New dive visibility forecasting algorithm trained on 100x more satellite images!

We understand how frustrating it is to take a dip with 20kg of diving equipment to find out that you cannot see anything farther than your dive computer in the sea 🤦🏻. 

That's why, at Marla, we're working hard on a dive planning tool that will help British divers catch the best dives of their life. The algorithm we developed at Marla will tell you when and where to go to get the best diving conditions, ensuring you’ll experience an unforgettable and safe dive.

We have some updates to share with you today, and we have plenty more to come in upcoming weeks, so stay tuned!

✨ Shiny new dive visibility algorithm 

We're happy to announce that we've released the next version of our visibility forecasting algorithm. The new v2.2 algorithm has been trained on 100x more satellite images and our initial experiments suggest that this significantly decreased the forecasting error.

We hope that the new algorithm and the interactive map it powers will help you plan enjoyable dives with amazing undersea visibility and avoid disappointments on the days when visibility is underwhelming. 

🙏🏻 Share your dive reports with us 

We know that our forecasts aren’t always accurate. That is why we need your visibility reports to calibrate and improve our models. The more reports we get, the more data we have to adjust our satellite readings and produce better visibility forecasts.

In the past two months, we've experienced inspiring enthusiasm and interest in our dive visibility forecasts among UK based divers. The diving season is in full swing and based on the feedback from our users there have been multiple occasions of outstanding undersea visibility in different spots around our shores! We have recently added a new feature that shows reports added by our community of divers, so you can stay updated yourself! 

You can browse through the reports from other divers and submit your own dive report at uk.marla.blue. Thanks for helping your fellow divers, and please have fun and safe dives.

What we’re working on now

• 🔬Live experiments with the new forecasting algorithm trained on 100x more satellite images 

• 🌤️ Redesigning layout for wind, wave and other dive conditions to consolidate all required information for dive planning in Marla's app

• Adding forecasts of 🟢 algae bloom and water temperature 

• Extending our interactive dive conditions map to include Ireland 🇮🇪

• Adding more dive spots in the UK and Ireland 🥳

• 📲 Early prototypes of our native iPhone app