Ah the joys of getting old and ageing. That's why I'm asking this question here and not in the surfing forum.
I have been wearing glasses now for the last 5 or 6 years and becoming more dependant on them for daily use. It is now a requirement as part of my drivers license I wear them. I have not tried contacts.
It would be nice to see who's who and who's glaring or smiling at me! It would be nice to spot the daughter by more than just the colour of her wettie or rashie when shes over 20 meters away.
So what I want to know is, can contacts be worn in the surf? Do you need to be careful they don't wash out while you're being flogged and dragged?

I moved to use disposable contacts in December last year so no issues if I get rolled in the surf and no major cost as less than a couple of dollars each , much better than the last few years of blurry vision while out.

Been wearing 'em in the surf prone and SUP for about 25 years. Only lost one in the surf twice. Just keep eyes shut under water!

I need contacts but I don't where them often . Disposables best . But prefer blurriness. Sharks can be passed over as dolphins

Cheers guys,
Did a bit of a google and found a couple of interesting things. Well interesting in that I knew nothing about contacts at all.
1. Disposables
2. Eye infections, with some saying you could lose sight in an eye. But keeping your eyes closed under water and rinsing in a saline solution afterwards was a pro tip for that.

I have got glasses on line before by just punching in my prescription and picking a style. so getting contacts would be similar I imagine.
Does any one have a particular brad they prefer?

Cheers guys,
Did a bit of a google and found a couple of interesting things. Well interesting in that I knew nothing about contacts at all.
1. Disposables
2. Eye infections, with some saying you could lose sight in an eye. But keeping your eyes closed under water and rinsing in a saline solution afterwards was a pro tip for that.

I have got glasses on line before by just punching in my prescription and picking a style. so getting contacts would be similar I imagine.
Does any one have a particular brad they prefer?

Select to expand quote

Gboots said..
I need contacts but I don't where them often . Disposables best . But prefer blurriness. Sharks can be passed over as dolphins

My Mrs has been saying that same Dolphin explanations to me since she got me surfing. She only ever see's DOLPHINS

These are comfortable

I used the original soft contact lenses for years in the 80's. The lenses were relatively hard so easy to put in and take out.

I tried to use modern lenses but it was a bit like having a tiny bit of wet Glad Wrap stuck to my finger. I couldn't tell if they were inside out (you have to read the writing on the edge), and they would go in folded over.

A mate has had some success with a hard contact lens. You wear it overnight and it reshapes the lens of your eye. The effect lasts for a day. Sounds like a pain in the bum to me.

I had laser eye surgery in 1995. I have not worn glasses since. The best thing I ever did. I am 62 now.

Back in the "glasses only" days, I was always blind in the surf.
People avoided me in the line-up because I was always sneering and making faces.... just trying to squint at the waves.
ha ha... I wasn't badass... just blind.

So.... when contact's went soft, I was one of the early converts.

Surfed the past 40 years wearing soft contacts..... never any issues.
One got ripped out by the lip of an OH wave at Granite Bay, Nossa.
I felt it on my cheek, so I stuck it in my mouth, finished the wave and put it back in my eye.
Never lost a contact while surfing in all these years.

After my next cataract surgery.... I won't need contacts anymore

Great thread. I definately need contact lenses. Was surfing with a buddy a week ago. Lost track of him and started to worry. Paddled in and stopped a couple on the beach to see if the had seen him.......they looked out and said there's a guy a short distance away on a yellow board. It was him. Cheers. Bob

Hi Bob.
Recommend the disposable contacts as well, no dramas if you loose one. I started wearing them originally ~ 30 years ago to play rugby, no more, we are the blue blobs and they are the red blobs....

Prone surf and supsurf, very rare to loose them. But I do keep my eyes closed underwater, a bad habit as I often will close my eyes when ducking into a tube and not being able to see the way out.

Anyway, I reckon you should see an optometrist first, to get the right fitting ones as there are many options. Once sorted buy them online in future. About a dollar each. I also store mine in the proper case and fluid, and wear the same disposables for 3 or 4 sessions.

I wear dailies.
Only ever lost one in about 1000 sessions.
Almost zero risk of infection with dailies.
No big deal if you lose one anyway.
Keep a spare pair of glasses in the car though just in case.

I wear two weekly contacts. Have done for maybe 15 years and never lost one in the surf. I don't open my eyes though.

I find any splash of water (especially on take off) in the eyes can be annoying but wouldn't be without them..

If i had the courage id look into eye surgery, but at 47 figured why rock the boat with whats working..

Disposables are the way to go. You will lose them(usually one) in a wipe out now and then. It always seems to be early on in a session, my tip being put them in > 30 mins before you go out. As someone mentioned, keep some spares in the car - nothing worse than being half blind after your first wave, especially if you have traveled a distance to the location. Re, prescription etc.... I am no expert but I believe you'll need to see an optometrist, due to different shapes of the eye etc... its not as simple as just carrying over your glasses prescription.. I think specsavers may even be free for this?? Well worth doing.

Thanks for all the input. I think I will take a trip to the optometrist for at least my first time round and the daily ones sound the go as I would only really wear them for the surf as I only need the distance side. My glasses are multi's.

I wore disposable lenses for many years only ever lost one lens in the water back when I used to kitesurf. Then one day I got a corneal infection. If it wasn't for the wife nagging me I would have lost the sight in my eye within 24 hours, corneal infections are nasty but quite rare, don't muck around if you think you have one.

Anyhow after that experience I binned the contacts and went for laser surgery. Best money I ever spent. If anyone is considering it I recommend going to an eye surgeon rather than the LASIK chop shops. I got mine done in my late 40's and as such the doctor recommended under correcting one eye so that I wouldn't need reading glasses within a year or two of the surgery. So that was about 8 years ago and I still don't need reading glasses but expect I will pretty soon.

I've worn glasses since grade 4, I wore contacts in my late teens and twenties, always had trouble putting them in / finding them - I am very long sighted so can't see them when on my finger without glasses, can't put them in with glasses on, can't take them out when drunk, waking up after a night sleeping in them way too painful, maybe I'm just too unco to use them.
I gave up in my early thirties and went back to glasses.
Worked OK for skiff sailing apart from salt spray on the glasses meaning I basically couldn't see anything beyond the boat, but as my input to the boat was mostly "lifting heavy things", it was not that much of a problem. And I could blame Helmy when we went the wrong way.
Has become a problem again once I started SUP, flat water OK after several iterations of goggles, but surf still a problem.
I wear goggles with a strap, strap tied on to the wetsuit zip.
The current goggles have a gusset / nose piece thingy to hold them off my face (and rather large nose) so they don't fog, but salt on the lenses still means I can't see a lot, a lot of the time.
As I wipe out, (which is every wave), I go under water with a hand on my face to save the goggles.
But I still really couldn't be bothered with contacts.
The memory of waking up with sandpaper on my eyes is still strong.

I got my eyes lasered back in 1998.... best thing I ever did. No more glasses or contacts and perfect vision. Can also buy any type of sunnies I want.

I use daily disposables, and only put them in for paddling, and take them out immediately afterwards. Always keep eyes closed underwater. There is a risk of serious eye infection but you can minimise the risk, and this needs to be weighed up against the risk of not being able to see anything.

You will lose the odd one, but rarely, and the daily disposables are so cheap it doesn't matter. Actually, it's possible to wear just one - even one will still improve your sight, and it reduces cost if you are on a budget (and halves the risk of lens-related infection).

I wear one contact lens in the surf......can only do rights