Hi all,
I am looking for recommendations for a gps watch that wont leak/fail in surfing conditions.

I have tried Tom Tom multisport, excellent features and they last between 3 and 9 months of heavy use however surfing, with the extreme crashes and fine sand grit suspended in the water cause them to leak or the control button fails. Tom Tom warranty support has been excellent and each failure has been replaced but I have to own two of them as one is often away for warranty repair.

I have tried the older Garmin forerunner, the first series that came out which had a great display and useful features however after multiple replacement under warranty ( again, no hassle ) it became apparent that the unit wasn't up to the task.

I have tried velocitek speedpuck, they dont leak and the display is excellent but only shows speed or heading. As they are so big its very useful suction capped to the nose of my 14 foot bark but for surfing the info is limited and mounting it flush on the deck of my Allwave or Nalu it gets in the way as I am changing which side I paddle on and I smash into it sometimes during my elegant dismounts.

All of the above allowed tracks to be downloaded and masses of data to drool over. These are essential features to me or else i would be using a simple Seiko or Casio watch which are the only two brands of watch I found to be truly surf waterproof.

I am interested in the Ripcurl surf watch, the later model Garmins and any suggestions from USERS of theses types of products.

Perhaps I am somewhat jaded but it appears that some manufacturers rely on the majority of their customers not using their GPS sport watches for swimming/surfing and just keep changing them out until the warranty runs out for the small amount of us that do use them in the surf/swimming pool.

Does anyone have a great story about a gps watch that just lasts in the surf, downloadable data and isn't made of unobtainium?

I have searched this and other forums by the way, this is a subject that comes up frequently but doesn't seem to be resolved unless one rarely enters the water, a trick I have yet to master while surfing.

Thank you in advance, here is a few emoticons so eveyone knows I am happy and not a hater
cheers,
Darryn

Hello.

I have the Rip Curl watch also great watch just wish it had average speed and the data is easy to read and get from the watch to your iphone.

I read your reviews supingcaveman, my tom tom multisport has similar bells and whistles, its longevity I am looking for.

tomooh and Stephenseals both like their ripcurl gps watch but they havent had them to long, anyone out there had their ripcurl watch leak or require a warranty return?
cheers,
Darryn