free. Vulnerable, but also like a big hug from nature. We are part of this world—not separate or above it—all working in harmony to find the balance of survival. Bodysurfing is a good reminder of that.
Looking forward, bodysurfing may soon become an Olympic sport. The IBSA aims to add bodysurfing as a “discipline of surfing” at the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane, Australia.
Bodysurfing: An Ancient Polynesian Pastime
Surfing was practiced throughout Polynesia. On most islands it was child’s play. However, in the eastern range around Tahiti and the Marquesas, and down south among the Māori of New Zealand, wave riding was also an adult sport. The majority would bodysurf or use some spare timber to help run before a breaker. – The Illustrated Atlas of Surfing History
Polynesians were expert watermen and women, relying on their connection with the ocean for fishing, transportation, exploration, and recreation. The Polynesian Triangle—bounded by Hawaii, New Zealand, and Easter Island—was home to many of the world’s original bodysurfers.
Polynesians passed down their bodysurfing knowledge through generations, perhaps beginning over 4,000 years ago. When Polynesian explorers arrived in Hawaii around 400 A.D., wave riding was common practice among the archipelago’s new inhabitants.
Oral History
One of the oldest accounts of bodysurfing came from The Epic Tale of Hi’iakaikapoliopele. After centuries of oral tradition, a Hawaiian-language newspaper finally transcribed the story in the early 1900s.
In this ancient Hawaiian saga, “the goddess Hi’iaka and her brother, Kānemilohae, surf with the Kaua’i chief, Lohi’au, as part of an effort to bring him permanently back to life,” wrote surf historian John Clark in Hawaiian Surfing: Traditions From the Past. “At Hi’iaka’s direction, she and Lohi’au swim far out to sea, where she turns her pā’ū, her sarong, into a surfboard for him. They catch a huge wave together with Lohi’au board surfing and Hi’iaka bodysurfing, and as they are riding, Kānemilohae appears on the wave with them, riding a seashell surfboard.”
As Clark pointed out: “This legendary reference to bodysurfing establishes the sport as a wave-riding activity of the earliest Hawaiians, and one that was demonstrated and sanctioned by the gods.”
Early Written Accounts
Given that Pacific Islanders maintained oral traditions, it wasn’t until the 1700s that Europeans first wrote about Polynesian wave riding. In 1769, Joseph Banks—a member of Captain Cook’s first voyage around the world on the HMS Endeavor—observed Tahitian bodysurfers.
In the first written account of wave riding in the Pacific, Banks wrote, “At this wonderful scene we stood gazing for more than half an hour, during which time none of the swimmers attempted to come on shore, but seemed to enjoy their sport in the highest degree.”
Despite bodysurfing being the most common form of wave riding throughout Polynesia, board surfing garnered the most attention from historians.
“Bodysurfing, or kaha nalu, was as widespread as surfing among Hawaiians,” wrote Clark in Hawaiian Surfing, “but it never received the attention of its companion sport in the writings of Western observers. Surfing was so spectacular that it overshadowed bodysurfing, which was regarded as playing and swimming in the surf. But for Hawaiians it was a basic, everyday surf sport, requiring only the ability to swim and catch a wave.”
The People’s Pastime
Although Europeans were more intrigued by board surfing, early observations give us an idea of bodysurfing’s popularity among Pacific Islanders.
In 1798, European colonist James Wilson wrote: “They have various sports and amusements; swimming in the surf [bodysurfing] appears to afford them singular delight. At this sport they are very dexterous; and the diversion is reckoned great in proportion as the surf runs highest and breaks with the most violence: they will continue it for hours together, till they are tired.”
In 1870, Hawaiian John Papa ‘Ī’ī wrote: “Bodysurfing was sport available to every Hawaiian regardless of wealth or social standing. It is still the most popular form of wave riding around the world.”
Papa ‘Ī’ī also described the style Hawaiians used when riding waves sans surfboard:
Body surfers use their shoulders like surfboards. When the surf rises before breaking, it is time to slip onto the wave by kicking hard and working the arms. The contraction in the back of a surfer causes him to be lifted by the wave and carried ashore. The right shoulder becomes the surfboard bearing him to the right, or the left shoulder becomes the board bearing him to the left.
Traditional Bodysurfing Position
In 1901, an early photograph displayed the rudimentary bodysurf style common throughout the Pacific.
“During the early 1900s,” noted John Clark, “some bodysurfers began to modify the traditional position by riding with both arms tight to their sides instead of under them, or by riding with one arm out and one arm tight to their side, or even with two arms in front.”
Island Style Goes Global
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Pacific Islanders began introducing their newly evolved styles to other parts of the globe.
Hawaiians George Freeth and Duke Kahanamoku popularized bodysurfing in California and New Jersey respectively, while Pacific Islanders Tommy Tanna and Alick Wickham imported their techniques to Australia.
Kahanamoku was also influential in the growth of bodysurfing in Australia, as well as California.
Hawaii: the Mecca of Bodysurfing
After the invention of swim fins elevated the sport of bodysurfing to new heights in the 1940s and ‘50s, the Waikiki Surf Club hosted a bodysurf competition at Makapu’u Beach on Oahu in 1953: “The event drew so many participants and created so much spectator interest that the WSC moved it to the west side of the island and incorporated it into the Makaha International Surfing Championships.”
Between 1954 and 1958, Richard “Buffalo” Keaulana, a native Hawaiian, won the bodysurf event at the Makaha International Surfing Championships four times. Competing at his home break against the world’s best bodysurfers, Buffalo must’ve taken great pride in dominating at a sport his ancestors had cultivated for centuries.
In 2024—seventy years after Buffalo won his first international bodysurf contest—Hawaii hosted the inaugural Bodysurfing World Finals at Point Panics on Oahu.
Although many coastal cultures around the world bodysurfed since antiquity, Pacific Islanders—particularly Hawaiians—developed the sport to the highest degree. To this day, most bodysurfers consider Hawaii the Mecca of their sport.
