Ocean Watch vs Surf Buddy Wave Height
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ocean Watch
Access tide predictions for over 3,300 stations across the US and Caribbean. Visualize tide data with stunning graphics and an interactive almanac. Plan your activities with offline access to predictions and custom notes.
- 3,300+ tide stations
- Stunning graphics and visualizations
- Offline tide predictions
- Interactive almanac
- Integrated station map
- Custom notes and images
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Find your tide. Ocean Watch tracks tides at 3,300+ stations on every US coast, on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. It works offline. • Offline forecasts. Decades of data and the prediction engine are built in, so the tide is there when the signal isn't. • Tidemarks. Set a height so you know when the water will float your dock or expose your beach. • Beauty with insight. Interactive graphs and visualizations that let you feel the flow over time. • Plan ahead. The Almanac lets you travel into the future and pick your window for fishing, sailing, surfing or paddling. • The big picture. The Weeks at a Glance view lets you see the monthly trends as the moon waxes and wanes. • The little picture. Apple Watch, no iPhone needed. Every station on your wrist, with always-on complications. • Widgets. The tide on your Home Screen and everywhere else. • Area Map. See what's here and where you're going. • Share and export. Send the current tide as a picture, or export a week as CSV or PDF. • Your place is special. We've supplied gorgeous local photographs for many areas, and you can add your own. Stations outside the US and Caribbean have limited support.
Surf Buddy Wave Height
Access global wave height and direction data on an interactive map. This tool helps surfers track swells and find optimal surf spots worldwide.
- Global wave height data
- Wave direction tracking
- Interactive map interface
- Swell tracking for surfers
- Find best surf spots
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The Surf Buddy Wave Height app provides global wave height and direction data in the form of an interactive map, which is a great tool for surfers for tracking swells and hitting the best surf spots.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Ocean Watch at 74% against Surf Buddy Wave Height's 0%. Ocean Watch also leads on rating (4.8 vs 1.0) and ads (none vs shown). Surf Buddy Wave Height's advantage is monetization model (ad-supported vs paid) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.0). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Ocean Watch holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ocean Watch has 2.7K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Ocean Watch's written reviews are positive against 0% of Surf Buddy Wave Height's.
Ocean Watch ships an update every 9 months, Surf Buddy Wave Height every 20 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ocean Watch | Surf Buddy Wave Height |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (2.7K ratings) — better | 1.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 73.6% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.7K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months — better | Every 20 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 137 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Blue Bright Labs LLC | corey hoggard |
Customer experience
Ocean Watch
Surf Buddy Wave Height
Bugs and requests
Ocean Watch
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes when trying to open tide station details
- Tide data sometimes stuck on wrong location
- Apple Watch app not syncing or updating correctly
- Issues with the app's widget not displaying accurate information
Requested features
5 requests- Add water temperature and wind speed data
- Improve Apple Watch complication to show more detailed tide information
- Expand coverage to more locations, especially in Canada and other countries
- Add ability to set tide alerts or notifications
- Improve stability and reliability to reduce crashes
Surf Buddy Wave Height
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Ocean Watch
No in-app purchases
Surf Buddy Wave Height
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Ocean Watch free?
Is Surf Buddy Wave Height free?
Which has better reviews, Ocean Watch or Surf Buddy Wave Height?
Do Ocean Watch or Surf Buddy Wave Height have ads?
Which is updated more often, Ocean Watch or Surf Buddy Wave Height?
Other comparisons
