How to Use the Dawn Patrol's Garmin Integration to Improve Your Surfing

With Dawn Patrol, all of these stats — and more — are all at your fingertips. Photo courtesy Dawn Patrol

There's one thing that all of us surfers have in common, regardless of where we surf, the type of boards we ride and our skill level: we all want to improve our surfing.

But unlike other sports where you can easily track your performances, doing so with surfing has been ambiguous. Improving your surfing meant catching more waves, and feel stronger while doing so.

In today's data-heavy age, wouldn't it be great if you could track your performances in the water? And even better, use that data to improve your surfing?

Here's the good news: you can with Dawn Patrol.

Dawn Patrol is an app-based software that tracks your performances in the water. While it's been primally utilized through the Apple watch, it's now available through Garmin's watches, which boast one of the most advanced GPS's on the market.

What is Dawn Patrol?

Picture an app that tracks every surfing metric imaginable: that's Dawn Patrol. The following features and capabilities make it the must-have app for surfers:

• Distance

• Top speed 

• Wave count 

• Wave by wave breakdown 

• Distance per stroke

• and other health data

  
  

On your Apple watch, you can also integrate Surfline data, adding wave forecasts and tide updates to your iPhone home screen.

For many of us who are fans of Garmin — myself included — these same capabilities are now available, from session summaries that sync seamlessly back to the Dawn Patrol app to wave-by-wave insights, full surf history and more.

The metrics I've personally found the most helpful for my surfing are:

• Top speed, which shows how much momentum I'm collecting based on where I drop in — and whether or not this is improving

• Distance, which shows my overall endurance session by session

• Distance per stroke, which shows my paddle strength and how its improving

• The overall surf log so I can compare sessions & swells, no paper necessary

How It Works

The best thing about Garmin's watch integration with Dawn Patrol: it's not complex and can be done before your next surf session.

After you have an account with both Dawn Patrol and Garmin, simply connect the two, make sure your Garmin watch is on your hand, and you're good to go.

After that, all of your data will be ready by the time you dry off in the parking lot.

Best of all? Not only will you examine critical data points; because Garmin's tech is some of the best out there, you can trust that it's as accurate as possible.

Tether your Dawn Patrol app to your Garmin watch, and you're ready to begin collecting data. Photo courtesy Dawn Patrol

Since utilizing Dawn Patrol's integrations with the Garmin watch integrations, I've become a data nerd, and I couldn't help but think that surfers — once rebels looking to avoid responsibilities in decades past — are now using tech-driven tools like data to help them surf better.

Because using Dawn Patrol on Garmin has helped me improve my own surfing and given me a newfound passion for data, I wanted to see if it was just as impactful for other surfers.

One reviewer on the App store spoke of it's simplicity: "You just start your session and forget about it … I found myself trying to reach certain goals like 15 waves before the hour is up. Since the watch app shows it at a quick glance, it makes you want to try harder and challenge yourself." 

Another wrote that its become a digital surf journal of progression.

“It's been such a great way for me to keep track of my surfing progression over the years. “

The bottom line? Garmin's watch integration with the Dawn Patrol app will give you heaps of data you've never had before and help you improve your surfing.

I've already told everyone in my local lineup about it. You can learn more about it right here.

Photo courtesy Dawn Patrol