Cave DB vs Time to Surface
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cave DB
A community-driven database for caving and cave diving sites globally. Users can explore, research, and add new locations, complete with photos and videos.
- Global cave and caving site database
- Community-contributed content
- Photos and videos of sites
- User exploration and research tools
- Easy-to-use application interface
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Your database of cave diving and caving sites from around the world in an easy to use application. The database is constantly extended and improved by the community. Site reports show photos, videos and other information about sites as users explore, research and add new sites
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 m (56 with a warning), on six bottom gases with one deco bottle. Runtime, stops, minimum gas and both cylinder fills, before you kit up — then your team signs it. Planning is free, with no account and no limit. WHAT IT PLANS • Six bottom gases: EAN32, triox 30/30, EAN28, air, 21/35 and 18/45, in a twinset of your choice • One decompression gas — EAN50 or oxygen — in an AL80, AL50 or AL40 • EAN50 at 21 m even when the first stop is shallower, on by default • A swim to the drop-off before the deep segments, on back gas or the deco bottle • A second deep segment, deeper or shallower than the first • Bühlmann ZH-L16C, gradient factors set per plan, 20/85 by default • ppO2 1.2 bar working by default, set per plan; 1.6 at a stop — stricter than the usual 1.4 • Descent 20 m/min; ascent 9 m/min to the first stop, 6 between stops, 1 over the last 6 m, all adjustable. Stops every 3 m, the last at 6 m • Metric or imperial THE GAS PLAN Back-gas fill and turn pressure on thirds, halves or all usable, on the ten-bar grid. Minimum gas: two divers sharing back gas to the first deco gas at 3 m/min. Fill: bottom phase with descent, plus minimum gas. Deco bottle fill and reserve from the solved schedule. CNS. If gas or CNS cannot carry the bottom time asked for, it plans the longest that fits and names the limit. THE DIVE, MINUTE BY MINUTE Each leg shows the runtime it starts and ends at. A wetnote page — schedule, gas checkpoints, on-the-fly adjustments — to copy by hand. On the fly: 5 minutes more or less, 3 m deeper or shallower, each re-solved, with the change in deco minutes and gas per cylinder. PRAGMATIC DECOMPRESSION Off by default, chosen per plan. On, each 21–9 m stop gets one time, and the 6 m stop is the longer of their sum and what the model needs: simpler to run, not more conservative. BRIEFS AND DIVE SITES A brief keeps a dive — site, depth and bottom time — free, unlimited, in your own iCloud. Sites: Dive log's known list (OpenStreetMap and reviewed submissions); add your own and submit them for review. Your divers, their SCR and your sites are shared through iCloud with every Diver.Today app. DIVES BEFORE THIS ONE Up to three earlier dives, each with its surface interval. Nitrogen and helium carry over; CNS decays at a 90-minute half-time. No published table covers repetitive deco dives; your earlier profiles run through the same model. SIGNED TEAM PLANS A plan is one brief on one date with a dive lead and divers — your buddies or names you type — frozen with every figure it printed. Each diver signs by finger on your iPhone; skip anyone not there and come back to them. Send it as a picture or a one-page PDF. Plans are free and unlimited, with the app's watermark and store line. YOUR DIVE CENTER'S BRAND The Diver.Today App Family subscription puts your logo, name, two lines and color on every plan you send, without the watermark, and your color, picture and logo across the app. $2.99 a month or $19.99 a year, each with a week free, or $49.99 once for life (US prices). It covers every Diver.Today app. WHAT IT DOES NOT PLAN Rebreathers. Cave or wreck penetration. Hypoxic mixes and their travel gas. Altitude — sea level only. OTU. More than one decompression gas, a stated limit of this release. IT REFUSES RATHER THAN WARNS A gas past its oxygen limit or a surface interval under an hour gets no numbers rather than numbers with a caution. YOUR DIVE COMPUTER OWNS THE DIVE This is pre-dive arithmetic. It passes no verdict on a dive and replaces neither training, your computer nor your judgment in the water. The planner works offline. No ads, analytics or tracking. Briefs, plans, divers and sites sync through your own iCloud; nothing about you is sent to us, and a dive site only if you submit it. iPhone, iOS 17 or later. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://diver.today/timetosurface-site/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Time to Surface at 5.0 against Cave DB's 2.5. Cave DB's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, ratings volume, ads 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
Both are free to download. Time to Surface sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Cave DB asks for nothing beyond the download.
Time to Surface holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.
| Parameter | Cave DB | Time to Surface |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.5 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | — | Every 2 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sam Educational | RUSTAM ISMAILOV |
Customer experience
Cave DB
Time to Surface
In-app purchases
Cave DB
No in-app purchases
Time to Surface
- Diver.Today, monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Diver.Today, yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- Diver.Today, for life$49.99









