Maldives Liveaboard Review with Apple watch ultra and Oceanic+

[acidrush]

I recently completed 25 dives with the Oceanic+ App on my Apple watch Ultra. I needed a dive computer for the trip as my Scubapro Chromis went bonkers one time too many and I usually dive with 2 dive computers when doing liveaboards. Since I only do 1-2 liveaboard trips a year, I decided to go with the Apple watch Ultra as I am already an apple watch user. Buying a dive computer and having it sit in a drawer for 11 months a year did not make much sense compared to an Apple watch that I can use daily.

Overall, I am happy with using the Apple watch as a dive computer. The screen is really bright even near the surface and with the glare of the sun. Simple to change nitrox mix compared with my other dive computer which is an Aladin 2G. I noticed it is slightly more conservative when compared with my Aladin 2G in terms of NDL. I also went into deco with it quite a few times and it worked like other dive computers I have used.

Out of the 20 divers on the boat, 4 were using the Apple watch as a dive computer including me. I signed up for the 1 month subscription as it suited my needs. I also noticed quite a few divers at the airport wearing an apple watch Ultra so I guess its quite a hit for people who do not dive weekly or daily.

Cheers!

 

[Cheizz]

I also went into deco with it quite a few times and it worked like other dive computers I have used.

On purpose or by accident?

 

[acidrush]

Not by accident. I still had lots of gas to handle deco so decided to stay deep longer as there was lots of action.

 

[scubadada]

...I noticed it is slightly more conservative when compared with my Aladin 2G in terms of NDL. I also went into deco with it quite a few times and it worked like other dive computers I have used...

Hi @acidrush

I assume you were diving one of the conservative setting presets, which one? The default is 0 and corresponds to GFs 70/85, 1 is 65/80, and 2 is 60/75. A GF high of 85 would be considered moderate or middle of the road in the spectrum of conservative to liberal and is similar to Pelagic/Oceanic PZ+. In the custom GF mode you can choose a GF high of up to 95. Were you diving air or nitrox? I'm under the impression that diving in the Maldives is generally limited to 30 meters/100 feet.

So, I also assume your liveaboard had no prohibition against going into deco, that seems a bit unusual. I was under the impression that deco diving was generally prohibited in the Maldives. Perhaps your deco was limited to around a safety stop duration and you kept the information to yourself. I would imagine that they would not be happy to have to wait a considerable time for you to surface for pickup.

Thanks in advance for the additional information.

 

[kimh]

Out of the 20 divers on the boat, 4 were using the Apple watch as a dive computer including me. […] I also noticed quite a few divers at the airport wearing an apple watch Ultra so I guess its quite a hit for people who do not dive weekly or daily.

Really interesting data point. 20% market share already. Just kidding- not a formal measurement, but still… Maybe Apple really did know what they were doing. I guess there was general satisfaction w/the watch?

 

[mattfish]

Thank you for the info! Did you have any issues with starting dives, or the dive getting ended early? I have found the oceanic+ app to end the dive sometimes when I’m still 3 feet from the surface.

 

[acidrush]

Hi @acidrush

I assume you were diving one of the conservative setting presets, which one? The default is 0 and corresponds to GFs 70/85, 1 is 65/80, and 2 is 60/75. A GF high of 85 would be considered moderate or middle of the road in the spectrum of conservative to liberal and is similar to Pelagic/Oceanic PZ+. In the custom GF mode you can choose a GF high of up to 95. Were you diving air or nitrox? I'm under the impression that diving in the Maldives is generally limited to 30 meters/100 feet.

So, I also assume your liveaboard had no prohibition against going into deco, that seems a bit unusual. I was under the impression that deco diving was generally prohibited in the Maldives. Perhaps your deco was limited to around a safety stop duration and you kept the information to yourself. I would imagine that they would not be happy to have to wait a considerable time for you to surface for pickup.

Thanks in advance for the additional information.

Hi Scubadada,
I was using the default setting of 0. We were diving on 31-32% Nitrox.

Yes Maldivian law limits dives to 30m however thats not possible with the channel dives in the deep south as the lip of the channel where we hook in is often below 30m, usually 32-35m

During the briefing, the DMs would say unhook and start ascending when NDL is 2-3 minutes and then everyone would burst out laughing including the DMs. The liveaboard closes an eye regarding this as we were quite an experienced group and the DMs were diving similar profiles to us. When ascending, we usually slowly ascend and do deep stops by spending about 2mins at 15m and another 2-3mins at 10m. By the time we reach 5m for the safety stop, the deco obligation on the watch goes away. We also usually do a safety stop of around 5mins.

Hope this information helps.

Cheers!

 

[acidrush]

Really interesting data point. 20% market share already. Just kidding- not a formal measurement, but still… Maybe Apple really did know what they were doing. I guess there was general satisfaction w/the watch?

Hi Kimhill

Yes I am generally happy with the watch. The only downside would be the 40m depth limit but was not tested during this trip. Deepest I did was 37m while looking for hammerheads.

Cheers!

 

[acidrush]

Thank you for the info! Did you have any issues with starting dives, or the dive getting ended early? I have found the oceanic+ app to end the dive sometimes when I’m still 3 feet from the surface.

When starting dives, I double clicked the orange button at the side once I start decending. The watch ends the dive around 0.6 to 0.9m.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @acidrush,

Thanks for the additional information, interesting. Out of curiosity, what was the ballpark dive time and average depth of your dives. Were you diving AL80/11 l, AL100/13 l, or something else?

Thanks