Comparison

Surf vs DiveSight

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

Head to head
About

Surf

Get simple, accurate surf forecasts for over 7,000 breaks worldwide. Plan your sessions with detailed wave information, tide times, and mapping to find the best conditions and nearby spots. Access extended forecasts and custom alerts with premium features.

Highlights
  • Detailed surf forecasts
  • Wavefinder map
  • Live webcam links
  • Tide times
  • 12-day forecasts
  • Custom surf alerts
Features
Read full description

Surf-Forecast.com gives you simple, accurate and easy-to-read surf forecasts so you have the best chance of hitting those breaks when the waves are pumping. Built by surfers, for surfers, and trusted by millions of surfers for over 20 years, our updated app lets you see all your favorite surf spots at a glance. Providing detailed surf forecasts for over 7,000 breaks worldwide, our new features let you see further ahead than ever before - giving you plenty of advance warning for when those swells start coming in. Find the best surfing conditions near you and use the rating tool to find exactly when to go. – FREE App Features ⁃ Detailed surf forecasts ⁃ Wavefinder map ⁃ Live webcam links ⁃ Multi-swell component presentation ⁃ Tide times ⁃ Detailed mapping to locate nearby breaks – Surf Premium Benefits ⁃ Access to the full 16 days of our new Wavefinder feature ⁃ Hourly forecasts ⁃ 16 day forecasts ⁃ Custom surf alerts ⁃ Ad-free browsing on our website So what are you waiting for? Grab your board and get exploring. We’ll see you out there! For the full Terms and Conditions of this service please visit: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

DiveSight

This app forecasts marine life abundance and underwater visibility at dive sites globally. Plan your dives with detailed daily updates, long-term climatology, and site-specific conditions to maximize your underwater experience.

Highlights
  • Marine Life Abundance Index
  • Underwater Visibility Forecasts
  • 10-Year Monthly Climatology
  • Depth-Resolved Conditions
  • Dive Site & Species Search
  • Seasonal Event Calendar
  • Offline Access (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Know what you'll see before you dive — the first app to forecast both marine life abundance and underwater visibility, at dive sites worldwide. Updated daily. Pick the right site, the right day, and the right season before you ever get wet. WHY DIVESIGHT Weather apps help tell you if you can dive. DiveSight also tells you how good it's likely to be — how much marine life you're likely to encounter and how far you'll see, days in advance, anywhere in the world. It's the difference between hoping and making decisions based on the best ocean intelligence available. THE FORECASTS - Marine Life Index (0–100) of abundance for every site, updated daily — see which days will be better than usual, up to a week ahead. - Underwater visibility — including the tens of thousands of sites no crowdsourced app has reports for. DiveSight predicts visibility worldwide from satellite data and fisheries oceanography. Plan your dive with confidence. – 10 years of monthly climatology per site: water temperature, visibility, currents, weather, wind, and more — so you can pick the actual best month to go, year over year. – Depth-resolved conditions: temperatures at the surface, 10m/30ft, and 30m/90ft, plus currents, waves, tides, sun, and moon. Everything you want to know about conditions. FIND YOUR NEXT DIVE – By destination — browse a heat map of 28,000+ dive sites across 1,400+ regions. Zoom into Raja Ampat, Cozumel, the Red Sea, Komodo, the Maldives, the Galápagos, or the hidden sites between them. – By creature — search 6,000+ marine species and see exactly where and when you can dive with them: hammerheads, mantas, mola mola, whale sharks, mandarinfish, thresher sharks, nudibranchs, and thousands more. Every species linked to the sites, seasons, and regions where it appears. – Around you — tap once to see every dive site within range, sorted by today's conditions, marine life, or distance. Perfect for layovers, road trips, and your local shore dive. – By season — a calendar of bucket-list events with predicted timing windows: the sardine run, manta cleaning stations, hammerhead schools, whale shark aggregations, mobula ray gatherings, and spawning events. Find what's peaking right now — and where to go for it. WHO IT'S FOR Scuba divers planning a liveaboard, a weekend boat, or a shore dive. Snorkelers and freedivers chasing clear water and big animals. Vacation divers picking the best week — and locals deciding if today is the day. FREE TO START Browse 15,000+ dive sites, 3,000+ marine species, the seasonal events calendar, today's live conditions, and unlimited dive and marine life logging — free, forever. DiveSight Pro unlocks the full 7-day forecasts for marine life, visibility, water, and weather conditions, along with 10-year monthly climatology, the complete 28,000+ site and 6,000+ species marine life-list, and offline access to dive sites, forecasts, and marine life info. Two weeks of Pro are on us: one when you create an account and another one whenever you'd like. BUILT ON REAL OCEAN SCIENCE Institutional-grade satellite and oceanographic data from NASA, NOAA, the European Space Agency, and other leading sources — refreshed daily, in the palm of your hand. Log your dives and sync sightings with iNaturalist. Designed for scuba divers, snorkelers, freedivers, and all ocean lovers. iPhone & iPad. The ocean, forecasted. Your next great dive starts with comprehensive ocean intelligence. DiveSight Pro is an auto-renewing subscription. Plans: Weekly, Monthly, and Annual. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; manage or cancel anytime in Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions. Terms of Use (EULA): https://divesight.ai/terms Privacy Policy: https://divesight.ai/privacy

Screenshots

Surf4 screens
DiveSight4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: DiveSight at none against Surf's shown. DiveSight also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 6 weeks) and review sentiment (100% vs 87%). Surf's advantage is ratings volume (991 vs 30) and chart position (#86 vs unranked). On price, rating, 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. Surf sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and DiveSight sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Surf against 5.0 for DiveSight. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Surf has 991 ratings behind it against 30, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of Surf's written reviews are positive against 100% of DiveSight's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Surf ships an update every 6 weeks, DiveSight weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Surf versus DiveSight: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSurfDiveSight
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (991 ratings)5.0 (30 ratings) — better
Positive reviews87.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings991 — better30
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksWeekly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#86 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.1 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size138 MB113 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMeteo365 Ltd.DiveSight LLC

Customer experience

Surf

All ratings940 ratings
Positive99.3%
Neutral0.1%
Negative0.6%
Written reviews124 reviews
Positive87.1%
Neutral3.2%
Negative9.7%

DiveSight

All ratings27 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Surf

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Crashes or freezes on some devices
  • Geolocation issues with break markers

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to manually refresh data
  • More detailed tidal/current information
  • Expanded location coverage
  • Improved accuracy for wave height/conditions

DiveSight

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Surf

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Service: Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Premium Service (Yearly)$34.991 Year
3 purchases

DiveSight

Subscriptions3
  • DiveSight Pro - Weekly$4.997 Days
  • DiveSight Pro - Monthly$9.991 Month
  • DiveSight Pro - Annual$99.991 Year

Questions

Is Surf free?
Surf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is DiveSight free?
DiveSight is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Surf or DiveSight?
DiveSight is rated higher. Surf averages 4.9 out of 5 from 991 ratings, while DiveSight averages 5.0 from 30 ratings.
Do Surf or DiveSight have ads?
Surf shows ads; DiveSight does not.
Which is updated more often, Surf or DiveSight?
Surf ships an update every 6 weeks, and DiveSight weekly. Most recently, Surf was updated on October 21, 2026 and DiveSight on October 22, 2026.

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