aside from wave knowledge and a few other things bodyboarding doesnt help that much this is what i found out the pro / cons were.
Pro - didnt have to learn the ocean, safety, etiquette, wave knowledge, paddling, etc etc...
Pro - duckdiving came naturally.
Pro - was already physically fit for surfing.
Con - too much bravado, was used to surfing in 10ft+ waves on a sponge but found it a whole new ball game on a surfboard.
Con - was used to taking off really late. This was actually a big problem for me on a surfboard as to begin with your pop up aint gonna be up to scratch.
Con - Dropknee. This was an issue cause you are used to going to one knee wheras in surfing you go straight to feet. So that was a trickey habbit to break.
Those are the things i can think of off the top of my head. My advice is to orientate yourself with the surfboard in the whitewater for a day or two or even a few weeks depending on your natural balance its different for everyone. When you got the pop-up more or less taped then paddle out to what you will be more used to ala green waves. Whatever board you go for you should do fine with a little bit of determination. A mal say 7ft would be a much easier transition though.
I was like you said i would never give up bodyboarding etc etc... well.... since surfing i have maybe bodyboarded a hanfull of times in the last 3/4 or so years just for nostalgia
otherwise surfing is waaay more fun to me that is (then again i always viewed body boarding as a stepping stone it does provide excellent grounding for surfing)
