The man scored a coveted invite to the BSR Wave Park recently, alongside his sister and equally lovable standup surfer, Bethany Hamilton. Immediately upon ending the above video, we contacted Hamilton to get his thoughts on the wave pool while the feeling was still fresh – a rare insight into this strange new realm of surfing from the eyes of a prone rider, to find out if it lives up to the hype, and whether it's actually any good for bodyboarding at all.

So Timmy, what was the Texan wave pool like on a bodyboard?

The take-off is pretty strange, but not difficult. The water level dips down suddenly, right next to the wall, before it starts to grow down the line. Once you're on the wave, it's pretty simple. It's amazing. An engineering marvel.

Are there any challenges to it?

Reading it. It's a bit harder to anticipate what it's going to do compared to an ocean wave. On the other hand, you can always try again. Also the waves I was riding weren't necessarily designed with bodyboarding in mind. They just happened to be good for it. I think they could definitely design a bodyboarding specific wave with a nice setup into a perfect ramp. As it is, it's pretty hard to get to the section in time to hit it very cleanly. You'll notice a lot of spray every time I hit a section in my video. I'm 6'2" and 85kg, so maybe a smaller rider would thrive a bit more than I did. It's a powerful wave, so it's easy in that regard, but you really have to think and act fast to get to the ramp.

How would you compare it to a real wave of the same shape and size?

It's obviously bizarre in terms of the weird takeoff along the wall, the sound of the pumps, the colour and chlorine smell of the water, and the visual surroundings. Beyond that, it's pretty much the same in terms of shape, speed, size, and power.

To your knowledge, have other bodyboarders ridden the wave park or are you the first?

Others have, but only in the public setting. David Phillips was probably the first. He went when they first opened it to the public, hoping to ride it as we had seen it online, but got skunked. They are understandably worried about pumping out those high-caliber waves to beginners and novices in the public who would just get smashed. So, as far as I know, I'm the first (and probably still the only) bodyboarder who has surfed it at that level. I'd love to see a group of rippers film a few sessions there. Some friends and I are tentatively planning something for this winter.

It looks loud...

Yes! It's a crazy sound but I love it. When it starts, and gets louder and louder, it evokes that same feeling of nervous anticipation that you feel when it's your turn in an ocean line-up and you see sets stacking on the horizon. But the sound dies down by the time you catch the wave.

How consistent are the waves – is it quite regular or are you waiting a long time?

Technically, they can pump out waves as fast as you can surf them. They have over heated it before, so they are careful to space out the sets just enough to keep that from happening. If you had it all to yourself, they can pump out more waves than you could keep up with for very long. In a group, you still get more waves than you normally would in the ocean with the same amount of people for the same amount of time. The weaker settings pump out three wave sets, while the heavier waves are either one or two wave sets. In the public settings, they limit the crowd to nine surfers at a time with three wave sets (it's very orderly - which is great.) If the setting is a one wave set, you would probably only want as many as four surfers in the lineup taking turns.

Some people believe there’s issues with buoyancy, did you face any issues related to staying afloat?

I’m probably not the most discerning wave rider out there, but I didn’t notice any difference at all. Maybe Hardy would.

Did you have any reservations about surfing the wave park?

Well I had seen footage of it and thought it looked epic for bodyboarding, so I was really excited. I was only concerned that it wouldn’t be as good as I had already hyped it up to be in my head. Like when you see a swell forecasted that looks all time, but you’re secretly worried you’re going to get skunked.

Now that you've had a taste, would you go back?

Definitely. But only if I could be sure to get the good settings. The current settings offered in public sessions are not very well suited to bodyboarding. That could change in the near future. I imagine by this winter they will have quite a few new settings. Besides surfing, It’s an awesome park all around. I’d love to bring my family there and get my kids on it. The beach is great. They are going to add stadium lighting in the near future for night surfing too. They also have the world’s longest lazy river and some slides that I didn’t go on yet. I really enjoyed the vibe of the park, as well as general Texan culture. It was one of the cheapest surf trips I’ve done outside of Hawaii. Flights, car rental, accommodation and food were all very affordable. That is, if you plan on indulging in lots of barbecue and fast food. If you're healthy eater, I'd suggest importing food.