Dive with Confidence

Marla's visibility forecast is based on multiple factors - weather, sea conditions, satellite images, etc. The satellite images are the strongest signal, but they come with a slight delay and are often obscured by clouds. Naturally, our forecasts are most confident when there is a recent satellite image available. Conversely, they are least confident when clouds cover the skies for many days in a row.

On a sunny day, we can confidently estimate how murky the water is as soon as we get the image from the satellite (typically in the afternoon). On a less clear day, we leverage the satellite readings taken in nearby places or images taken in the previous days. And when clouds hang around for multiple days, we turn to the analysis of waves, winds, and other non-satellite sources.

To help you get the most value from our forecast, we are introducing confidence scores 2.0. This is the second generation of the confidence scores and they have just got a brand new and - in our opinion - clearer meaning:

• High confidence - means we estimated visibility from a fresh satellite image, taken on the same day and in the exact location of the dive spot (with the resolution of 300m x 300m). The satellites make their daily pass in the morning and we update the forecast as soon as their readings become available, around 4 PM local time.

• Medium confidence - means we either interpolated visibility from nearby satellite readings or from yesterday's satellite measurement in the same dive spot.

• Low confidence - means that the forecast is based on satellite images taken more than a day ago and/or satellite readings taken in locations farther away. In this case, we rely more heavily on the analysis of sea conditions, winds, and other non-satellite factors.

We hope this helps you with your dive planning and we are keen to hear your feedback!

Meanwhile, we are working on a few other exciting updates which we will release very soon. Stay tuned!