When it comes to sports watches not many names stand out more than Fitbit.
With the ability to track multiple aspects such as your heart rate, calories burnt, time spent exercising, blood pressure, as well as connect and track your progress on your mobile.
Most Fitbit watches are water-resistant and can be used while swimming in fresh and saltwater, however, some are better suited for particular cases than others, which makes them perfect for tracking your surf progress.
That leaves the question, do Fitbits work well for surfing, and which are the best for the sport?
Table of Contents
Which Fitbit Is Best for Surfing?
When it comes to surfing, most Fitbits will work as long as they are water-resistant, suited for saltwater exposure, and can withstand a pressure of at least 20 meters.
Although most Fitbits will work, you will be limited to functions such as telling the time, recording your surf duration, and perhaps your heart rate.
If you are looking to keep track of some more detailed data, then the Versa 3 and Charge 3 from Fitbit could be your best options for surfing.
Versa 3
The Fitbit Versa 3 is a budget-friendly surf watch that is water-resistant up to 50 meters. This watch can be worn in the shower, swimming pool, or while swimming in the ocean.
The Versa 3 has up to six days of battery life, although this becomes shorter when the screen is left on for longer periods.
This watch is ideal for tracking your surfing thanks to its built-in GPS that will record your surfing travel distance, continuous heart-rate tracking to monitor your fitness, and access to the Surfline Fitbit App so that you know what is happening around your coasts.
Versa 3 Top Features
- 24/7 Heart rate tracking: PurePulse technology tracks calorie burn and allows you to see your resting heart rate as well as your changing heart rate.
This makes it easier to track your workout intensity so that you stay on top of your game.
- High and low heart rate notifications: Notifies you if your heart rate drops below or raises above your threshold.
- Oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitoring: Keeping track of your O2 levels is important when you regularly perform high-intensity sports.
This tracker allows you to monitor these levels to ensure you are healthy and energy-efficient.
- Guided breathing sessions: Helps bring calm to your day with 2 or 5-minute breathing sessions that are personally designed according to your heart rate.
- Built-in GPS: Although it is made to track outdoor runs, hikes, and bike rides, the built-in GPS works perfectly for water sports such as kayaking and surfing.
The GPS allows you to keep track of your distance traveled without your phone.
Once the information is loaded into the mobile app, you will be able to view your surfing route and better analyze the waves you rode.
- Workout intensity map: The intensity map tracks your heart rate at different zones throughout your workout so that you can monitor which part of your surf session you worked the hardest.
Charge 3
The Fitbit Charge 3 is another ideal watch for surfing.
This watch has an abundance of features and is, like the Versa 3, water-resistant up to 50 meters.
This Fitbit model continuously records your heart rate, tracks your all-day activities, has an automatic exercise recognition technology, and can connect to your phone's GPS.
Although unlike the Versa 3, the Charge 3 does not have a built-in GPS, however, making use of a waterproof phone case while surfing can solve this problem.
Charge 3 Top Features
- Track Climbed Floors: Possibly one of the neatest features that the Charge 3 offers is the ability to keep track of your change in altitude.
This is usually used for climbing stairs and hills, however, this can also be used to calculate the average size of the swell while you are surfing.
- Personalized cardio fitness score: Keep track of your fitness level and how it changes over time to stay on top of your workouts.
- 24/7 Heart rate tracking: Helps keep track of your resting heart rate trends and calorie burn which makes planning successful training sessions simpler.
- Workout intensity map: The workout intensity map tracks your movements through the GPS
on your phone and record your workout intensity over different points of your surf.
- Up to 7 days of battery: A long-lasting battery life of up to a week keeps your watch
available at almost all times.
This, of course, differs depending on brightness settings, use case, and use frequency.
- Surfline App: The Surfline app is available to download on this device which makes tracking tides, swell patterns, and your progress as simple as swiping your wrist.
Can You Surf With a Fitbit?
Surfing can be a demanding sport, both on your body, as well as on your accessories.
With constant sunshine, extremely salty water, pounding waves, and sand everywhere are all factors to consider before taking your watch for a surf.
Luckily for you, there is an abundance of Fitbits that you can take with you surfing.
Although not all devices will have features that benefit your surf, as long as your watch is water-resistant up to a minimum of 20m in saltwater and can take a slight knock (from your board or the ocean floor), there should be no problem taking it with you surfing.
Which Fitbits Are Waterproof?
There are no Fitbit devices that are fully waterproof as at certain pressures, and under particular conditions, the watches may leak.
This is why they are considered water-resistant (up to pretested depths), and not waterproof.
Although most Fitbits are water-resistant, some are not well suited for surfing.
That being said, the following Fitbits are all water-resistant up to 50 meters and can be used while surfing in saltwater.
- Ace 2
- Flex 2
- Inspire/ Inspire HR
- Inspire 2
- Versa Lite
- Versa
- Versa 2
- Versa 3
- Ionic
- Charge 3
- Charge 4
- Charge 5
- Inspire 2
- l Sense
- l Luxe
you can find more about them on AMAZON.
Although this is a fairly extensive list, the list of water-resistant Fitbit devices is not limited to those mentioned above.
Fitbit Surfing App
Fitbits are without a doubt amazing watches for surfing, but what helps the Charge and Versa
The series stands out above the rest in its ability to connect to the Surfline Fitbit app.
Surfline has long been a trusted resource for detailed and up-to-date information on various
surf breaks around the world.
Not only will this app allow you to track changing tides and swell the size of your favorite breaks
at the flick of your wrist, but you will be able to read up on new spots, watch the weather, and
be notified when conditions are changing.
Conclusion
Fitbit stands out far beyond other sports watches, with its only close competitor being Apple
watches.
Most Fitbits can be used for surfing, but if you are looking for a Fitbit that seems to be
perfectly suited for surfing and surf training.
Both the Versa and the Charge series are ideal for surfing and are both compatible with the
Surfline Fitbit app.