If you surf, you know that having an idea of what the tides are like is important. Tidal ebbs and wanes guide the size and position of the waves, and you don’t want to waste your time wading in the sea. Tides variation occurs each day and is totally seasonal. In short, it is almost impossible to simply “predict” the tides. For that reason, it is a good idea to have some type of tide chart or indicator.

Well, tidal watches have been around for a while, but the Lodown from Nixon is a particularly good one. It had 15 years of tidal information pre-programmed for 200 cities. The watches also have a full calendar, dual times, alarm stopwatch, countdown timer, and of course light. The best part is that all of these features, literally are accessible at “a glance.” The sizable LCD screen features a daily tide chart where you are. You can easily tell what the day’s tides are going to be like, and what the best time to hit the waves are. For novice surfers, that is usually at low tide, unless they are a particularly strong swimmer.

The Lodown watches come in a ton of different colors, and some different materials. There are also men’s and women’s sizes available. There are all polyurethane (plastic) models in a many colors, as well as a titanium model, and limited edition gold treated steel model. Each is very inexpensive at under, or just over $100. What makes the Lodown watches ideal is that they are rugged little work horse watches. You don’t need to work about them getting slashed and thrashed in the water, they fit on your wrist or over a wetsuit, and they offer all the information you need at a glance. No tedious button pushing for the tide information. If you are a surfer, or just like exploring tide pools, the Nixon Lodown is an excellent choice. Oh, and I am sure they have a color that is right for you.

See Nixon Lodown and tide watch on eBay here.

See Nixon watches on Amazon here. [phpbay]nixon lodown | tide, num, “14324”, “”[/phpbay]