There are many surf brands around today. But which one makes the best surf watches??
Surfers need a watch that’s tough, water resistant, comfortable and, of course, looks great.
In this blog post we’ve done the research and shortlisted our top 10 best surf watch brands. And one very famous brand you should avoid. Hint, hint…it begins with an R.
But why not jump straight in and check that our post on the best surf watches out today.
Or keep scrolling to find out the brands that surfers go crazy for.
Best Surf Watch Brands
It was hard to pick one, so instead we stayed indecisive and had two top picks.
G-Shock has to be our top pick for the best surf watch brand for providing some of the best built for surfers. Their GBX100 models come with around 3,3000 surf locations pre-programmed, and packed with even more handy features.
Seiko is our second pick, as they provide the best choice for surf ready watches. The Seiko Prospex collection are known for their water resistance. While they don’t have any smartwatch features. These watches are built with huge levels of water resistance and have a huge selection to choose from.
Best Surf Watch Brands
Are Rip Curl watches good?
We’ll also explore if Rip Curl watches are worth buying or not. Find out the answer before you decide to buy.
1. G-Shock
G-Shock is an absolute legend of a watch brand and beloved by so many watch collectors and enthusiasts.
Their fat, chunky watches have excellent shock resistance and they make for a brilliant surf watch brand.
If you’re an avid surf enthusiast, then the GX100 series is made just for you.
The GBX100 models are part the latest G-LIDE line of watches that have been a favorite among surfers around the world. They come with heaps of features like:
- Tide graphs
- Moon data
- High and low tides times
- Sunrise/sunset times
These watches provide info on an amazing 3,300 surf locations! The watch comes pre-programmed with this, so you’re bound to find a location near you.
Plus this surf watch has a super easy to read dial too. Which is essential while your out on the waves.
However, like all G-Shock watches, remember that these watches are large. So they might look too big on smaller wrists.
Go on Amazon to find the latest G-Shock surf watches.
2. Nixon
Nixon is one of the best surf watch brands when it comes to providing brilliant smartwatches for surfers.
Many of their latest surf watches even come pre-programmed with tide information from 550 top beaches for surfing, from around the globe.
Just like what the Nixon High Tide A1308 surf smartwatch has. Also this watch is even built from recycled ocean plastics too.
Their surf watches come with high resolution display and customizable home screens. Some of their watches are also even made from plastic which had been taken from the sea.
The design of Nixon smartwatches is great too. They’re an ideal blend of sporty while looking rather slick as well. Plus they’ve many color combinations for their surf timepieces too.
Check out the top surf watches from Nixon on Amazon.
3. Garmin
Garmin are a smartwatch brand who are known as providing some epic fitness focused smartwatches.
Garmin even have a specialty smartwatch that’s built to handle being on the wrist of surfers. Which is why Garmin make the cut for one of the best surf watch brands.
Their Instinct Solar Surf Watch is packed with all the handy features a surfer could need for a surf session.
One really impressive feature is the battery life. As it’s powerful enough to last for up to 17 hours on a charge. Which basically matches the battery life of an Apple Watch.
This makes the Instinct Solar perfect for surfers who have long sessions out in the water and want their smartwatch there with them all day.
Garmin also make it super easy to track your surfing stats, thanks to its Garmin Connect app. This will give you a complete picture of your latest surf sessions. Really cool to keep track of your progress.
So we can see why the Garmin makes the cut. Their watches have so many nifty features that surfers will love, and it’s packed with all the important ones they might need for a day on the waves!
Check out Garmin’s latest surf watches on Amazon.
4. Seiko
Now Seiko will lead us away from smartwatches built for surfers, and onto brands that build classic watches.
Seiko are known for their legendary dive watch collection. The Seiko Prospex collection is a must-have if you’re looking for an excellent dive watch.
But their dive watches also make for some formidable surf watches as well.
Basically any of the dive watches from their Prospex collection make a great surf watch. As every dive watch has a minimum water resistance of 200m (660ft).
The collection is huge, so you should check out our review of Seiko’s best dive watches to get a better idea of what Seiko has to offer the surf community.
However, if we were pushed and had to pick a cool, yet powerful surfers watch from Seiko. It would have to be the Seiko SNE499 PADI, which is part of the Seiko Tuna Can line.
This watch is certified by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI). So this watch is built to withstand the waves of a surf session.
Why not check out all of Seiko’s dive watches on Amazon.
5. Freestyle
Freestyle is one of the best surf watch brands for affordable surf watches that have a watch to suit everyone. They even make for an excellent choice of kids surf watches too.
The Freestyle Shark Clip watch is ideal for surfers. With a comfortable, water resistant, and easy to wear watch.
All of their watches have handy velcro straps so they can be secured to almost any wrist size.
The Freestyle surf watch brand is even endorsed by champion surfers. Such as champion skimboarder Amber Torrealba whow wears her Shark Clip surf watch from Freestyle. These watches are built to handle the crashing waves a skimboarder like Amber faces.
The super fun color combinations of this surf watch brand is what many people love. They have almost too much to choose from that it can be hard to make pick.
Check out the entire colorful collection of surf watches from Freestyle on Amazon.
6. Luminox
Luminox make one of the best surf watch brands thanks to their love of building great Swiss made dive watches.
Luminox are best known for their military dive watches, that have even been worn by the actual Navy Seals. This brand was commissioned by the Seals to make mission ready timepieces in the past.
Their Navy Seal range of watches are a top pick for any surfer.
These tough watches come with up to 200m (660ft) of water resistance. So they will be able to handle a surf session no problem.
Also what is great about the Luminox brand, is that all of their watches come with high levels of luminosity. So if you’re surfing till dusk you’ll be able to tell the time with no issues.
Check out the wide selection of Luminox surf watches on Amazon.
7. Victorinox
A Swiss surf watch brand might sound unusual as Switzerland is a land locked nation. Yet the Swiss watchmaker Victorinox is just that.
Victorinox are known for creating super tough, and super durable timepieces. Such as their Victorinox I.N.O.X diver watch collection. They also are a sponsor for the Swiss Surfing Association.
What’s urban surfing you might ask…?
Well check out to Swiss urban surfers going for a surf in the middle of the city of Zurich, in the video below. They choose Victorinox to wear while they do it.
Their I.N.O.X. collection is their best watch collection yet from this surf watch brand. Especially their I.N.O.X. Pro diver series. These watches are as tough as nails and can handle over 130 torture tests. So they 100% can handle the crashing down of waves.
Check out the tough Victorinox I.N.O.X. watch collections on Amazon.
8. Casio
Casio is the parent watch brand to G-Shock. Like their chunky line of shock resistant watches. Casio are known as a watch brand that build really durable watches.
We think Casio make for a great, affordable surf watch brand.
Casio also have a wide range of digital watches too. With so many of them being very affordable. So if you’re after an affordable surf watch, Casio could be the right pick.
Their Casio W-800H-1BVCF is one of our favorite digital watches. And it comes with 100m (330ft) of water resistance. Which is a steal at the price.
You find a big range of Casio watches for surfers on Amazon.
9. Citizen
Citizen are another top Japanese watch brand that we had to include as one of the top surf watch brands.
They’re known for making some excellent dive watches. Which is why we think they make for an ideal brand for surfers.
The brands Promaster dive watch collection is one we would pick. as each of these watches comes with a minimum of 200m (660ft) water resistance. With many having up to 300m (1,00ft) instead. Like the Promaster linked below.
Also many of Citizen watches are solar powered. So it makes them very low maintenance. They use their own solar technology which is called Eco-Drive.
Their Eco Drive powered watches only need a small amount of sunlight to keep powered up each day.
Check out the range of Citizen Promaster dive watches on Amazon.
10. Vostok
Now, if you’re after a quriky yet affordable surf watch brand, then Vostok is that.
Vostok is a historic Soviet era watch brand, that we love. It has a serious cult following within the watch collectors world. If you own one you’ll be seen as a watch enthusiast that’s in the know.
Vostok are best known for their military dive watches. The most famous being the Vostok Amphibia military diver. And we think these tough watches make for some great surf watches.
They offer a high level of water resistance. Usually up to 200m (660ft). So they will definitely hold up during a surf session.
One thing that’s different is that their dive watches come only with mechanical movements. So they’ll need a bit more looking after as a surf watch. Always keep that crown screwed down before hitting the waves.
The Vostok Amphibian is their most famous diver watch. This watch comes in a whole range of different styles.
We recommend that you should go for the NATO strap, over the steel. As the steel just isn’t as good. The NATO is much more suited for a cool surfer watch.
Take a look at the wide range of affordable surf watches from Vostok on Amazon.
Are Rip Curl watches good?
No, we would have to recommend that surfers should avoid Rip Curl watches.
As there have been far too many complains from unhappy surfers about their Rip Curl surf watch breaking after a few months to a year.
There are also many reports of water getting into their watches. Which is not great news for those looking for a great surf watch brand.
Yes Rip Curl have some very affordable watches with lots of handy surf features. Plus we have to admit they do also have lots of happy customers too.
However, we think that the above list of the top 10 best surf watch brands offer a much better choice for long lasting surf watches. That can handle life on the wrist of a surfer.
The Verdict
If you wanted surf watch brands that comes packed with handy features and was super durable too. You’d have to pick the Prospex dive watch collection is tough enough to withstand the waves.
