r/Bodysurfing

So for the holiday weekend I came down to the shore for the first time in yearsss maybe since i was 16, now 22. And got in the water for the first time since then today and I genuinely couldn’t get out. I was having a blast and with how my mind works I wanna know all I can and of course there’s a sub for it.

How are y’all LITERALLY using your body to surf. This whole time I just thought you catch a wave right before it breaks and swim with it

About two hours ago maybe 1:30 pm I was walking the doggo at Seacliff near the west end toward Pot Belly.

All of a sudden a massive fish vaulted out of the water twisted midair and slammed down on its back! This would have been right in front of Pot Belly and maybe 30 yards from shore.

At first I was thinking a dolphin because this is their stomping grounds, but no. It dawned on me, when it twisted in the air the width and girth of the body was wide, flat and white. Not sleek like a dolphin. I'm sure this was a great white.

I've never seen anything like it here, only on videos of South African great whites doing it when eating seals.

After walking back to the truck I was standing talking to a kayak fisherman who was loading up his gear, and there in the surf line was a seal pup. So if there's pups around it's buffet time for the great whites.

Anybody else ever see this here in the Monterey Bay?

It was choppy, overhead, trade swell storm surf today but it's sunny and there were these sick corners popping up here and there so I swam out to try and find a couple.

I spent most of the time fighting the swirl and rips and watching the ones I wanted break fifty feet in whichever direction I wasn't. But I got a few fun whompers and enjoyed myself.

Finally I got lucky, a couple bumps converged, and I was in the right spot for a well overhead bowling teepee section with just enough taper to the wall that I thought I could lock into a proper barrel before it closed out on the inside.

It was a very good wave. And, on the inside, it went totally square on the sandbar and, literally, sucked dry in front of me. I did a full-on faceplant half-scorpion into the sand at speed.

Then it sucked me over the falls and slammed me back onto the bottom, again. Very luckily I landed totally flat on my back, and there was some water under me at that point, so it absolutely fucking sucked but didn't injure anything.

Fun hobby. I can't understand why more people don't do it.

Hello, I just moved to Santa Monica after living in landlocked states for a majority of my life. I used to vacation at the beach in the summer in my home country, but never had the pleasure of living near a beach previously. I now live 20 mins away from Santa Monica, and want to take advantage of that, and body surfing just seems like a great way to do just that. Are there any beaches that you'd recommend in the area? I'm a pretty good swimmer, but what I'm worried about most is getting in the way of other surfers. Also, any additional beginner tips would be very appreciated. Thanks!