Dive Log vs Time to Surface
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Dive Log
Log your SCUBA dives with detailed information, including GPS coordinates and dive buddy details. Supports metric and imperial units, and integrates with desktop software for comprehensive dive history management.
- SCUBA diving logbook
- GPS coordinate capture
- Dive buddy integration
- Dive data and statistics
- Metric and Imperial units
- Dive computer data import
- Bluetooth LE transfer
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Dive Log is designed to work either as your primary SCUBA diving logbook application or in conjunction with compatible 3rd party desktop logbook applications. You can use Dive Log at the dive site or on the dive boat to capture the information about the site while it is fresh in your mind (or your dive guide's mind). You can even capture the GPS coordinates of the dive site using the built in location services of your iOS device. Details about your actual dive can be added immediately after your dive or at the après dive event and later be saved to your desktop computer. The dive buddy feature is fully integrated with Contacts on your iPhone or iPad, letting you capture information about your newest dive buddy or quickly add an existing buddy to a particular dive. The dive data and statistics features let you have an immediate answer the next time your dive guide asks how much weight you used on your last dive or have all the information you need about your dive history when you fill out that next dive waiver. Metric and Imperial values are supported for all appropriate logbook fields. You can easily enter values using the appropriate units for the situation and view them in your preferred measurement system. You can even explore detailed dive profiles from popular dive computers that you download with your desktop software and later upload to Dive Log on iPhone/iPad. Dive profile data can also be transferred directly from certain dive computers directly via Bluetooth or using a supported Bluetooth accessory and an associated in-app purchase. On Windows, Diving Log 6.0 (www.divinglog.de) is fully integrated with Dive Log on iPhone/iPad and has built in synchronization. Diving Log 6.0 has extensive support for importing data from dive computers and other dive log applications. On Mac OS X, logbook information can be imported to Dive Log on iPhone/iPad from a number of compatible applications using the free Dive Log Manager application available from More Mobile Software (www.moremobilesoftware.com/divelog-sync). DiveLogDT (available on the Mac App Store) can be used to directly import a number of dive computers and file formats and can synchronize with Dive Log on iOS. Dive data can be directly downloaded on a Bluetooth LE (Bluetooth 4.0/5.0) compatible iPhone, iPad or iPod touch from Bluetooth LE capable dive computers such as the Suunto EON Steel, Suunto EON Core, Suunto D5, Scubapro Galileo 2 (G2), Aladin Sport (Matrix), Aladin H (Matrix), G2 HUD, Aladin A1, Shearwater Teric, Peregrine, Petrel 2, Petrel 3, Perdix, Perdix AI, Perdix 2, NERD 2, Oceanic VTX, Pro Plus 4, Geo 4.0, VEO 4.0, Aeris A300CS, Aqualung i300C, i330R, i550C, i750TC, i770R, Apeks DSX, Sherwood Wisdom 4, Mares Genius and certain heinrichs weikamp OSTC computers as well as the DiveNav Inc. bluebuddy and Tech Buddy dive logger accessories. Supported Bluetooth LE accessories are available separately. Mares Bluelink Pro is a Bluetooth LE accessory by Mares and available for purchase separately (www.mares.com). The Bluelink Pro allows you transfer dive data from certain Mares dive computers (Puck Pro, Smart, Smart Air, Quad and Quad Air) directly to Dive Log on your Bluetooth LE compatible iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Dive Computer Buddy (aka DCbuddy) is a Bluetooth LE accessory by DiveNav Inc. (note that the DCbuddy itself is no longer available). The DCbuddy allows you transfer dive data from certain dive computers (including models from Suunto, Oceanic, Aqualung, Aeris, Sherwood, Tusa and Mares) directly to Dive Log on your Bluetooth LE compatible iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
Time to Surface
This technical dive planner calculates staged decompression for dives up to 56 meters. It supports multiple bottom gases and one deco bottle, offering detailed gas planning, runtime tracking, and contingency solutions. The app also accounts for repetitive dives and provides a printable wetnote layout.
- Staged decompression planning (15-56m)
- Support for six bottom gases and one deco gas
- Twin cylinder configuration
- Bühlmann ZH-L16C model with adjustable gradient factors
- Adjustable ppO2 and descent rates
- Repetitive dive planning
- Contingency scenario calculations
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Staged decompression from 15 to 51 metres — deeper to 56 with a warning — on six bottom gases, with one deco bottle. Runtime, stops, minimum gas and both cylinder fills, before you kit up. Free. No in-app purchases, no subscription, no account. WHAT IT PLANS • Staged decompression, 15 m to 51 m, and to 56 m with a warning rather than a refusal • Six bottom gases: EAN32, triox 30/30, EAN28, air, 21/35 and 18/45 • One decompression gas — EAN50 or oxygen — in an AL80, AL50 or AL40 • A second deep segment before the ascent, deeper or shallower than the first • Twin cylinders on the back, yours to pick • Bühlmann ZH-L16C, gradient factors yours to set, 20/85 by default • ppO2 1.2 bar working and 1.6 bar at a stop by default — stricter than the 1.4 most divers trained at. Both adjustable • Descent 20 m/min, 9 m/min to the first stop, 3 m/min between stops, and the last 6 m at 1 m/min. Stops every 3 m with the last at 6 m. All four rates adjustable • Metric or imperial THE GAS PLAN Back gas fill and turn pressure on thirds, halves or all usable, every pressure on the ten-bar grid. Minimum gas — what two divers on one back-gas supply need to leave the deepest point and reach the first deco gas at 3 m/min, with a minute for the problem and a minute for the switch. The fill is the bottom phase, descent included, plus that minimum gas. Deco bottle fill and reserve. CNS. The deco bottle is walked level by level from the schedule that was actually solved — every stop, every travel leg and the slow last six metres. And it says which of the three ends the dive — your back gas, your deco bottle or your CNS clock — and at which minute. THE DIVE, MINUTE BY MINUTE Every leg carries the runtime it starts at and the runtime it ends at, so you can see where each line begins and ends without doing arithmetic. One tap lays the whole plan out as a wetnote page — schedule, gas checkpoints and on-the-fly adjustments — sized to copy by hand. DIVES BEFORE THIS ONE Keep a plan under a name, then say that up to three of them came before the one you are planning, each with the surface interval before it. Nitrogen and helium both cross the interval, and CNS decays at a 90-minute half-time. No published table covers repetitive decompression dives; this runs your own previous profiles through the same model. ON-THE-FLY ADJUSTMENTS Five minutes more or less on the bottom, or three metres deeper or shallower — each one re-solved through the same model, not scaled by a rule of thumb, with the change in deco minutes and what it costs in each cylinder. If a change goes past a limit, it says so. PRAGMATIC DECOMPRESSION Off by default. Switched on, it linearises the stops between 21 m and 9 m into one flat time per rung, and the 6 m stop is the longer of those stops added together and what the model needs there — a simpler profile to run in the water, not a more conservative one. The unadjusted profile is what the app computes otherwise. WHAT IT DOES NOT PLAN Closed-circuit rebreathers. Cave or wreck penetration. Hypoxic mixes and travel gas. More than one decompression gas. Altitude — sea level only. It does not compute OTU. One decompression gas per dive is a stated limit of this release, not an oversight. If your plan calls for two bottles, this is not your planner yet. INSIDE ITS ENVELOPE, IT REFUSES RATHER THAN WARNS A gas past its oxygen limit, an exposure past the maximum, cylinders that will not cover the plan, a surface interval under an hour — all produce no numbers at all, rather than a number with a caution attached. YOUR DIVE COMPUTER OWNS THE DIVE This is pre-dive arithmetic. It never pronounces a dive safe, and it is not a substitute for training, for your computer, or for your own judgement in the water. Offline. No ads, no analytics, no tracking. Nothing leaves your phone. iPhone, iOS 17 and later. Questions and bug reports: timetosurface@ismailov.net
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Time to Surface at Free against Dive Log's $14.99. Time to Surface also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 13) and update cadence (every 2 days vs monthly). Dive Log's advantage is ratings volume (106 vs 1) and chart position (#136 vs unranked). On ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Time to Surface is free to download; Dive Log costs $14.99 up front. Dive Log sells 11 one-off in-app purchases. Time to Surface asks for nothing beyond the download.
Time to Surface holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Dive Log has 106 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Dive Log ships an update monthly, Time to Surface every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Dive Log | Time to Surface |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (106 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 83.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 106 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #136 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 33 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Greg Mclaughlin | RUSTAM ISMAILOV |
Customer experience
Dive Log
Time to Surface
In-app purchases
Dive Log
- Suunto Bluetooth Download$2.99
- Mares Bluetooth Download$2.99
- Crest Bluetooth Download$2.99
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Shearwater Download$2.99
- bluebuddy Download$2.99
- SCUBAPRO Download$2.99
- Pelagic Bluetooth Download$2.99
- Cressi Bluetooth Download$2.99
- Ratio Bluetooth Download$2.99
- Halcyon Bluetooth Download$2.99
- DCbuddy Support$4.99
Time to Surface
No in-app purchases









