I like to get radical. It's one of my favorite pastimes. Now with this surf watch, Nixon's new Supertide, I can see exactly where there's maximum radness to be got at any given time.
The watch gives you a digital readout of daily tide information for some 270 beaches around the world. You can set it up to track two beaches at once---set your home beach as your default, and your secret spot (the one that's a three-hour drive up the coast) as the second. Swap between your two beaches by pressing a button. For each beach, you can see the time, 48 hours of tide information, and sunrise/sunset times. It doesn't list every beach on the planet, but if you live anywhere near a known surf spot, chances are it's in there. If it's not, you'll still be able to get a useful, accurate tide readout by picking the next-closest beach. Five of the six spots I frequent on the California coast were listed in the Supertide's brain. There's also a light, a basic alarm, and even a heat timer if you're one of those morally ambiguous types who sees surfing as a competitive sport.
It's a handsome beast---a big chunky 45mm case with an integrated, super-comfortable polyurethane silicone band. Nixon offers a nice selection of colors, from muted to bright, plus a few groovy swirl patterns. So while you can easily get all this information with a couple of smartphone apps, you won't look as stylish without this watch. $200
