How to Log Scuba Dives Digitally
Everything to record in your dive logbook - and why it matters.
Why Log Your Dives?
A dive log is more than a record. It tracks your progression as a diver, helps you remember conditions at favorite sites, satisfies certification requirements, and gives you data to improve skills like air consumption. Most certification agencies require logged dives for advanced courses.
What to Record: The Essentials
At minimum, log: date, dive site name, maximum depth, bottom time, and water temperature. Add surface interval if doing multiple dives. This covers what certification agencies typically require for course prerequisites.
Going Deeper: 30+ Data Points
Serious logbooks capture gas mix (air or nitrox percentage), start and end tank pressure, visibility, current strength, entry type (shore or boat), dive type (reef, wreck, cave, night, drift), and weather conditions. Dive Ledger captures all of these in a single entry form.
Track Your Gear
Log which equipment you used: wetsuit or drysuit, BCD, regulator, dive computer, fins, mask, tank type, and weights. Tracking gear helps you notice patterns - maybe you need more weight with a different suit, or your air consumption changes with a new regulator.
Marine Life Sightings
Record the species you see on every dive. Over time this builds a personal marine life list - your underwater life list. Note where and when you see specific species. Dive Ledger includes a database of 375 species, corals, sponges, and anemones with photos for quick identification.
Location and GPS
Pin your dive site on a map with GPS coordinates. This is especially useful for shore dives, unmarked sites, or when you want to return to the exact same spot. Dive Ledger tags every dive with GPS and resolves the address automatically.
SAC Rate: Your Air Efficiency Metric
SAC (Surface Air Consumption) rate measures how much air you breathe per minute at the surface. Log your tank size, pressure drop, depth, and duration - Dive Ledger calculates your average SAC rate across all dives and displays the trend on your stats dashboard. Watch that number drop as you become a more efficient diver.
Photos and Notes
Attach photos to your dive log - the reef, the vis, the buddy selfie. Add notes about conditions, highlights, or things to remember for next time. Numbers tell you where you were. Photos remind you why you dive.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How many dives do I need to log for advanced certification?
- Requirements vary by agency. PADI Advanced Open Water requires logged dives from the course. Rescue Diver and Divemaster have minimum logged dive counts. A complete digital log makes meeting these requirements straightforward.
- Should I log every dive, even easy ones?
- Yes. Every dive adds to your total count, contributes to your SAC rate trends, and adds pins to your dive map. A short reef dive still builds your history and helps you track progression.
- What is UDDF format?
- UDDF (Universal Dive Data Format) is an open standard for dive log data. It allows you to import and export dive logs between different apps and dive computer software. Dive Ledger supports both UDDF import and export.
- Can I import dives from a paper logbook?
- You can manually enter past dives into Dive Ledger with as much or as little detail as you have. Enter the essentials (date, site, depth, time) and add more data later if you want.
Your next dive deserves a better logbook.
Dive Ledger is launching soon on iOS. Free to use. No account required.