Bodyboarding, also known as Boogieboarding, is a very under-rated water sport although it provides hours of fun for young and old alike. All you need for this exhilarating activity is a bodyboard or Boogie Board and some surf or waves, which is easy to find at Jamaica’s popular beaches.
History of Bodyboarding
This sport originated in the Hawaiian islands long before stand-up surfing became popular. With wooden boards, islanders would swim out to sea, lie on their boards and wait for a wave to wash them back to the shore, trying to keep on the crest to gain speed. Many years have passed since those original practitioners enjoyed the sport and much has changed with the boards, which, for the mass market, are made from foam and are relatively inexpensive.
Amateur Bodyboarding
Professional bodyboarding is another world altogether with expensive boards and big surf, not found at the tourist resorts in Jamaica, so let’s ignore that and concentrate on amateur bodyboarding. This sport is a dream as the learning curve to have fun is very short. Anyone can stand in the sea, hold the foam board in front of his body and move forward on it when a wave approaches, allowing the force of the water to propel him to the beach. With practice, those rides to the beach become smoother, longer, and faster.
It doesn’t matter how good or bad you are at this water sport. You will have fun whether you are zooming along the crest of the waves or rolling over in the surf as you try to get going. And in the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea, on Jamaica’s North Coast, it doesn’t matter how much time you spend splashing about in the waves while you are learning to ride the bodyboard.
Apart from the small investment in time to learn bodyboarding, the other attraction of this water sport is the low cost of the bodyboard. There are very inexpensive ones for less than twenty United States dollars, but these do not last very long as they break easily. Good quality bodyboards cost about thirty to sixty United States dollars and more. Check out the online store at the Bodyboard Shop.
Silver Sands Bodyboarding
While there are many great places to bodyboard in Jamaica, Silver Sands is an especially good spot. Here’s why. At Silver Sands, the beach is not completely protected by coral reefs and so, as the day progresses and the trade winds build up, the morning calm is replaced by waves forming to produce enough surf at the beach to keep amateur bodyboarders happy.
There are no strong currents to make you drift out to sea or far from the swimming area of the beach. There may be rocks in clusters at some parts of the beach, but these are easy to avoid as the sea is so clean and clear.
Mysilversands, by prior arrangement, provides bodyboards for its guests at Silver Sands, but does not rent bodyboards. It does not operate a water sports concession and there is no supervision of their use.
So make a splash and have fun bodyboarding on your Jamaica villa vacation.
