How to use the app to learn about the ocean and get the most out of your vacation
An app that helps you find the best beaches, explore the world’s oceans and make new friends could be the next big thing for tourism.
Oceanographer and blogger Mark McKeown says his new app, SurfLabs, is the next step in the development of a digital platform that lets you discover the world around you.
SurfLab allows you to connect to a group of friends via a mobile phone and then follow them on social media.
This allows you and the group to get to know each other in a very social way.
There’s also an in-app payment system for friends to make online purchases.
You can choose to share your surfing and diving skills and other personal information with your friends through the app.
McKeon says that SurfLaps is aimed at tourists and would have previously been available for the general public.
“SurfLabs is designed specifically to attract tourists and tourists are a big part of the app’s appeal,” he told the BBC.
He also points out that the app is free to download and it is a very accessible platform.
“There are a lot of free surfing apps out there that are geared towards locals but it’s really important to get into the world of tourism,” McKean said.
He added that he had been able to find more than 300 new surfers and locals through the SurfLapses app.
The idea for SurfLaxes was hatched when he heard about another online platform, MySurfing, which was also aimed at locals.
MySurfings founders, Jason and Alex Broughton, told McKeau that their site was an attempt to “provide a new way to discover the sea”.
MySurfligs was originally developed by the University of New South Wales in Australia and launched in 2009.
However, it had a limited user base at the time and the platform was shut down in 2012.
But in 2015, the Broughtons launched another online surfing platform called SurfLenses, which is now the most popular in the world.
“The problem is, it’s difficult to get people into the real world of surfing,” Mc Kean said, “it’s difficult for people to understand what it’s like to surf.”
SurfLaws was born from a desire to create a similar platform for tourism, he said.
“I think that’s the next thing,” he said, pointing out that there are plenty of other apps that offer a similar interface.
“It’s a very unique app, but it really has the same appeal.”
McKeany says he believes the popularity of SurfLays, and its accessibility, has resulted in the success of the new platform.
The app is being developed by a group from the University at Albany, and McKeaun says he expects it will be available on the App Store within a few weeks.
The company has been able so far to find an audience of around 50,000 people who use the application, and he says that this figure is expected to grow.
“We are getting to a point where we can have this huge, huge audience that are going to use it,” he explained.
He is currently working on the app for iOS and Android.
Surf Laxes is available on Apple’s App Store for free, with McKeano also releasing the app on Google Play for $4.99 per month.
He expects the app will be made available to all users within the next six months.