Swelleye.com has been online since January 27, 2018. It started with the Chinese-version website and two surf cams. In 2018 we installed two more surf cams and finally got the English-version website online in November. 2018 was a busy and successful year! We are very proud of what we have accomplished, and we are even more proud of (and extremely grateful to) all those who have contributed to Swelleye's success so far.

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As with any business, it hasn't been easy, and there have been many obstacles to overcome. It's been a little bit like trying to paddle to the outside on a big day...you try and try to get to the outside but you keep getting pushed back to the inside, continually stuck in the white water. We believe that any obstacle can be overcome with perseverance and knowledge, and we will continue paddling until we get to the outside.

One of our biggest obstacles is the expense to run and maintain swelleye.com, which is quite high. Since January 2018, we have been using our own personal funds to keep things running.  Our original goal was to attract paid advertising predominantly from Taiwan's surf businesses. During the first half of 2018, we put a lot of time and resources into attracting advertising, but unfortunately online advertising (especially within the surf industry) has been in sharp decline during recent years. With the exception of a few ads sold, our advertising revenue was next to nonexistent.  You may have noticed that we switched to Google Ads not too long ago.  Though not ideal (we'd rather promote Taiwan's surf businesses only), Google Ads will allow us to focus our time and resources on improving existing services and adding more services for you, our valued user. However, the revenue from Google Ads is very small, only about 3% of our monthly expenses (at the time of this writing).

So to be completely transparent, we must start charging paid subscriptions in order to keep Swelleye going. In March, 2019, we will begin charging Monthly ($175/mo) and Yearly ($145/mo) subscriptions in order to view Swelleye's live-streaming surf cams. The rest of swelleye.com will remain free for non-subscribers, giving you full access to all content other than the live streams.  So for the price of a Starbucks coffee, you'll be getting a month's access to a service that will get you surfing in better waves more often! And hopefully you'll save a little money on gas and lower your carbon footprint at the same time.

Our vision of Swelleye includes many more forecasting tools that will help you improve your surfing. We also want to install more surf cams around Taiwan (don't worry, we don't plan on putting up cams at secret spots or extremely "localized" spots!). The bottom line is that improving and adding to our services requires significant investment.

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A paid subscription is the best way for you to support Swelleye's future, and will allow us to greatly improve our services. By creating a subscription, you will also be helping Taiwan's surf community and Taiwan's environment, through our 3% for Taiwan program .

Through your support, we will be able to slowly add features like the following:

• More Surf Cams
• Map Charts - Access to detailed map charts, including wave height, wave period, wind, and more.
• Favorite Surf Spots - Save your favorite surf spots and surf businesses on the map so you can quickly find them later.
• Navbar Surf Check - Save your home surf spot and quickly check current conditions in the navbar.
• Surf Cam Replay - Watch previously recorded HD streams, up to 5 days prior.
• 5-day Surf Cam Stills - View photos of the surf conditions from the previous 5 days.
• More Features - We are working hard on many more features that will improve your surfing life and make you an even better surfer.

As mentioned above, all content other than the live streams will remain 100% free. We hope you continue to enjoy all of our free content below:

• Surf Spots Guide - Full access to detailed information, photos, videos, and infographics for more than 40 surf spots in Taiwan.
• Surf Forecasts - Accurate, detailed 7-day surf forecasts for more than 40 Taiwan surf spots. Updated hourly.
• Current Surf Reports - Current weather and surf conditions, including accurate tide charts, for more than 40 Taiwan surf spots.
• Surf Business Directory - Comprehensive listing of Taiwan's surf businesses: Surf shops, hostels, retail stores, shapers, and even surf-themed restaurants, cafes, and bars.
• Taiwan Surf Video Library - Access to our Taiwan Surf Video Library, featuring more than 100 surf videos around Taiwan, with more added regularly.
• Surf Blog - Full access to valuable surf knowledge, surf tips and tutorials, guest surfer articles, how-to's, photos, videos, and much more.
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If you’d like to subscribe to Swelleye PRO, we will be running an introductory offer for 7 days: 20% off Swelleye PRO! Details to follow soon.

Thank you for your support during 2018, and here's to an awesome 2019 filled with great waves and happy surfing!

- The Swelleye Team

P.S. If you have any questions, feedback, or constructive criticism, please let us know . We are always looking to improve, and we'd love hearing from you!

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