While you would not normally associate apps with scuba diving, that is no longer the case. Now, there are many scuba diving safety apps on the market, and many of them have become indispensable to the diving community.
They are also fundamental resources aimed at improving dive safety and the overall diving experience.
So, what are the best scuba diving safety apps that no diver should be without?
Overview of Scuba Diving Safety Apps
If you ask yourself what scuba diving safety apps can offer me, the answer is quite a lot! Imagine you are shore diving with friends in the Red Sea or Bonaire, and a group member sustains an injury.
When you pick up your phone, what number do you call?
If you don’t live there, it is hard to know without substantial googling during a stressful time, and that is where apps come into the equation – keep reading through the emergency and first aid app section for the answer.
Bear in mind that this is not only an issue of emergency situations. Scuba diving safety apps can provide lots of other important information. If you are diving in the open ocean, where tides and currents play a role, some apps will give you detailed information about the best time to hit the water.
Alternatively, some logbook apps will provide detailed information about various dive sites worldwide. These enhance your experience by giving anything from reviews and site maps to safety tips like areas to the site to avoid or watch out for strong currents.
Dive Planning Apps
Scuba diving safety apps have a role to play before you even get in the water. This is especially true if you plan a deeper or more challenging dive. Several apps let you plan your dive properly to ensure it is safe.
The apps help you plan your dive plan and ensure you stay out of deco. Or, in the case of a technical dive, your decompression schedule is good, with plenty of conservatism built in. But you can also calculate other vital considerations, like how much gas you will use and whether you have enough to complete your dive safely with plenty of backup. The apps can also track items like Oxygen exposure, especially if you are doing multi-day dives with lots of nitrox.
Two of the leading apps on the market are V-Planner and MultiDeco. Both are available on multiple platforms and operating systems. The critical difference is in the decompression algorithm. V-Planner only uses the VPM-B algorithm, while MultiDeco gives you the choice between the Bhulman ZHL-16 and the VPM-B algorithm. Also, MultiDeco is a more well-developed program with more functionality across the board.
Marine Weather and Tides Apps
Considering how critical marine weather and tides are to safety, every diver should have one of these scuba diving safety apps on their phone or device. Bad weather or ignorance of critical tide information is not only an inconvenience when diving but can be an absolute disaster.
If lots of your dives depend on getting the tides right, then you cannot go wrong with Real Tides GPS. This small and cheap app will give detailed tide information to any GPS location worldwide. This can be crucially important when diving offshore locations with strong tidal currents. You need to know if, and when the tide is running, so you get your descent and dive route right. This is also where Real Tides is a great app since you can use GPS coordinates. to acquire tidal information.
Depending on your location, if the wind is an important factor in planning your dives and trips, you may want to consider Windguru. The website and app were designed for wind and kitesurfers as well as other water sports enthusiasts. They provide detailed information on the wind throughout the day, including speeds, gusts, direction, and more. The information is granular over 24 hours, giving you lots of information to plan your dive.
Emergency and First Aid Apps
The first thing to note is that there is no alternative to proper training in dealing with any emergency scenario. While an app is a great additional tool, it does not replace the need to be properly trained and current with CPR and first aid, especially if you hold a Rescue Diver or higher rating.
Aside from the usual training, you can use many dedicated first-aid apps to boost your response in an emergency. For instance, the American Red Cross and the British Red Cross both have emergency first aid apps that give you advice on dealing with common injuries.
Emergency apps shine in providing an easy resource to find and retrieve safety-critical information in an emergency.
Take, for instance, the example of shore diving in the Red Sea or Bonnaire mentioned above. If you use the Divers Alert Network Europe app they have announced free internet calling to allow you to get advice.
Another app like TripWhistle Global SOS on iOS will provide you with the right number to call, including providing the responders with your exact GPS location. The app provides over 70 emergency numbers in 196 countries worldwide and should be installed on every traveling driver’s phone.
Dive Log and Buddy Communication Apps
The world of dive log apps is heavily populated with many apps around. While not as safety-critical as some scuba diving safety apps mentioned before, they still play a critical role in keeping us interested, documenting our scuba experiences, and sharing them with the outside world. While some of the original apps only used to download data from your computer, today, apps have evolved, and you can do so much more with them, like share images, videos, comments, and more.
One of the most popular apps is DiveMate (Scuba Dive Log). The app allows you to do various actions, from connecting your dive computer and downloading your dive data to adding information like weights used, gas used, and more. Furthermore, you can also annotate your dive with images, videos, and even comments about your experiences.
Another popular dive log app is Buddy Dive App. It acts like a social network and dive logbook where you can add images, videos, and comments. It also offers excellent dive site search and information functionality. The app lets you find local businesses that provide trips to sites you like and allows businesses to promote trips and sites.
