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Technology seems to be a modern scuba diver’s best friend. Paper planners have been replaced by dive computers, and each dive can now be logged on your phone. From weather to dive planning to processing underwater pictures, there’s a dive app for everything. Have some storage space on your phone to burn? These are the best apps for scuba divers.
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Dive Apps for Pre-Dive Planning
A diver without a plan is a diver that’s bound to be stuck on the shore. Planning a dive trip requires a bit of inspiration and research. These apps will help you plan where to stay, when to go, and where to dive.
DIVE Magazine
Best scuba app for inspiration
One of the biggest considerations on a dive trip is planning where to dive. While word of mouth and local dive shops can help you see the most of your local area, we’re all always looking for that faraway land with dive sites that hold world class reputations. In other words, we want to see something new.
The DIVE Magazine app can help you decide where your next dive destination will be. This app features comprehensive dive guides to the world’s most popular diving spots. With a quick scroll you’ll find travel guides, photos, videos, in-depth articles, and the latest dive-related news.
Download the DIVE Magazine app: Google Play | Apple App Store
Skyscanner
Best scuba app for finding flights
Have a destination in mind that you’re dying to explore underwater? Skyscanner is a flight and hotel search engine that compares thousands of flights and accommodation options to find the right choice for you. You can filter flights by airline, price, length of travel, and even discover the most environmentally friendly way to fly from point A to B. This is one of the best apps for scuba divers who want to save money for fun dives and tank refills. If you’re traveling with your scuba gear, don’t forget to book extra baggage–you’re going to need it.
Download the Skyscanner app at: Google Play | Apple App Store
Tripadvisor
The actual act of scuba diving is just one element of a whole dive trip. Once you finally select your next dive destination, you’ll need to know how to get there, where to stay, where to eat, and what to do during your surface interval.
Tripadvisor can help with this. Updated regularly, this travel app has a ton of travel information and tips that includes airfare deals, best places to stay, eat and attractions that you can visit. You can even download a map of the destination you are about to visit and be familiarized without leaving the confines of your home.
Download the Tripadvisor app at: Google Play | Apple App Store
AccuWeather
Weather plays an important part in diving and you don’t want to spend your diving vacation under rough seas. It is important to know the local weather of the place you are about to visit and see the climate pattern, especially before booking a trip. Otherwise, you will be spending your vacation inside your hotel room.
AccuWeather solves weather-related woes by giving you live radar information and extended weather forecasts. While this weather app has several features, you will appreciate its “MinuteCast” feature which tells you if it will rain. And if it rains, the app gives an indication on how long the rain will last.
Download the AccuWeather app at: Google Play | Apple App Store
PADI Scuba Diving Essentials
Aside from being the largest diving agency in the world, PADI has an app that caters to many of your diving needs. When you download the app, you can locate nearby PADI dive centers and resorts of the destination of your choice.
Updated frequently, the app features dive-related news, articles on top diving destinations, checklist and reminders regarding your trip. If you are a PADI certified diver, you can access your c-card using the app, as well as get information about scuba courses.
Download the PADI app at: Google Play
Buoyancy Calc
Your future diving destination varies as you may want to explore different dive sites. These site variation may require you to use different equipment configuration which ultimately affects the amount of lead weights that you need. Of course, you do not want to go diving with the incorrect amount of weights as this will greatly affect your air consumption.
Using the Buoyancy Calc app, you can determine the right amount of weight. All you need to do is select the type of equipment that you will be using on a dive like wetsuit thickness, salt or freshwater environment, and the volume and material of the cylinder. After selecting the equipment, the app will give you the amount of lead weights you need, either in kilograms or pounds.
Download the Buoyancy Calc app at: Apple App Store
DAN
Diving emergencies seldom occur but you never know when an accident will happen. It is better to be prepared than to be caught empty handed. DAN (Divers Alert Network) is the largest association dedicated to diver safety and insurance. It has an app that provides diving safety tools and resources such as SOS request button, sharing of GPS location and direct call to an emergency hotline.
While often neglected, you should have the DAN app and be prepared just in case an emergency happens. Within the app are flow charts on what to do in case of an emergency, contact forms for medical consultancy and insurance claims.
Download the DAN app at: Google Play
Dive Apps for Post-Diving Activities
Scuba diving doesn’t really end once you surface. Aside from rinsing equipment, the dive life continues as we fill in our paper dive log, upload and edit underwater footage, and watch video highlights of the dive. For some divers, no dive is complete until it’s shared on Instagram!
We all know these post-dive activities may take a chunk of our time. But with the aid of dive apps, efficiency is just a click away. And what’s best, you can reach a far larger audience where you can share your stories and experiences, not just with your friends, but with the global diving community via social media.
Deepblu
Known for its nice visual appearance, interactivity and shareability, the Deepblu app is an online dive log that recreates your dive experience by making beautiful dive logs. If you are using the Cosmiq+ dive computer, you can automatically upload your dive information to the app via bluetooth. You can even add visual media that can be synchronized with the dive profile slider and pinpoint the exact time and depth each photo or video is taken. You can even tag your dive buddy or instructor and have them e-sign your log. Once you are finished filling the log, you can save it and share it with your friends on social media. Gone are the days of carrying around a paper dive log!
Download Deepblu app at: Google Play | Apple App Store
DiveMate
If you are looking for a dive log app that can be configured from a choice of 6 languages (English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Dutch and Russian), consider installing the DiveMate app. This is a top-rated dive log app that synchronizes the data of any dive computer going to your Android device using bluetooth connectivity. Aside from showing temperature, pressure and depth profile, this app also shows equipment configuration you have been using like weights and cylinder size. Even without internet connection, all the features of the DiveMate app are still be functional. Just make sure to download their online maps and browse them later when you are offline.
Download the DiveMate app at: Google Play
Dive+
If you are into underwater photography, the Dive+ app is essential. With just a single click, this app can restore the original colors of your underwater photos and videos. It eliminates the bluish background or undertone.
Dive+ is all about diving in just one app. Aside from color correction, this app can also become a dive computer and a dive log. If your phone has a casing, you can turn on the app during the dive and it will measure depth, dive time and ascent rate. Most of this scuba app’s features work even without an internet connection.
Download the Dive+ app at: Google Play | Apple App Store
Marine Debris Tracker
Scuba divers are some of the most passionate people when it comes to ocean conservation. We don’t want to dive in a dirty environment, like a coral reef embedded with trash. If you do see a polluted dive site, you can do your part as a responsible diver by making a report using the Marine Debris Tracker app.
This scuba app gives you access to their onboard GPS tracking system to record the location of the trash you found. In return, this app will provide researchers and government agencies with first-hand data on pollution which they can use to align their projects and programs on waste retrieval and management.
Download the Marine Debris Tracker app at: Google Play
While these scuba diving apps certainly make our lives much easier, there’s no replacement for knowing dive theories and principals firsthand.
What do you think is the best app for scuba divers?
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