Best Surf Watch for Around $100

What?? You want another one of those?? Isn't one enough??

 

o barry

 

Just spend 60 bucks or whatever it is and get a shark freestyle. It tells time so your not late to work or school or whatever it may be. It helps me maximize my time in the water in these situations by knowing exactly what time it is. To me that's priceless. Also it has an alarm and a stop watch. Basic things like that. And a light so I can see what time it is in the dark.

If your going surfing you probably already know the tide. Or at least you should I think. Plus iv heard that those tide watches are usually off with the tides. Sunrise/sunset...you need a watch to tell you that?

As far as durability, iv been wearing a shark freestyle watch every session for the past 5 years. Only two watches and neither broke, just one got really dirty. Still use both. Both still do their job.

 

Get the g shock tide watch those watches are unbreakable and only 60$

 

+1 Also agree about the freestyle SharkTide. So I have had the Nixon Lodown, Nixon Lodown TI, and the Freestyle Sharktide classic. I by far recommend the freestyle. I had to send back my Nixon 6 months after purchase because it got moisture under the display and keep freezing or glitching. Nixon did do a good job with customer service and replacing the watch. They actually sent me the TI which was a version better then I originally had. I had to end up sending that on back for the same reason then had to send the second replacement back again because sand gets under the buttons and would not allow me to change settings. So when the 4th one stopped working I figured it was a time for a change. I have had no issues yet with the freestyle and have had it a little over a year. I like that it is smaller (I have dainty wrists) then some of the other tide watches. It does have a sunrise/ sunset function and I just checked mine for locations and you are correct the closest to folly would be myrtle. The cool thing is you could select myrtle but then the next menu option after that allows you to select a tide offset time. So you could just look at a tide chart and enter in the difference of time between low at Myrtle and low at folly and you would be set. Hope this helps

 

The best surf watch under $100 I've ever had was the RipCurl Pipeline tide watch that retails for over $250 but I got for only $75 on Whiskey's.

 

Just out of curiousity how accurate are these watches intended to be anyway? I've got cheap $25 Casio watch that i just set for NYC tides (closest location) and it always seems to be within a half hour to the Delaware oceanfront tide chart i keep in the glove box after five years of use. Poking around a bit, it seems like most all mid-atlantic/south east OCEANFRONT locations have high and tides/low tides within 45 mins of each other anyway.

Also, do these high end watches give actual tidal amplitude at your location? That would be clutch...especially in areas with big swings in monthly tidal amplitudes.

 

Mitchell, I use tides4fishing and my watch is usually about 10 to 15 minutes off of their predictions. I asked the company and they said that is normal because NOAA changes their predictions.

 

i normally make one of these mid beach,,,if i come back from water and its gone the tide is coming in ...if it is still there the tide is going out..plus you can get an approximate time using it,,if tide doesnt wash it away

 

a $25 timex sports watch walmart special is your best bet. look up the tides on your phone en route to the beach. then do the math in your head...6 hrs between high and low tide. use that watch and don't be late to work, donkeys...unless the surf is pummmm-pinnnnngggg.

 

G-Shock GLX5600C-2 $99

Shock Resistant
200M Water Resistant
Tide Graph and Moon Age/Phase Data
Auto EL (Electro-luminescent) Backlight with Afterglow
1/100th Second Stopwatch

 

Throw this on the beach next to it and no one will mess with it!

 

At first I thought this was another mason lesser "best so and so" thread.

I never understood the need to have a watch tell me the tides or status of the sun or moon. I've got apps on my phone for that. Those things don't change at all while I'm in the water like the time does. Just unneeded complexications IMO.

These days the only time I wear a watch is when I'm in the water surfing. I need it to do one thing: tell me the time of day. It's easy to lose track of time when you're out. I also like to make sure I take a break every 60 to 90 minutes. I prefer an analogue type because they are easiest to read at a quick glance (same reason most race cars use analogue gauges). I like a moderate sized, not too big and bulky watch with black face and white hands and numerals for good contrast in all lighting situations.

For a while I was using some $10-15 watches from BassPro shoppes but they would die on me. I guess they're not as water resistant as claimed. So now I have one of these which I just now realized has lost that outer 0 to 60 ring that I have no use for anyway. Good to 100 metres depth. So far so good. Plain simple and accurate.



http://www.amazon.com/Freestyle-FS80936-Kampus-Classic-Analog/dp/B0012451SO

 

I have a casio tide watch and it works well for what I need it, that is, to tell me if tide is going in or out. You will never get a tide watch that is spot-on for exact time of high/low tide. Never, no matter what maker claims. Even if you set it for your exact beach time. even the tide tables are usually off by a bit. The science for precision in tide prediction is not yet available in any watch, on any planet, or in any universe. Well, except Nibiru, of course....

 

Im a huge Rip Curl watch guy. Have 5 of them and never had an issue (more than 100 tho)

 

I really see no purpose in a tide watch...maybe if your kayaking/fishing/sup on the bay and need to know when the tide is gonna kick in, don't see it necessary when you are out in the water surfing...kinda a novelty item...you can get tides off your phone or net.