GIFT GUIDE
Gifts for Boaters, Fishermen & Beach House People
Boaters, sailors and fishermen plan around the tide the way the rest of us plan around traffic, and they’ve all received the decorative brass tide clock that drifts out of sync by Labor Day.
Give them the real thing instead: live readings from NOAA’s sensors, on a screen that can live out at the beach house.
THE PICK
Tide Station
digital WiFi tide clock
Tide Station is a digital WiFi tide clock. It shows real-time water level from any of 200+ NOAA stations, the next high and low with live countdowns, the day’s full tide curve, sunrise and sunset, and a moon screen that calls the next spring and neap tides. At a station that reports them, it also shows current conditions (air and water temperature, wind and pressure). All of it is on one 3.5″ touchscreen.
from $114.99
The final price, shipping and any color choices are on the listing, and checkout stays on Etsy.
Buy on Etsy (opens in a new tab)Checkout happens on Etsy. This opens the Tide Station listing in a new tab.
Want the full tour? See the Tide Station page, or read the field guide: How to Read a Tide Chart (and Why Old Tide Clocks Drift)
Before you gift it
What they’ll need
- A 2.4 GHz WiFi network and its password. Most home routers broadcast one next to their 5 GHz network. No PlankLabs gadget can join a network that asks for a username or sends you to a sign-in page, which is common on school and hotel WiFi. The gadgets with a 3.5″ screen can’t join a WPA3-only network either. A normal home password (WPA2) is fine.
- A phone or laptop for setup, which runs in its web browser.
- A USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port. The box has a USB-A to USB-C cable, about 3 feet (36 inches), and no wall adapter is included.
- Setup asks for the 7-digit ID of the NOAA tide station they want to watch (the setup page says where to look it up) and their time zone. NOAA tide stations sit on US coasts, the Gulf, and tidal rivers and bays.
Not sure it will work for them?
Message me on Etsy (opens in a new tab) before you order. Tell me what you know about their WiFi and where they live, and I’ll tell you whether it will work.
If it doesn’t work out, my 90-day maker warranty covers defects, and change-of-mind returns are accepted within seven days of delivery through Etsy, with the buyer covering return shipping. The FAQ has the details.
Once it’s unwrapped, planklabs.us/owners has the setup steps for every gadget.
WHY THIS ONE
What makes this gift work
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Measured by NOAA sensors
Gift-shop tide clocks approximate an average and drift; this displays what NOAA’s sensors are reading right now, refreshed every ten minutes.
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Their own tide station
They pick the station (the harbor, the pier, the bay by the beach house) from 200+ across the US and territories.
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The whole waterfront picture
Sunrise and sunset show alongside the tides, and the moon gets its own screen, with the dates of the coming spring or neap tides. At stations that report weather, air and water temperature, wind and pressure show too, as current conditions rather than a forecast.
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Beach-house-proof
It remembers its station and WiFi through power outages, which beach houses provide free of charge.
ALSO WORTH A LOOK
If they’re more the…
live data Storm Sentinel
WiFi desktop weather station
from $114.99
Forecasts, severe-weather alerts, and radar straight from the National Weather Service, plus an Outdoor Score and a storm-cloud mascot with opinions.
See the gadget…if they check the radar as often as the tide.
live data Satellite Sentinel
ISS & Starlink tracker
from $119.99
Counts down to the next visible ISS pass over your house and tells you which way to look. It also tracks up to 100 Starlink satellites.
See the gadget…dark water usually means dark skies, which is what satellite spotting needs.
GIFT-BUYER QUESTIONS
The things people ask before gifting one
Is it hard for a non-technical person to set up?
No. Setup runs in a phone’s web browser and takes a few minutes. They plug the gadget into USB power, join the setup WiFi network it makes, and its setup page opens on their phone (if it doesn’t, they go to 192.168.4.1 in the browser). There they enter their home WiFi details, plus the 7-digit ID of the NOAA tide station they want to watch (the setup page says where to look it up) and their time zone, and save.
Is Tide Station a good gift for a boater or a fisherman?
Tide Station suits anyone who plans the day around the water. It shows the measured water level at the NOAA station they pick from more than 200 across the US and its territories, the next high and low with countdowns, and the day’s tide curve. It is for planning, not for navigation. It needs a 2.4 GHz WiFi network and USB power, and it has no battery.
What if they’re not on the coast?
Tide Station needs a NOAA tide station to watch, and those live on US coasts, the Gulf, and tidal rivers and bays. For lake people, or anyone inland, it can still watch a favorite coastal spot (the beach they visit every summer, say), but for local conditions inland, the weather station is the better gift.
Will they get hit with a subscription after I gift it?
No. You pay once on Etsy, and there’s no monthly fee or account for them to manage. The live data comes from outside sources, so if one changes I make every reasonable effort to keep the gadget working, and free firmware updates arrive over the air on their own.
What does it cost?
The Etsy listing has the current price, shipping estimate and any enclosure color choices, and the Etsy button on this page opens it. When this page shows a “from” price, that is the listing’s starting price, checked with Etsy within the last few hours. Checkout happens on Etsy with full buyer protection, and I back every unit with a 90-day maker warranty.
Another question first? Message me on Etsy (opens in a new tab).
from $114.99
Buy on Etsy (opens in a new tab)