Downwinder mode is a new session mode built for point-to-point riding. It joins Big Air and the new Speed mode in the mode selector on your watch.
ℹ️ Downwinder is a Surfr PRO feature. On a free account your 5 free trial sessions let you try it. On Surfr Plus you get 3 downwinder sessions on the watch, after which Downwinder asks for PRO. See Surfr 4 on your Garmin — what's free, what's Surfr Plus, and the Legacy app.
Before your first downwinder: sync your spots
Downwinder navigates using the spots from your Surfr account, so two things need to be in place before you can pick a destination.
1) Link the watch to your Surfr account
On the watch, go to Menu → Surfr Account and enter the 6-digit code shown in the Surfr app on your phone.
ℹ️ This is a different step from Connect Garmin account in the phone app. That one sends your recorded sessions to Surfr. The link above is the one Downwinder needs.
2) Sync your spots
On the watch, go to Settings → Sync spots. Your spots are pulled in around your current position, so the watch needs a GPS fix before it can sync.
If you see "No GPS fix yet - try outside":
Head outside with a clear view of the sky and stand still, watch facing up. A fix usually takes 30 to 60 seconds. It will not work indoors.
Once GPS has locked on, run Settings → Sync spots again.
💡 Sync your spots while you are at the beach, not at home. The sync brings in the spots around where you are standing, so syncing at your destination beach is the surest way to have the right ones on your wrist.
Starting a downwinder
On your watch, open Surfr
Select Downwinder in the mode selector
Choose your spot from your synced spots
Hit start and ride
What you'll see on your wrist
While you ride, Downwinder mode tracks your progression live, so you always know where you are on the run:
Distance covered, to see how far you've come
Distance to the next beach
Distance to your destination
For example: "12.4 km down · next beach 2.1 km · 5.1 km to go"
Land a jump and the big jump readout takes over for a few seconds, then navigation returns.
💡 Downwinder mode needs a bit more memory on the watch. On a few older, memory-limited models it isn't available — see the Garmin Compatibility List — Surfr 4.0.
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