Comparison

Tortuba vs Mares App

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Tortuba

Log your underwater adventures and identify marine species with this playful and simple app. It offers an offline species database, allows you to record dive details, and helps you share your experiences to raise ocean awareness.

Highlights
  • Offline species database
  • Log dive parameters
  • Identify marine species
  • Add dive photos
  • Share dive stories
  • Team member signatures
Features
Read full description

Tortuba is a logbook you will love to fill, with its playful and simple design. More than a logbook, it helps you identify marine species and tell your stories of underwater encounters, whether you were snorkeling or scuba diving. You can even keep your paper logbook along with this one if you don’t feel like replacing it just yet and use it for the offline species database. We want you to keep beautiful memories of those fascinating marine species, have fun collecting them, and be proud to share them. Why? Because that’s the best way to inspire people, bring the Ocean to them, and raise awareness about the marine species you so dearly care about. You can make a difference with your dives. We’ll help you. Don’t just keep your dive number growing; keep the number of people you inspired growing too. FEATURES - Simple and playful design - Works offline - Lots of parameters: duration, depth, air, site, buddies, conditions, and much more - Ask teammates/instructors to sign your logbook and take a picture of their stamp - Identification of 10 000 species per type/body shape, scientific or common name - photos that you can use to illustrate your logbook and always remember the species you encountered - Writing coach - let the toothy William Shakespeare help you remember and put together your memories - Always remember the fish you saw and where you saw it - you can even give them nicknames if you got really familiar (well, we often do… are we crazy?) - Add teammates (or anyone really) to your dive - even if it’s just a nickname DID YOU EVER… - meet the writer’s block, or entirely give up writing your logbook? - forget what the fish you enjoyed so much was called, or even looked like? - want to take a short break at work and immerse yourself in your last souvenirs? - come back with 10.000 photos & videos without knowing what to do with them? - wish you didn’t have to carry 10kg of books to identify fishes? - want to know where to spot a given fish? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should give Tortuba a try :)

About

Mares App

Transform your Apple Watch Ultra into a dive computer, recording dives directly on your wrist. Log scuba, freediving, and technical dives, manage dive sites, and track underwater wildlife sightings. Share your adventures with dive buddies and keep your equipment details organized.

Highlights
  • Apple Watch Ultra dive computer integration
  • Digital dive logbook
  • Dive site database and management
  • Underwater wildlife tracking
  • Dive buddy sharing
  • Dive equipment management
  • Firmware updates
Features
Read full description

APPLE WATCH ULTRA DIVE COMPUTER Transform your Ultra into a dive computer. Record dives directly on your wrist and sync automatically to the Mares App. (In-app purchase required.) DIGITAL LOGBOOK: Log your Scuba, Freediving, Extended Range and Rebreather (SCR/CCR) dives in seconds via Bluetooth. Easily share your dives via QR code. Add new dives with your device’s GPS and download your dives from selected dive computers (1*). DIVE SITES: With the help of the Mares dive site database, you can immediately assign a dive site to your logged dives. You can also add your own private dive sites and share them with your dive buddies using a QR code. You can download your dive data directly from selected Mares dive computers . WILDLIFE: A variety of local wildlife is already stored in the app for individual dive sites. This means you can immediately assign the highlights of your underwater encounters to your logged dives. Your sightings are displayed on your personal world map. DIVE BUDDIES: Easily add your dive buddies via QR code or manually in the app. Share your best dives and most exciting animal encounters with friends using the Mares app. STATISTICS: All your dives and data can be seen at a glance, including your longest or deepest dive, your average dive time and more! DIGITAL EQUIPMENT: Store important dive equipment details, including serial numbers, photos and invoices. Enter maintenance dates and keep track of when your equipment needs to be serviced. NEWS AND VIDEOS: Stay up-to-date with all the latest news and videos from the world of water sports and diving. FIRMWARE: When you connect your dive computer to the app, you will be able to confirm if you have the latest firmware. As soon as it is outdated, you will receive a message regarding the newest firmware to download. TABLES: Here you will find useful information such as decompression tables and emergency scenarios. 1* Currently available for MARES Sirius, Sirius L, Sirius Hunter, Horizon, Genius, Quad CI, Quad 2, Quad Air, Quad, Puck 4, Puck Pro EZ, Puck lite, Puck Pro, Puck Pro Plus, Puck Air 2, Smart, Smart Apnea, Smart Air Terms of Use (EULA) Mares App for Apple Watch Ultra: https://my.divessi.com/published/viewhls/awu_terms_v1/2

Screenshots

Tortuba4 screens
Mares App4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Tortuba at 100% against Mares App's 48%. Tortuba also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.6). Mares App's advantage is ratings volume (190 vs 1) and update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Tortuba sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Mares App sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Tortuba holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mares App has 190 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Tortuba's written reviews are positive against 48% of Mares App's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tortuba ships an update every 2 months, Mares App every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Tortuba versus Mares App: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTortubaMares App
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.5 (190 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better48.1% of reviews
Number of ratings1190 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS14.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size93 MB203 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGoodwhaleHead Watersports S.p.A.

Customer experience

Tortuba

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Mares App

All ratings189 ratings
Positive89.4%
Neutral4.8%
Negative5.8%
Written reviews108 reviews
Positive48.1%
Neutral12.0%
Negative39.8%

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Tortuba

One-time10
  • Bunaken$9.99
  • Roatan-Bays island$9.99
  • Komodo Creatures$9.99
Show 7 more
  • Lembeh Strait$9.99
  • Komodo with Siren Fleet$9.99
  • Galapagos with Master Liveaboards$9.99
  • Fiji with Siren Fleet$9.99
  • Raja Ampat with Siren Fleet$9.99
  • Basking Shark Scotland$9.99
  • Bunaken with Siladen$9.99
8 purchases

Mares App

Subscriptions8
  • Snorkel Only$2.991 Month
  • Full Featured Month (Housing Only)3 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Full Featured Month (Ultra Only)3 Days trial$6.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • MARES Fully Featured Monthly3 Days trial$8.991 Month
  • Full Featured Yearly (Housing Only)3 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Full Featured Yearly (Ultra Only)3 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • MARES Fully Featured Yearly3 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • MARES Fully Featured Yearly Family3 Days trial$119.991 Year

Questions

Is Tortuba free?
Tortuba is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Mares App free?
Mares App is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Tortuba or Mares App?
Tortuba is rated higher. Tortuba averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Mares App averages 4.5 from 190 ratings.
Do Tortuba or Mares App have ads?
Neither Tortuba nor Mares App shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tortuba or Mares App?
Tortuba ships an update every 2 months, and Mares App every 4 weeks. Most recently, Tortuba was updated on October 12, 2026 and Mares App on October 27, 2026.

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