Find dive apps limiting? Try a new way to discover dive sites, log and share dives stories

[DiveLikeAMuppet]

You
Honestly if you rely blindly on any dive app for your safety when it comes to locating a dive site then that is on you.

What happened to being a thinking diver? What happened to taking responsibility for your own diving?

I’m interested in the basics like. What operators go there or would I need my own boat, what’s is depth, which tide tables would I need to study, where’s the nearest deco chamber, what level of diver do I need to be, is a drysuit required. All pretty basic.

I’m not expecting the App to calculate my gas requirements or tell me the dive profile, that’s for me.

To add to that: a disclaimer is not very useful. What is useful is to track source of the information and age. A wreck diagram from 20 years ago will not be accurate at all. A reef that was stunning 5 years years might be dead or blasted to bits by dynamite fishing. Site access and parking change all the time too. Boats disappear all the time.

Being a thinking diver is all well and good but you can't think your way out of outdated or inaccurate information.

That's why it would be great to see a sample for some very common dive sites.

 

[Seefa]

To add to that: a disclaimer is not very useful. What is useful is to track source of the information and age. A wreck diagram from 20 years ago will not be accurate at all. A reef that was stunning 5 years years might be dead or blasted to bits by dynamite fishing. Site access and parking change all the time too. Boats disappear all the time.

Being a thinking diver is all well and good but you can't think your way out of outdated or inaccurate information.

That's why it would be great to see a sample for some very common dive sites.

You make some very compelling points
Considering that some dive sites and their access also change seasonally the best way to approach this is by finding a local guide.

There are sites that are world famous and have been documented in books (think many famous wrecks truk lagoon, scapa flow, many sites around Egypt also come to mind where you can find guidebooks on the topic.

This is the kind of info the app can provide and it would be helpful to the diver when they’re planning their holiday and again helpful to them when logging their dives

I think the issue we keep circling around is the possibility of a dive site replacing a local guide and the knowledge they bring (exact site location, rules, tide info etc)

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Bahut acha, bhai!

 

[DiveLikeAMuppet]

You make some very compelling points
Considering that some dive sites and their access also change seasonally the best way to approach this is by finding a local guide.
...
I think the issue we keep circling around is the possibility of a dive site replacing a local guide and the knowledge they bring (exact site location, rules, tide info etc)

Most sites in Europe have no local guides . It's absolutely normal and common to dive without a guide and even *gasp* solo.

Most of the time you need to research the site based on older articles from a well known website and assume the wreck will be more collapsed, from wreck information from another (paid) site, by asking other divers and based on vague information from the skipper ("I put the shot close to the boilers"). A website (wtf would it need to be a locked down app) to share info among divers would be useful.

A lot of the information is hidden within individual BSAC clubs and I suspect most members will take it to their grave, as they have no easy way to share it (looking at BSAC HQ...)

I suspect that if you are the type of a diver who needs a guide, you would simply go with whatever divesite the local diveshop suggests anyway.

There are sites that are world famous and have been documented in books (think many famous wrecks truk lagoon, scapa flow, many sites around Egypt also come to mind where you can find guidebooks on the topic.

I would argue that for example Scapa Flow is actually pretty poorly documented. There is a website with 3D models which helps a bit and some skippers (Emily comes to my mind) provide excellent information, and some people run studies on the wrecks. The books and guides are very outdated and pretty unhelpful in terms of planning more interesting dives . Most divers have no way to "contribute".