- Rugged Outdoor Smartwatch with Solar Charging Capabilities
- Built-in Sports Apps and Health Monitoring
The waves. The warm sun. The salt in the air. The wind in your face. What could be better? Maybe just one thing: A trusty smartwatch companion for all your surfing adventures.
I reviewed numerous smartwatches that are great to wear while surfing. I surfed (different type of surfing!) the ‘Net to get you the most authoritative info on smartwatch features, benefits, and overall greatness.
Before we go any further, I’ll give you a little sneak peek into the smartwatch I’ve rated the best. It’s the Garmin Solar. More on that in a minute.
So keep reading to get details on the smartest choices in smartwatches for surfing.
Table of Contents
Quick Reviews on Favorite Surfing Smartwatch Picks
#1 Best Overall: Garmin Solar
- Rugged Outdoor Smartwatch with Solar Charging Capabilities
- Built-in Sports Apps and Health Monitoring
This is THE smartwatch to never be without while surfing if you want a watch that offers practical and fun features.
You can gather tons of data, such as about health, exercise performance, waves, GPS – and then some.
It has an incredibly long battery life and, as you can imagine (since you’re out in the hot sun while surfing), it is solar-powered. Hence its name.
There is also tide data and dedicated surfing information. Plus, there are features that monitor you, including your heart rate and other vitals. Then there is GPS, integrated sports apps, and notifications.
The Garmin Solar is also a good-looking, stylish watch, if that matters to you. Garmin Solar sort of looks less like a smartwatch and more like a traditional watch.
#2 – Best for State-of-the-Art Cool Features: Apple
If you like the Apple brand and are really into having some ingenious features, the Apple smartwatch could be a great option for you.
It includes the Dawn Patrol app, which tracks wave count, speed, and length. It also gathers information about your heart rate and calories burned. With the Surfline app you can film yourself while surfing.
Overall, the Apple smartwatch offers some incredible features, including the unique apps that are at your fingertips.
You can even receive phone calls and texts while you’re out in the waves and sun.
Even when you’re not at the beach, the Apple smartwatch has you covered with all sorts of amazing features. So it’s just a cool overall smartwatch.
#3 – Best for a Useful Feature: Rip Curl Search GPS
With this smartwatch, you get SearchGPS and motion technology, and it goes without saying how much you'll use it. You also get live speed tracking, tidal tracking, and device connectivity.
I know how important GPS is to you and all surfers. That’s a big reason for including the Rip Curl Search GPS in this list.
With this smartwatch, you get SearchGPS and motion technology, and it goes without saying how much you’ll use it. You also get live speed tracking, tidal tracking, and device connectivity. Stay in close tune with the waves by tracking how long each wave you catch was, your top speed, and more.
You don’t have to waste one millisecond compiling any of this data, because the smartphone conveniently crunches the numbers and plots it all on a map for you.
As you can see, you can totally geek out to your heart’s content – or not, depending on how detailed you want to get – with this amazing, feature-filled smartwatch.
Even better, you’ll get some cool style features like bright colors to keep you looking great while attacking those waves.
One important downside to this watch is that it could stand to improve when it comes to charging features.
Buying Guide
Here are some key things you should look for when buying a smartwatch for surfing:
- Although solar charging is a great feature, a long battery life is still necessary because you won’t always be in the sun and charging your watch.
- Speaking of solar, it is great to find a smartwatch that runs on solar power. It’s just logical, since you spend so much time in the sun while surfing and, in general, being outside.
- You should also look for features that monitor your body so you can keep close tabs on how you’re doing. So for example, this includes heart rate, pulse ox (breathing monitoring), and more.
- And to stay in close connection with your environment, it is important to have features that monitor things like the tides, outdoor temperature, weather forecasts, and wave patterns.
Every smartwatch is different when it comes to the features it includes. Just make sure you get the main features that you personally want to use in your surfing smartwatch.
Conclusion
That’s a lot of information to evaluate, but I’ve taken some of the guesswork out.
Which is the best surfing smartwatch?
After closely looking at all the facts and features, I have concluded that the Garmin Solar is the best pick for a solid surfing smartwatch.
Surf’s up, dude! Don’t wait another moment to change your surfing game by donning your ultimate smartwatch companion before you ride the waves again.
