Review: Surf Report for iPhone

If the only time you set your iPhone down is to catch a wave, then Surf Report from Oakley deserves a spot on your mobile device. With this app close at hand, you’ll always know what the surf conditions are where ever you happen to be.

Surf Reports features listings for surf spots from North America to Asia, so you’re sure to find at least a few of your own local breaks. In my testing, I found 19 of my local surf spots listed in just a few seconds.

The first thing you will notice when opening up Surf Report is the sleek, beautiful, and intuitive interface. Finding your local surf spots couldn’t be easier with the “Near Me” button, which uses the location features in the iPhone and iPod touch to automatically bring up a list that includes the current wave height. Tap on a spot in the list, and you’ll be presented with many more details such as current and forecasted air and water temperatures, wind direction, wave period and direction, tide times, and sunrise and sunset times. You also can tap a button to get a map of the surf spot.

And if you’d like to see how the other half lives, you can get news, photos, and videos of the latest surf events and conditions, checking out what the surf is like in far-flung locales like New Zealand and Japan.

Oakley’s Surf Report is a great free app for anyone who likes to surf or just hang out at the beach.

Surf Report is compatible with any iPhone or iPod touch running the iPhone 2.1 software update.

[Tim Mercer is a technology enthusiast, graphic designer, and blogger, whose blog, digital-artist-toolbox.com, offers free resources to the digital artist and graphic designer.]