Bodyboarding and Skimboarding While Traveling: Where, Gear, Insurance
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Skimboarding and bodyboarding are the two small-board sports of the beach. You can carry one under an arm, you can rent one at some beaches and you can learn on a day trip. This guide to bodyboarding and skimboarding while traveling covers both: bodyboarding for the travel side (where to learn, what to rent, what insurance says) and skimboarding with the places where it has a real scene.
Quick answer
Treat bodyboarding as the travel sport and skimboarding as the side trip. Learn bodyboarding on a beginner beach such as Las Canteras, rent the board, and keep your own kit to a rash guard and water shoes. Skimboarding scenes are mostly in the United States, so go and watch before you buy a board.
What to pack and what to check
SafetyWing
Lists surfing and bodyboard on the base plan. Skimboarding is not listed. Read more
What is the difference between bodyboarding and skimboarding?
Two sports in one comparison
1
Bodyboard
A short foam board you lie on. You paddle with swim fins and ride the face of a breaking wave.
2
Skimboard
A thin board with no fins. You drop it on the wash of a previous wave and run onto it to meet the shore break.
3
Where they work
A skimboard needs a shallow shoreline with a shore break; a bodyboard needs a wave that breaks.
| Place | Sport | Level | Season or event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Las Canteras, Gran Canaria | Bodyboarding | Beginners at the west end | Year-round |
| El Fronton, Gran Canaria | Bodyboarding | Advanced: lava bottom and big waves | Biggest from October to May |
| El Quemao, Lanzarote | Bodyboarding | Experts: shallow volcanic reef | Best October to March |
| Bristol, Fuerteventura | Bodyboarding | Intermediate to advanced | Best in winter |
| Pipeline, Oahu | Bodyboarding | Dangerous for all but the best in winter | Much calmer in summer |
| Dewey Beach, Delaware | Skimboarding | Famous shore break | Summer, with the Zap World Championships in August |
| Laguna Beach, California | Skimboarding | Shore break | Summer, The Vic championship |
| Santa Cruz, Portugal | Both | Municipal Ocean Spirit festival | July |
Visit Laguna Beach, the local tourism board, says skimboarding was invented by Laguna Beach lifeguards in the 1920s, and describes a smaller board with no fins that rides shore-break waves surfers cannot. Bodyboarding's governing body today is the IBC, whose own site calls itself the global governing body for professional bodyboarding.
Where can you bodyboard?
Las Canteras and El Fronton
What it is: The Canary Islands tourism site describes Las Canteras at its west end as a beginner-friendly sandy beach where schools give lessons. El Fronton, near Galdar, is advanced, with a steep cliff access, a lava bottom and big waves, biggest from October to May.
Watch for: The IBC lists the Gran Canaria Fronton King from 16 to 31 October 2026, a spectator event. These two pages came to us as search-result text because the site blocked a full read.
El Quemao and Bristol
What it is: El Quemao is a shallow volcanic reef with deep, fast tubes, suitable for experts and best from October to March. Bristol and Shooting Gallery, near Corralejo in northern Fuerteventura, are best in winter.
Watch for: Reef and volcanic rock bottoms. Same source limits as above.
Pipeline, Oahu
What it is: Go Hawaii lists bodyboarding as a permitted activity at Ehukai Beach Park. Winter swells are massive and dangerous for all but the best surfers; summer is much calmer.
Watch for: Check in with the lifeguard.
In Portugal, the European Surfing Federation says the European Tour of Bodyboard opened its 2026 season at Santa Cruz in Torres Vedras, during the Ocean Spirit festival in July, which also offers bodyboard lessons. We could not verify a school at Nazare or Peniche on its own website, so we do not name one.
Where can you skimboard?
Dewey Beach
What it is: Southern Delaware's tourism board calls Dewey a premier skimboarding destination and its shore break famous. The Zap World Championships of Skimboarding were held there in August 2026.
Watch for: Alley-Oop Skimboarding in Dewey Beach lists skim lessons on its own site, and the tourism board lists skimboard and surfboard rentals.
Laguna Beach
What it is: The birthplace of the sport per the tourism board, and home to The Vic, which it calls the longest running and most prestigious skimboarding competition in the world, held at Aliso Beach every summer and free to watch.
Watch for: The 2026 date was inconsistent between sources, so check the organizer for the next edition.
Santa Cruz, Torres Vedras
What it is: The Ocean Spirit festival runs a skimboard event organized by the Torres Vedras municipality, and offers surf, bodyboard and skimboard lessons.
Watch for: It is held in July. The festival page we read was the 2025 edition.
We found events but no verified school or rental on its own website outside Dewey Beach, and nothing we could source for Bali, Spain, the Philippines or Australia. If you want to try it, a beach with a gentle slope and a thin sheet of water is the start, and the Dewey and Laguna scenes are where to watch the best.
What should you buy, rent and carry?
Usually bought separately or rented
Board
Leash (sold separately, per one retailer)
Swim fins for bodyboarding
Worth packing
A rash guard
Water shoes for rocky entries
A small dry bag
A bodyboard is usually 100 to 110 cm long, and skimboards run from about 90 to 140 cm depending on the rider. Retailers list these ranges, not a manufacturer. Lufthansa's baggage page names bodyboards, boogie boards and kite surfboards among the boards it takes, one per passenger, up to 200 cm, and asks for booking 72 hours ahead. It does not name skimboards. Other airlines differ.
Rash guard: O'Neill Basic Skins
O'Neill Basic Skins UPF 50+ long sleeve
Shore-break sessions mean a lot of rolling on wet sand. The O'Neill Basic Skins is a long sleeve UPF 50+ rash guard that Amazon lists for surfing and other outdoor activities.
Water shoes: Speedo Tidal Cruiser
Speedo Tidal Cruiser Water Shoe
Canary spots like El Quemao and El Fronton have reef and volcanic rock bottoms. The Speedo Tidal Cruiser is a water shoe for the walk in, not a fin sock or a surf boot.
Dry bag: Earth Pak 5L
Earth Pak 5L Waterproof Dry Bag
The Earth Pak 5L keeps a phone and keys dry while you are in the shore break. More beach kit is in our guide to beach and rest day gear.
Does travel insurance cover bodyboarding and skimboarding?
We read both insurers' own pages on 3 October 2026. Wording depends on the plan and, for World Nomads, on the country you live in.
| Plan | Bodyboarding | Skimboarding | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| SafetyWing Nomad Insurance Essential, base plan | Listed as Bodyboard | Not listed | Applies to solo training, classes, private lessons and informal group training. Not for professionals or instructors. |
| World Nomads (US activity list) | Not named | Not named | Surfing is listed for all plans. The page was last updated on 12 December 2024. Ask the insurer. |
SafetyWing
World Nomads
Our SafetyWing review and the SafetyWing vs World Nomads comparison go deeper on the two plans, and the overview of the best travel insurance covers the rest.
How do you stay safe in the shore break?
Hawaii Ocean Safety says shorebreak can drive people into hard sand, rocks or coral with serious head, neck and spinal injuries, that the average wave height when a spinal cord injury occurs is 3 feet, and that you should protect your head and neck with your arms and never dive in head first. The US National Weather Service says rip currents often form on calm, sunny days and advises swimming at lifeguarded beaches and checking the forecast.
Do
- Start on a beginner beach with lifeguards, such as Las Canteras.
- Protect your head and neck with your arms in the shore break.
- Ask the lifeguard about rips and rocks.
Do not
- Go to El Fronton, El Quemao or Pipeline because they look good on video.
- Dive head first into a wave.
- Assume your insurance covers skimboarding without asking.
Our digital nomad health guide covers staying well on the road. Beach tips for surfing and kitesurfing are in our surf spots guide and our kitesurfing guide.
Key takeaways
- Bodyboarding is the better travel sport: Las Canteras, El Fronton and El Quemao for experts and Lanzarote and Fuerteventura in winter are the best sourced places.
- Skimboarding scenes are mostly in the United States: Dewey Beach, Laguna Beach and Santa Cruz in Portugal.
- Rent the board and pack the small kit: a rash guard, water shoes and a dry bag.
- SafetyWing lists bodyboarding but not skimboarding; World Nomads names neither. Ask before you rely on it.
FAQ
What is the difference between a bodyboard and a skimboard?
You lie down on a bodyboard and ride the face of a breaking wave, usually with swim fins. You ride a skimboard standing, starting on the sand and gliding over the thin wash into the shore break, with no fins.
Does SafetyWing cover bodyboarding?
Its help page for Nomad Insurance Essential, updated 18 June 2026 and read on 3 October 2026, lists Surfing and Bodyboard among the eligible activities of the base plan. Skimboarding is not listed.
Can I take a bodyboard on a plane?
Lufthansa's page, read on 3 October 2026, names bodyboards and boogie boards among its allowed boards: one board up to 200 cm, with 23 kg in Economy inside the free allowance, booked no later than 72 hours before departure. Other airlines differ, so check the page for yours.
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