Free surf alerts for your spot
Frontside's Swell Watch sends you a notification when your spot is going to be good, and stays quiet when it isn't.You get a heads-up one to three days before a swell that reaches your bar, then one alert at first light on the day it lands. It's free, needs no account, and works by push notification or by email for about 450 spots in Portugal, Southern California, Oahu, Bali, Sri Lanka, Israel and Ireland.
Swell Watch, in one table
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What does it cost? | Nothing. No account, no premium tier, no trial. |
| When does it send? | A heads-up one to three days before a swell that clears your bar, sent between 7am and 8pm local time, then one alert at first light on the day. |
| How often? | One heads-up per swell and one alert on the morning. A quiet morning sends nothing. |
| What decides "good"? | Your bar: Fair, Good (the default) or Epic, on the same 1-10 rating the app shows for every spot. |
| One spot or a whole coast? | Either. A coast watch checks every spot on that coast and names the best one. |
| Push or email? | Push on any browser that allows notifications. Email where push can't reach you: an iPhone that hasn't added Frontside to its home screen, or a browser with notifications off. |
How do I turn on a surf alert?
Open your spot on frontside.live and tap the bell on its card. Your phone asks once whether Frontside may send notifications; say yes and the watch is on. On an iPhone, push works once Frontside is on your home screen (Share, then Add to Home Screen), and until then the card offers the same watch by email.
The bar, the coast-wide option and a test notification are in Settings. There is one watch per phone: turning the bell on for another spot moves the watch there, and the card says so.
Why only two notifications?
Because an alert you learn to ignore is worse than no alert. The heads-up is there so you can move a meeting or plan the drive; the first-light alert is there so you check the morning before you load the car. Between swells Swell Watch says nothing.
If three weeks pass without a single alert, it asks once whether you would like to lower the bar, and never asks again.
How is "good" decided?
Every spot has a profile: which way it faces, which swell and wind directions suit it, how much size it holds and which tide it wants. Each hour of the forecast is scored against that profile on a 1-10 scale, which is the same rating you see on the map. The alert fires when the day's best hour reaches the bar you set.
Where a public beach camera covers the spot, the morning alert adds the camera's latest read of the water. How often the forecast matches what surf instructors called on the beach is published at /accuracy.
Where does it work?
Everywhere Frontside forecasts: about 450 spots across Portugal, Southern California, Oahu, Bali, Sri Lanka, Israel and Ireland. The alert runs on the spot's own clock, so first light in Bali is first light in Bali, wherever you are.
Common questions
Is there a free surf alert app?
Frontside's Swell Watch is free with no account: a heads-up one to three days before a good swell and one notification at first light on the day, by push or email, for about 450 spots.
Can I get a notification when the surf is good at my beach?
Yes. Open your spot on frontside.live, tap the bell, and set the bar to Fair, Good or Epic. You hear from Frontside only on days that reach it.
Do I need to install an app to get surf alerts?
No app-store download. On Android and desktop, push works straight from the browser. On an iPhone, add Frontside to your home screen for push, or choose email instead.
Can I get surf alerts by email?
Yes, wherever push can't reach you: the spot's card offers an email field instead. Confirm the link in the first email and the watch is on. Every alert email has a one-tap unsubscribe.
Can one alert cover several spots?
Yes. Choose a coast-wide watch in Settings and Frontside checks every spot on that coast and names the best one.
How do I stop the alerts?
Tap the bell on the spot again, or use the unsubscribe link in any alert email.
Last updated 2026-11-03.