I have loved kite boarding since I was a kid!  Because I was lucky enough to live near the beach growing up, I was exposed all kinds of water sports.  It only took one try on the kite board to convince me that this was my favorite thing to do in life!

 

Now if you love kiteboarding as much as I do, you have been in, on and above the water for thousands of hours over the years.  And over the years you may have developed problems with your eyes because of your love for kiteboarding. 

I have been a kiteboarder for 20+ years and still live near the beach – why would I move away from paradise, right?!  Unfortunately, the sun and wind have taken their toll on my eyes.  Over the years I did my best to protect my eyes, but most of what I tried failed miserably.  At times I have even spent more than I could afford because my eyes were getting sore and keeping me out of the water. I wouldn’t let money keep me from kiteboarding.  The problem was that nothing I tried worked.

There’s good news for us kiteboarders today!  There are sunglasses that work perfectly for kiteboarding even though they were originally designed for surfers about 10 years ago.

SeaSpecs offers extreme water sports sunglasses that WORK for kiteboarders and they cost less than $50!

The best part of the design is the one-handed adjustable strap system.  It’s integrated into the arms.  Now the sunglasses stay over my eyes to protect me from the sun, wind and salt spray.

They offer 3 lens colors (grey – bright sunny; brown – early morning/late afternoon; clear – overcast or nighttime).  The lenses are Polarized and 100% UVA/UVB Resistant. 

Now this is a great product, but the design is so basic that it’s easy to order online.  This is a one size fits all deal - Sea Specs has the most versatile size frame that fits almost everyone!  There are vents in the frame, too.

You know that technology has come a long way when you can get Prescription Kiteboarding sunglasses!  Yes – SeaSpecs will make your prescription for you.  I thought I had fun kiteboarding before SeaSpecs.  Now that I have no worries about eye problems and I don’t get sore eyes anymore – I have even more fun when I’m kiting and I stay out longer.

See you in the water!

 

Here are a couple of reviews if you’re interested.

 

Gear Test With Katie Coryell, Professional Surfer
Keeping the Sun at Bay and the Water Away
By STEFANI JACKENTHAL
Published: August 10, 2006

SUN rays reflecting off the ocean can be blinding, not to mention harmful to one’s eyes. Still, surfers have long resisted wearing protective sunglasses or goggles because they were too easy to lose, too likely to become foggy or waterlogged.
But now there is ventilated, draining eyewear made to be worn while surfing, windsurfing, kayaking and jet skiing. Adjustable straps keep them secure during spills.

Some of these impact-resistant frames for watersports have long been available. Just as it took a long while for surfers to start wearing zinc-based sunblock, said Chris Coté, the editor of Transworld Surf magazine, they are only now starting to wear sunglasses to protect against cataracts and pterygium, a fleshy growth on the white part of your eye caused by prolonged sun exposure.
To see if watersport glasses made a difference, Katie Coryell, a professional surfer and instructor at Surf Diva, a school for women and girls in La Jolla,  Calif., wore them on the water for a week. She was eager to try them, she said, because “some of my contemporaries already have eye problems, and I have a lot of years of surfing ahead of me.”

SEASPECS - SUNFIRE SPECS $49.95 - www.seaspecs.com. Easy to adjust with one hand, these “nicely-shaped  sunglasses” stayed in place when Ms. Coryell had to duck underwater  to avoid being knocked over by an ill-timed wave and…the lenses have  “good visibility”….
Misha Erwitt for The New York Times

 

Review by Neal at Surfboardshack.com

The good guys at Sea Specs were nice enough to send me one of their surf sunglasses for me to try. I surf here in Hawaii during the middle of the day and for me, those surf sessions have always been extremely painful on my eyes. I really hate squinting and was excited to try these surf shades out on my next surf.

Surprisingly I tried my new Sea Specs during a mid-day stand up paddle board session. The surf shades fit comfortably on my face and the convenient non-removable strap secured my Sea Specs in place. The smoke tint was perfect for our strong sun and the polarized lens significantly reduced the glare. These surf shades worked really well stand up paddling and I could see fish, reef, sand bars, and every crevice with amazing detail. I can't believe what I had been missing this whole time without shades! Best of all, I got great UVA & UVB protection as long exposure to sunlight can cause serious eye problems like glaucoma (which leads to certain blindness). Most of us put sunscreen on to protect our skin from the sun...why not protect your eyes? You only got two of them!

Buy these for only $49.95 at www.seaspecs.com