Everyone enjoys watching waves. Its mesmerizing. Oceanfront property is so expensive because everyone likes to watch the Ocean. People go on beach vacations and spend the entire time sitting on the beach staring at waves. Bodysurfing provides the best possible vantage point for spectating wave action.
The next best thing to being in the barrel is watching your buddy slide into a big round one. Spectating a great wave from the water is almost as good as riding one. Bodysurfers have a unique point of view. We’re not worried about duck-diving a board under incoming waves. We wait until the final instant to swim under, maximizing our view as the wave throws over our head. Sometimes, we even watch our buddy too long and take a heavy lip right to the skull…but worth it for the view.
To bodysurf a world-class surf spot on an all-time day is extra-special. Of course its great to sneak a couple fun ones for yourself, but to watch excellent surfing from the water is always enjoyable. Spectate all the weird, wedging double-up drainers. Mind surf. Some part of it is an analysis. “Where would I need to be on that wave to get the best barrel ride?” Some part of it is pure spectating…”Goodness, that is beautiful!”
I love the perspective of watching a big set wrap all the way up the coast. Long lines use the entire coast as a pointbreak, wrapping up the beach and throwing barrel after barrel. If only you could bottle those views. Soon, the swell will fill into your peak. You can see it coming from miles away. Make a quick judgement on where you need to be to best maximize your tube experience and sprint swim to the spot. Slide into the first one, slotted in the bending bowl with the ultimate spectator vantage point.
Kick out and swim hard. Your buddy is in position for the next one. You forget to dive because you’re hooting him into a massive green room. Wear the lip on the head without oxygen and get pummeled. But there’s another wave, bigger, starting to stand up. Sprint swim, arrive to the peak late, swim up the face, turn around, big kick and…airborne into the barrel. That view. That Vision. I wouldn’t trade it for every mountain or city landscape in the world.
-KS
Swell Lines 