The SWELLFRAME Story
Made from the Ocean, in Ocean, for the Ocean.
Why SwellFrame Exists
I'm Flo. I'm a surfer, an engineer, and a dad to two little girls (two and a half and six months). Between work on my PC and everything else on my phone, I kept catching myself reaching for the screen while hanging out with them. Among many other distractions, more often than I'd like to admit, I was checking the surf forecast when I should have been present.
That habit bothered me. So I started finding ways to create distance from the phone. I tried Brick to block the apps that pulled me in the most. It helped, but the surf forecast was still something I genuinely needed. I just didn't need all the noise that came with it.
That's where SwellFrame started. I wanted something that meets my needs right where I have them: tell me the surf report, not more, not less. A glanceable forecast on the wall that doesn't ask me to pick up a device. No app. No notifications. No rabbit hole. Just the information, always on, always ready.
So I built one. But the how mattered just as much as the what.
Made from the Ocean, in Ocean, for the Ocean
Every SwellFrame is produced in Ocean Township, New Jersey, a coastal community where the surf forecast isn't just data, it's daily life. Our frames are crafted using ocean-bound plastic: material intercepted before it reaches the water, given a second life as something useful and lasting.
Sustainability as Foundation
Sustainability isn't a marketing line. It's why we exist. We manufacture locally to cut transport emissions. We use reclaimed materials to keep plastic out of the ocean. And we build hardware that lasts, because the coastline we check every morning deserves better than disposable tech.
Every decision, from the materials we source to the low-power e-ink display that runs for six months or more on a single charge, is made with the same ocean in mind that we paddle out into.
For Surfers, by a Surfer
SwellFrame isn't built by a tech company that discovered surfing. It's built by a surfer who happens to write code. That means the forecast data is curated the way you'd actually read it: swell direction, period, wind, tides. At a glance, on your wall, no app required.
Built with the Community, for the Community
SwellFrame is a grassroots small business. Building a database of surf spots isn't easy. I've been building the backend and knowledge base from surf trips across all five continents: Australia and New Zealand, Indonesia, the US, Africa, and Europe, and from countless conversations with other surfers along the way. That foundation got SwellFrame off the ground, but to build it into the company it's meant to be, I rely on the surf community.
Let's build SwellFrame together. If you don't see your local spot on SwellFrame, submit a spot request. Share your local knowledge without putting your spot on the map for millions. Your input stays between us and helps make the forecast better for the surfers who actually paddle out there.