Every wave on Earth, live on one map.
SurfSage fuses NOAA's global wave model, real buoys, and an objective conditions score into one beautiful map, then counts your waves while you surf. Waves for the wise, from the team behind Snoflo.
World-class surf data. Locked behind a login.
NOAA runs one of the best wave models on earth and floats real buoys in the water to check it. That data is public and free, and almost every surf app buries it behind an account, a subscription wall, and a swipe through ads.
SurfSage does the opposite. It puts the live wave field, the real buoys, and a single objective 0–100 conditions score for every named break on one map you can open and read in seconds, with no account and no sign-up. Then it does the thing no forecast app does: it records your session and counts your waves automatically, so your surf life has a logbook.
The free map is genuinely useful on its own. Pro is for the people who want the whole thing, and it ships from the same data backbone that powers Snoflo on the web.
What a forecast app won't do
Each of these is a capability, not a feature. Surf apps show you a forecast; SurfSage scores the break, maps the ocean, and logs your session.
An objective conditions score
Every named break gets a live 0–100 score and a Poor-to-Prime band, computed from the nearest buoy's wave height, swell period, wind, and water temperature, with the plain-English drivers behind it. The same engine that powers the Snoflo web report.
One source of truthAutomatic wave counting
Record a session and SurfSage traces your track, detects each ride, and tallies waves, longest ride, distance surfed, and top speed, then drops it in a personal logbook with a heatmap of everywhere you have paddled out.
First to marketEvery ocean, live
A worldwide wave-height field refreshed hourly, with real NOAA buoys drawn on top as ground truth and a plus-or-minus 72-hour replay and forecast scrubber. Tap any patch of water for height, period, direction, wind, energy, and each individual swell train.
Category definingAt-the-water reports
Condition reports can only be posted from the coast: glassy, hollow, blown out, crowded, from people actually there, stamped with the weather at that moment. Anonymous, and gone from the map after 24 hours.
Verified, not guessedEverything SurfSage does
Global wave map
Wave heights across every ocean, refreshed hourly. Energy, wind, and current layers, plus a plus-or-minus 72h timeline.
Live NOAA buoys
Real NDBC stations colored by observed wave height. Tap for live waves, period, water temp, wind, and swell split.
Conditions score
An objective 0–100 rating and Poor-to-Prime band for every break, with the drivers behind it and a 14-day trend.
Session recording
Strava-style tracking that counts your waves automatically, then logs distance, longest ride, calories, and a route map.
Swell alerts
One ping when a saved break hits the quality you set. At most one alert per spot per day, no spam.
Verified reports
At-the-water condition reports and a private, on-device logbook of everything you have seen and surfed.
From open ocean to your logbook
Wave model
NOAA's GFS-Wave global model, rendered hourly into a tap-anywhere height, period, and swell field.
Live buoys
Real NDBC observations drawn on top as ground truth, so when model and buoy disagree you believe the buoy.
Conditions score
A transparent 0–100 score per break from the live buoy inputs, with the drivers spelled out.
Your session
Hit record and SurfSage counts your waves and traces your ride into a private logbook.
Free to start. Pro when you're hooked.
The wave-height map, tap-anywhere conditions, buoys, and reports are free for everyone. SurfSage Pro removes the limits and unlocks the pro layers.
- Global wave-height map and buoys
- Tap-anywhere conditions and swell trains
- Conditions score for every break
- At-the-water reports and logbook
- Up to 3 saved spots, 3 alerts, 3 sessions
- Unlimited saved spots, alerts, and sessions
- Energy, wind, and current map layers
- Plus-or-minus 72h replay and forecast on every layer
- Everything in Free
- No ads, no accounts, ever
Beginners to chargers
The same map answers a first-timer checking if it's worth it, a traveler comparing coasts, and a logger tracking every session.
Everyday surfers
- Is it worth paddling out? One glance, one score.
- Save your home breaks and get a swell alert.
- Real buoy readings, not a marketing forecast.
Travelers & chasers
- Every ocean on one map, find breaks anywhere.
- Compare spots by an objective score, not hype.
- Scrub the plus-or-minus 72h forecast before you book.
Loggers & improvers
- Auto wave count and stats for every session.
- A heatmap of everywhere you've surfed.
- Conditions captured with each logged session.
Built on public data, done right
SurfSage self-hosts a wave pipeline that harvests federal feeds every hour, bakes tiles, and serves them so the next map load stays cheap, the same backbone that powers Snoflo on the web.
Real humans, usually within a day
Questions, ideas, or trouble? Email info@snoflo.org. Deeper conditions data, forecasts, and reports live at snoflo.org. To manage or cancel SurfSage Pro, open the App Store, tap your account, then Subscriptions.
Terms of Service
- Informational use only. SurfSage presents oceanographic and environmental information (modeled wave conditions, buoy observations, wind, weather, an estimated conditions score, and user-submitted observations) for general informational and recreational-planning purposes only. It is NOT a navigation aid, marine-safety device, official forecast, warning service, or emergency information source, and it is not professional, maritime, or safety advice. Do not use SurfSage to make navigation or safety decisions. For official marine forecasts and warnings, consult the National Weather Service and NOAA marine products.
- Model output and scores are estimates, not measurements. The wave map, tap-anywhere readouts, and the 0–100 conditions score are derived from a numerical model (NOAA's GFS-Wave) and buoy readings, presented at coarse resolution for open water. They routinely differ from actual conditions, often substantially, and do not capture nearshore effects such as breaking-wave size, refraction, shoaling, currents, or local bathymetry. Actual wave heights at any beach, break, harbor, or bar can be significantly larger or more dangerous than shown. Individual waves can far exceed the reported significant wave height.
- Data is provisional and third-party. Buoy readings and related data originate from third-party sources, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other public feeds, and are subject to revision, delay, gaps, sensor error, and outages. Community reports are subjective observations by anonymous users, not verified facts. Snoflo does not originate, verify the accuracy of, or warrant any of this data, and values shown in SurfSage may differ from official records.
- The ocean is dangerous. Use at your own risk. Ocean and coastal conditions change rapidly and without warning; surf, currents, rip tides, sneaker waves, cold water, and marine hazards can cause serious injury or death. You are solely responsible for your own safety and for independently verifying conditions, including against official sources, before surfing, swimming, paddling, diving, fishing, boating, or otherwise entering or approaching any body of water. You assume all risk arising from ocean- and water-related activities and from any reliance on the app's content.
- Subscriptions. SurfSage is free to download. SurfSage Pro is an auto-renewable subscription ($3.99/month or $24.99/year in USD; prices may vary by region and are shown in-app before purchase). Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. You manage and cancel subscriptions in your Apple Account settings. There is no free trial. Purchases and refunds are handled by Apple under the App Store terms; we do not process payments or receive your payment details.
- No warranty. SurfSage is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, availability, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the app or its data will be uninterrupted, timely, current, or error-free.
- Limitation of liability. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Snoflo.org LLC, its members, officers, and suppliers shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for personal injury, death, property damage, or economic loss, arising from or related to the app or reliance on its content. Our total aggregate liability for any claim shall not exceed the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations; in those jurisdictions our liability is limited to the fullest extent permitted.
- Community reports. By submitting a report you grant Snoflo a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free license to display and distribute it in anonymous form. You agree to submit only truthful observations from your actual location. We may remove any report and may restrict submissions from any installation at our sole discretion.
- Acceptable use. You may not misuse the app, including submitting false reports, probing or disrupting our services, scraping data at scale, or reverse-engineering the app except as permitted by law.
- Indemnification. You agree to indemnify and hold Snoflo harmless from claims arising out of your use of the app, your violation of these terms, or your ocean- and water-related activities.
- Changes. We may update the app, these terms, or discontinue features at any time. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.
- Governing law. These terms are governed by the laws of the state in which Snoflo.org LLC is organized, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. If any provision is held unenforceable, the remainder stays in effect.
Privacy Policy
- No accounts, no tracking. SurfSage has no user accounts, no advertising, and no cross-app or cross-site tracking. We do not sell or share personal data with third parties for marketing.
- Location. Your location is used on your device to center the map and show nearby waters and buoys. When you submit a report, your coordinates are sent once, over an encrypted connection, solely to verify you are at the coast and to record the weather and wave conditions at that moment; your exact coordinates are then discarded and never stored, and the published report contains only a randomly offset point.
- Session recording and background location. When you tap Record to log a surf session, SurfSage uses your location, including in the background as shown by the system location indicator, to trace your ride, but only while a recording is active. You start and stop every recording yourself. A saved session's GPS track and stats are stored under your anonymous install ID so your own logbook is available to you; they are not shown to anyone else and carry no identity. You can delete any session at any time.
- Anonymous install ID. The app generates a random identifier on first launch, stored only on your device, and sends it with reports and sessions for rate-limiting and to let you manage your own content. It is not linked to your name, email, or any account, and we make no attempt to associate it with your identity.
- Reports. Published reports contain an offset location, the condition words you chose, a timestamp, a general area name, the modeled wave height offshore, and the weather at submission time. They are shown publicly and anonymously for 24 hours on the live map. You can delete your own reports from your in-app logbook at any time.
- Payments. SurfSage Pro is billed by Apple. We never receive your name, card, or payment details, only Apple's confirmation that a subscription entitlement is active. We store no payment information.
- Email (optional). If you choose to sign up for updates, we store the email address you provide and use it only to send occasional product news. Unsubscribe anytime; write to info@snoflo.org to have your address removed.
- Feedback (optional). In-app feedback is transmitted with your install ID so we can investigate issues; it contains no identity information unless you include it yourself.
- Service providers. Map tiles are served by Mapbox, whose servers receive standard network request data (such as IP address) needed to deliver tiles; the Mapbox SDK may collect limited usage telemetry as described in Mapbox's privacy policy. Weather context is retrieved from a public weather provider using approximate coordinates. Wave, buoy, current, and marine-alert data are retrieved from public NOAA services. None of these receive your identity from us.
- Retention. Reports and sessions persist in our database in anonymous, install-ID-keyed form to support your logbook and historical condition views. Signup emails are kept until you unsubscribe. Server logs are retained briefly for security and debugging.
- Children. SurfSage is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.
- Contact. Privacy questions: info@snoflo.org.