There are literally thousands of places you can body surf or Handboard/ Handplane probably even more than you can surf.
As a bodysurfer/ Handboarder you can ride waves that are unrideable to surfers and have great time.
I personally love to take my Hand board out when I'm either a little surfed out to change it up, or when I feel like there is a good possibility I might end up breaking my board because of dumpy shore break conditions.
Below are couple places we have either visited or know of that can get very good for body surfing.
Costa Azul, Mainland Mexico 30 miles north of Puerto Vallarta this is a small corner point break in front of the hotel that gets an amazing amount of swell and gets really big but very fun.
Be prepared to get washed about a little bit and always remember to take you Fins out with you here it has a strong back wash/current Makena Big Beach, Maui Don't let the idyllic setting of crystal clear water and white powder sand fool you! This wave can cause harm.
But if you are experienced in the water it's one of the best places I have ever body surfed.
As you'd expect from Hawaii the water is perfect and the wave is very powerful.
I was dumped onto the sand more than a few times and that's where the danger lies.
There are signs as you come onto the beach warning of broken necks "beware"! this spot is not for the faint of heart when it is firing.
A good rule of thumb if you see the locals down there stay out.
Snake Park, Durban, South Africa A beach right in front of a city.
The bad: it can get a little crowded.
The good: it easy to get to and when it is firing it is firing.
Also when it is firing most of the locals are surfing so you can get the little inside section that picks up over the sandbar and fires again into a perfect little barrel too quick for body surfing without a Handboard and fins.
it would not be fair to say there are all sorts of little spots along the east and west coast of south Africa.
Too many to name here but nothing a little surf trip won't fix.
Lagundri Bay, Nias Island, Sumatra This is one of the best places I have personally ever surfed and bodysurfed/hand boarded.
Again not for the faint hearted.
this little Indian ocean gem Is a world class right hander among the land of lefts.
If you can stomach the 2day overland/sea shit fest to try get to Nias (a little shorter but 100% more live threatening by air.
Think a plane held together with duct tape, you will start to get the idea) granted I made the trip in mid 2003 so things may have changed,but I doubt it.
There is civil war to the north in Ache and a not very well put together transport system to make getting there an absolute nightmare.
Now! saying all this, once you are finally there it is a magical place to visit and I mean that literally.
There are very few places in the world with kind of untouched beauty.
So barring the very real threat of dengue fever, drowning, rogue waves; think the 2004 tsunami that wiped part of this small island out and very many more unforeseen (or seen) dangers.
This place is without doubt one of the best surf trips you are ever likely to do.
almost a Mecca trip for any serious waterman.
Perfect spitting barrels crystal clear water and yes you guessed it completely un-crowded.
That's what you get from travelling through hell to get there.
perfect untouched reef this place is what surf wet dreams are made of.
Me and my brother got 20 straight days of overhead perfection some days so surfed out all we could do was sit in our hammocks and watch.
Body surfing without a board here is ill advised.
In order to get out to the break proper you have to make you way over the reef and a perfect timed jump into the ocean between sets, through what the locals call the " keyhole" miss queue and you land on the reef! Once you are out there its one wave after the other take your pick.
Getting back in to dry land is of course another story all together, be it surfing or Handboarding.
It's cheap and beautiful but like I said the running the gauntlet has its perils.