Surf Watches

• Distinctive 4th hand functionality with a tide tracker that counts down to the next high or low tide.
• The temperature sensor provides readings in Celsius or Fahrenheit
• The electronic compass has an adjustable angle for increased accuracy regardless of your location.
• Sporty look with a black watch face and red and white markings.

This black analog watch has white and red markings on the face. It features a stainless steel case, mineral glass crystal and adjustable black silicone strap.

The features are ideal for a regular watch as well as for the outdoor adventurer. There are the standard hour, minute and second hands and a date window at 6 o’clock. Then, the distinctive 4th hand functionality with a tide tracker counts down to the next high or low tide.

High tide is indicated at 12 o’clock and low tide at 6 o’clock. Once you set the tide to the current location, the indicators will count down the number of hours to high tide or low tide.

There is also a temperature reading that can measure air or water temperature, in Celsius or Fahrenheit. Finally, the compass directional ring helps with navigation. Timex knows how to make watches, and this one has the standard Indiglo backlight that’s a big part of the Timex reputation.

• Compatible with Garmin SurfTracker App
• Long battery life of up to 8 days in watch/activity tracking mode
• Can be paired with compatible smartphone to display notifications
• 24/7 heart rate monitoring

This Garmin vivoactive model isn’t a surf watch straight out of the box, but access to Garmin’s apps – their SurfTracker app in particular – means it can quickly be used as one.

This smartwatch with GPS technology caters to a wide range of activities so if you have an active lifestyle you’ll find many uses for it.

Whether you’re a hiker, runner, golfer or cyclist, the relevant data for that activity can be tracked. The 24/7 heart rate monitoring also allows you to keep an eye on the effort you’re exerting.

The colour touchscreen is easy to read even in sunlight and if you pair the watch to a compatible smartphone you’ll be able to see notifications on your wrist.

The battery life is good for a watch with this many features, lasting up to 8 days between charges.

• 500 pre-programmed tide locations in graph or detailed display
• Alarm, stopwatch and timer
• Available in a variety of colourways
• 12-hour or 24-hour time display

Rip Curl is a brand which is synonymous with surf wear so it’s probably no surprise that they produce a surf watch.

This sleek design has a square face with a plastic bezel set on a polyurethane band. There’s an impressive 500 pre-programmed tide locations which can be viewed in either graph or detailed display.

The graph view is an easy at a glance display, whilst the detailed view gives you information on the current tide height and direction, with the time and height of the next tide.

Handy extra features include an alarm, stopwatch, countdown timer and a light to illuminate the display.

This watch states that it’s waterproof to 100m and water resistant to 330ft, but we did note that some wearers report water damage.

• Access to the app store means you can download surf apps
• GPS technology
• Electrical and optical heart sensor
• Activity tracker measures movement and exercise

Apple may not be the brand that springs to mind when you think of a surf watch, however the Apple Watch 5 was their first which could be used for swimming, opening up new uses.

Although the watch isn’t designed as a surf watch, the fact that it has access to the huge variety of apps in the App Store means you can easily tailor it to your surfing needs.

The design of this watch offers everything you’d expect from Apple – a sleek face with always-on retina display set on a comfortable band.

This is far more than a timepiece, with the capability to monitor your heart rate, track your movement and exercise, listen to music, call, text and even make payments.

The battery life is up to 18 hours so you will need to charge it daily, but as an all-round performer, this watch is hard to beat.

• Can record number of waves surfed, speed reached and distance travelled
• Displays message notifications (if paired with compatible smartphone)
• Power manager allows you to make changes to extend battery life
• Shows estimated heart rate data

This highly-rated watch from Garmin has an impressive range of features.

It can not only give you information on ocean conditions at a quick glance, it can also record the number of waves surfed, maximum speed reached and the distance travelled, when you do hit the water.

The sporty design is rugged and made to last, built to the US military standard for thermal, shock and water resistance to 100metres.

We liked the solar chargeable battery which can help extend battery life (you can also charge using the supplied cable).

There’s even a handy power management feature that lets you see how different settings impact the battery life and make changes to extend it.

When you’re not in the water, there are activity profiles for a whole variety of sports and the heart rate data lets you track how hard your heart is working.

• Tide graph and moon phase data tracking
• Countdown timer (24 hour range)
• Stylish and distinctive G-Shock design
• World time feature

This is a well-priced option if you like the rugged style of Casio’s G-Shock range, but want the addition of tide functions.

As you’d expect at this price point there’s no GPS, so you’ll need to set the tide settings yourself – it can be a little tricky but it’s easy to find instructions online.

We liked the auto-light feature which illuminates the watch face automatically when you tilt your wrist towards you. There’s also a button you can use to light the face.

There are other features you might expect such as a countdown timer, world time options and auto-calendar.

This watch is water resistant to 200m, and the robust design will stand up to knocks from your board and day to day life.