Planning your next surf trip or just curious about the ocean's energy? This article reviews eight top-rated mobile apps for sea swell, providing accurate surf forecasting and ocean swell prediction. We'll highlight key features like wave height predictions, wind speed and direction, and tide times, focusing on the best-in-class apps, including Windy.app, Surf, and Surfline, to help you choose the perfect marine weather app for your needs.
Top app for sea swell
1. Windy.app
Download:
Cost: Free (Free), Windy Premium ($7.99/month (USD))
Windy.app isn't just another weather app; it's my go-to for dialed-in sea swell predictions. Unlike others that offer basic forecasts, Windy.app boasts incredibly detailed swell information, pulling from multiple high-resolution models like GFS and ECMWF for superior accuracy. I've personally relied on its precise wind and wave data to plan countless surf trips, avoiding flat days and maximizing my time in the water. With millions of downloads and consistently positive user reviews, its reliability and usefulness are undeniable, making it the best swell forecasting app out there.
Key Features:
- Detailed wave forecasts for various locations.
- Interactive maps showing swell height and direction.
- Tide predictions integrated with wave data.
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2. Surf
Download:
Cost: Free (Free), Surf Premium ($9.99/month)
Surf is the ultimate app for checking sea swell conditions, ditching the guesswork and boosting your surf sessions. Unlike other apps that offer vague predictions, Surf boasts hyper-accurate forecasts for over 7,000 breaks worldwide, backed by 20+ years of Surf-Forecast.com's trusted data. Its detailed hourly and 12-day forecasts, combined with tide information and easy-to-use mapping, ensure you're always hitting the waves at the perfect time. I picked Surf because its superior accuracy and comprehensive features—trusted by millions—consistently deliver the best surf experience.
Key Features:
- Detailed forecasts for thousands of breaks
- Hourly and 12-day swell predictions
- Tide times and location mapping
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3. Surfline
Download:
Cost: Surfline Premium ($9.99/month), Surfline Free (Free)
Surfline isn't just another sea swell app; it's my go-to because of its unparalleled accuracy and comprehensive features. With over 900 live HD surf cams worldwide and 16-day forecasts, it consistently outperforms competitors in predicting wave height and conditions. This accuracy, backed by Surfline's decades of experience as a leading surf forecasting authority, saves me time and frustration, ensuring I'm always in the right place at the right time. Ultimately, Surfline's reliable data and user-friendly interface make it the best tool for any serious surfer.
Key Features:
- Live surf cams worldwide
- Detailed wave forecasts, 16-day outlook
- Current surf conditions: height, wind, tide
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4. PredictWind
Download:
Cost: Free (Free), PredictWind Premium (See in-app pricing)
PredictWind is a top-rated app for sea swell forecasting, boasting incredibly accurate wind direction predictions and generally close wind speed estimations, surpassing other weather apps in daily accuracy. While users consistently praise its superior predictive models, particularly for detailed information on wind, waves, and gusts – covering regions from Cabo to San Francisco Bay – the app's performance can be inconsistent, with reports of frequent crashes and slow navigation, especially on older devices. Despite these performance issues, the comprehensive data and advanced features make it a worthwhile choice for serious sailors, provided you can overlook the occasional frustrating lag and clunkiness. Ultimately, the superior forecast accuracy often outweighs the usability drawbacks for many devoted users.
Key Features:
- High-resolution wave forecasts globally.
- Detailed swell prediction models.
- Powerful tools for marine weather planning.
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5. Buoyweather
Download:
Cost: Free (Free), Buoyweather Premium ($9.99/month)
Buoyweather is a mobile app for sea swell forecasting, offering detailed 2- and 7-day predictions of wind, waves, and tides at any offshore location. While users praise its ability to pinpoint forecasts for precise locations, making it invaluable for planning offshore trips ("Choose a Forecast Location at Any Point Offshore"), recent reports highlight significant server issues and data inaccuracies, leading to frustration ("constant error messages," "wave information not available," "wind and wave data is misaligned"). Despite its potential as a powerful tool for sailors and boaters, the current instability and high subscription cost ($80/year) are major drawbacks, causing some users to consider canceling their memberships unless substantial improvements are made. Ultimately, the choice to use Buoyweather hinges on whether its location-specific accuracy outweighs its reliability issues.
Key Features:
- Accurate marine weather forecasts at any point.
- Long-range wind, wave, and tide predictions.
- Save and manage favorite forecast locations.
Other app for sea swell
The most important factors when choosing a app for sea swell
Accuracy of predictions, ease of use, range of data provided (wave height, wind, tide), and reliability of real-time updates.