To choose a bodyboard, pick the length by your height and weight on the maker’s chart, then pick the core by your skill level and water temperature. After that, look for a crescent tail and an HDPE or Surlyn slick. The rest is detail.
WaterSportHQ editors have not ridden these boards. This guide draws on eBodyboarding’s bodyboard anatomy page and its “8 Steps to Choosing the Right Bodyboard” guide (eBodyboarding is a bodyboarding shop in San Clemente, California), Morey’s size guide and current Morey, BPS and BZ Amazon listings, all read on 2026-10-21. Where a statement is the editors’ own, it is labeled.
Step 1: Pick the length by height and weight
Size is the first choice. Use the chart of the maker whose board you are buying. The bodyboard sizes guide sets the Morey and eBodyboarding charts side by side, so this page does not repeat the table. Two points from those makers:
- Morey says: “When in doubt, consider your weight first.”
- eBodyboarding says to start with a length that reaches your belly button when standing, then adjust for height, weight and ability, and that a heavier rider needs more volume, meaning a thicker or wider board rather than a longer one.
Check the weight limit on the listing too. Morey’s Big Kahuna 44 inch listing gives a 185 pound maximum in one row and 160 to 250 pounds on its size chart, so read both before you buy. The best bodyboards by rider size page lists the limit next to each board.
Step 2: Pick the core by skill level and water temperature
The core is the foam inside the board. eBodyboarding’s guide ties it to skill level:
| Core | Level, per eBodyboarding | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| EPS | Beginner, entry level | The cheapest core. Light, but not durable, and it dents easily. |
| PE | Intermediate, mid level | Durable with good recoil. Softens in warm water. |
| PP | Advanced, high end | Lighter and a bit stiffer than PE (guide); stiffness varies with density (anatomy page). Holds its flex in all water temperatures. Costs more. |
The 8 Steps guide says PE is “an outstanding core material for all but tropical waters”, and that PE costs about 2 to 2.5 times what EPS does. Morey says the same of its PE Mach 7: it does best in “cool to moderate water temperatures”. Morey’s PP Mach 12 MDS ECO-TECH needs no stringer or mesh, per its listing. For the water-temperature bands, see bodyboarding buying tips.
The sources disagree on one detail. eBodyboarding’s anatomy page expands EPS as extruded polystyrene, while its 8 Steps guide and Morey’s listings say expanded polystyrene. Expanded is the standard meaning; all of them describe the same cheap, light foam. The two eBodyboarding pages also set different warm-water thresholds (75F/23C on the anatomy page, above 77F/24C for tropical in the guide).
Editors’ rule of thumb: if you ride a few times a year in warm water and are starting out, an EPS board is enough. Spend more once you ride often, since eBodyboarding says paying for durability is worthwhile for people who ride across several seasons.
Step 3: Pick the tail
The tail shape sets how the board turns and holds an edge. eBodyboarding describes three:
- Crescent: “the most common and most versatile tail shape”, which gives good bite on the wave face and helps keep your body on the board. Its guide calls it the “gold standard” and says crescent tails are the most popular for prone riding.
- Bat: more surface area in the tail, which adds lift and speed, but it makes the board looser and needs better edge control.
- Delta: a hybrid with a pointed center that adds edge control.
Every board on the best bodyboards page lists a crescent tail. None lists a bat tail.
Step 4: Check the slick, stringer and deck
- Slick (the bottom skin): eBodyboarding says Surlyn is “the preferred bottom skin” and resists creasing better than HDPE. HDPE bottoms are “a bit more rigid” and crease more easily under hard impacts. It also calls the performance gap “almost an imperceptible difference”. All nine boards on the best bodyboards page list HDPE.
- Stringer: a graphite or fiberglass rod inside the core. eBodyboarding says it keeps the board from overflexing but adds weight, and that one is enough for most riders. Morey says its stringer adds “durability & flex control”. Editors’ rule of thumb: for small beach waves a board without a stringer is fine; for bigger surf, pick one that lists a stringer or a PP core.
- Deck foam: eBodyboarding says PE skins perform best, and that crosslink skin is denser, smoother and a little harder, and wrinkles more easily. Morey calls its IXLPE deck “soft to lay on”. Listings use many deck names (IXPE, XPE, NXLPE, H-Cell), and no listing gives a figure that ranks them.
- Channels and contours: eBodyboarding says bottom channels, grooves in the slick near the tail, help direct water off the tail for control and stability. Hip channels on the deck help hold your body on the board.
- Rails: most boards have 60/40 rails, where the bottom is 60 percent of the rail edge. eBodyboarding says a larger bottom rail adds grip and a smaller one adds speed.
Step 5: Match the board to how you ride
eBodyboarding’s guide asks you to be realistic about your skill, and to match the board to your wave type and riding style (prone, dropknee or standup). Its beginner advice is to start with an entry-level board. Editors’ rule of thumb: learn what you like in the whitewater before paying for a top-end board, and ask staff at a bodyboard shop which models fit your local waves.
Where to go next
- Product notes on current boards: Wave Rebel Oxygen and Legendary Pro X.
- Brand names: bodyboard vs boogie board.
- Gear to add: bodyboard fins and bodyboard leashes.