For most people, surfing is a simple pastime. But the increased availability of technology to help surfers find the best waves seems to have brought with it more and more complexity, making decisions on where, when or if to hit the surf anything but simple.

Some people will be happy with that, but others want to spend more time surfing and less trying to decode forecasts. One of those surfers is Rangiuru’s David McQuinlan.

The basics

McQuinlan, a long-time surfer, has created an app, nextSurf, that takes away the complications.

It’s a surf forecasting app that cuts through information overload to deliver instant, intelligent surf conditions directly to surfers’ iPhones and Apple Watches.

“There’s a certain market that wants all that information, but some of us just want the basics,” McQuinlan said.

“Getting that information into surfers’ hands helps them make the call – they know their spots, I’m just making it easier to get. AI [Artificial Intelligence] generated reports are there to help them make decisions for now, later or tomorrow – it’s all about their next surf.”

The locally developed nextSurf app uses AI to generate surf condition reports. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

The app’s content focuses on what McQuinlan called “the big three”. This was the three key things every surfer needed: when is the next tide, the next swell, and the next offshore wind – in short, when is your next surf.

“That should be easy to get – but it wasn’t,” McQuinlan said.

The app’s design meant that with three taps, it was now possible to know what conditions would be like at 5pm for an after-work surf.

“When you’re looking at your screen on the phone you want to be able to read it, whether you are at the beach or the office – it was all designed around accessibility.”

Anywhere on the planet

The app uses AI to research any break and deliver a readable surf report for anywhere on the planet.

McQuinlan said the app had a proprietary AI system that processed complex marine weather data such as buoy readings, wind models and tide charts and translated it into simple, surfer-friendly intelligence – such as having a mate who always knows when it’s firing.

“I wanted AI to be there to help. Being able to scale out the AI to generate a report on any beach anywhere in the world – it’s still a forecast but is remarkably on point.

“AI has allowed me to do what would have taken thousands of hours and a team of people to do. It’s allowing me to go for a global reach all from here in Te Puke to anywhere in the world.”

The app was designed deliberately to be readable – no tiny numbers scattered across the screen – just big, clear and readable.

“A quick glance and you know all the important facts.”

McQuinlan sees the app as an alternative to what is already out in the market.

“There’s a magic in the anticipation about heading to the beach not knowing exactly what it’s going to be like – that’s what I love about using the app myself. That’s how a surf mission used to be – anticipation.

Fast and easy

“It was about making it incredibly fast and easy – to make sure that anyone can see the conditions, not scrolling to hunt them down – we don’t all have 20:20 vision – nextSurf has been built around that. Whether your phone is in your hand or on the dashboard, you are wearing sunglasses or your glasses – you can always see what’s important.

“We don’t need much information to know what the surf’s going to be like.”

Raised in Wellington, McQuinlan had surfed virtually his whole life. Locally he said his favourite spot was Mount Maunganui beach at the end of Girven Rd and further afield he loved the energy of Piha. “I grew up in the time when you looked on the back page of the paper for the weather reports and that’s all we had.

“The app for me was kind of a throwback to something that’s simple and easy.”

Free to download

Currently, the app is available in Australia and New Zealand and only for Apple devices. An Android version is in the planning stages and McQuinlan expected it to be available mid-2026.

It is free to download with a free demo and includes free tide information. A subscription is needed to get access to surf forecasts and AI reports.

The next target audience is to expand into Oceania to cover locations such as Fiji, Bali and the rest of Indonesia – plus North America by the end of the year, with plans to eventually take the app worldwide.

The app also includes VoiceOver support for speaking to anything on the screen to allow listening to reports while on the go.

McQuinlan said the app was aimed at any surfer who valued their time in the water over time spent checking forecasts