If you live your life on the water then you know the importance of a good pair of glasses for jet skiing, kayaking, wakeboarding, surfing, sailing, windsurfing. Combining UV protection, a great fit, and the best tints for different water activities, these sunglasses, prescription sunglasses, and eyeglasses protect your eyes while improving vision on the water. Explore our collection of the best glasses for kayaking, wakeboarding, surfing, and sailing to discover the perfect pair of sunglasses or eyeglasses for you.
A properly fitting, comfortable pair of eyeglasses or sunglasses with full coverage, the right tint, and a polarized coating is essential when choosing the best eyewear for watersports like boating, jet skiing, kayaking, wakeboarding, surfing, sailing, or windsurfing. A truly great pair of watersports glasses can make the difference between a bad day and a great day on the water. Whether you’re dealing with the constant, direct UV rays, the glare off the water, or the splashing and impacts involved with watersports, the best sunglasses for watersports will hold up to the elements and work with you as you tackle the challenges of the water.
Brands like Maui Jim, Costa, and Oakley all offer sunglasses, prescription sunglasses, and eyeglasses that are designed to meet the needs of watersports participants. With wraparound frames that provide full coverage, blue and green tints that enhance visibility in open water, and polarized lenses that cut glare from the surface of the water, these brands offer some of the best watersports eyewear available. Plus, Maui Jim and Costa, in particular, were originally created specifically to answer the needs of watersports athletes decades ago.
As a company founded by sailors for sailing, Maui Jim undoubtedly makes the best sunglasses for both boating and sailing. With that said, many other brands have learned from Maui Jim’s designs and introduced their own eyewear advancements to produce sunglasses that are quite competitive with the original. So if you don’t want to choose a brand that’s synonymous with boating and sailing like Maui Jim, you still have an extensive list of polarized sunglasses that will meet your needs from brands like Ray-Ban, Oakley, and Persol.
From the boat ramp to the wide-open water, the best jet skiing sunglasses offer impact-resistant protection and a green or blue tint with polarized lenses to block glare so you can see ahead and make quick decisions at high speed. When you hop on your jet ski, the last thing you want to worry about is being able to see obstacles, dangers, or big waves in your path. Sunglasses and prescription sunglasses with polarized lenses allow you to see even when the sun is reflecting off the water and directly towards your eyes. A green or blue tint is the most widely recommended sunglasses tint for jet skiing, as it helps increase the contrast of open water, in turn, enhancing your vision. And impact-resistant lenses keep you safe when you take a spill or smack into a wave and lose your grip. Before you fire up your jet ski, make sure you have the best sunglasses made for high-speed water fun.
Complete coverage, a snug fit, and lenses that are both impact-resistant and scratch-resistant are just a few of the properties paddlers demand from the best whitewater kayaking sunglasses. If you’re looking for a new pair of sunglasses or prescription sunglasses to wear on the river, you should choose wraparound designs from brands like Maui Jim, Oakley, and Costa. Each brand offers sport-focused glasses that will comfortably hug your head while blocking UV rays and direct splashes from hitting your eyes.
Most professional wakeboarders don’t wear sunglasses while riding, but those that do often recommend sunglasses that meet ANSI standards for protection. A hard fall while riding could result in a normal pair of sunglasses shattering into your face, so if you’re looking to stay safe and see better while wakeboarding, brands like Wiley X offer the best combination of protection and sport performance.
Though you may hope to spend all your time riding, a lot of wakeboarding includes boat time and time spent hanging out on the dock. For these moments, you’ll want to protect your eyes from UV rays, while looking your best. Over the past few years, it seems like the hottest sunglasses on the wakeboarding scene are a classic pair of wayfarers like Oakley’s Frogskins.
While many surfers will paddle out and catch a wave while wearing sunglasses, others choose to go without, fearing that a hard crash could break their glasses and make the impact worse. For those that do choose to sport eyewear on the waves, the best sunglasses for surfing are safety-rated sunglasses from brands like Wiley X. These glasses offer the UV and impact protection surfers need, while delivering the style choices they want so they can add a personal touch to their look in the water or on the beach.