Best Boating Apps to Help You Navigate Life at Sea

Long gone are the days when we needed to rely on ancient techniques or hearsay for reading the changing tides, winds, or weather when enjoying the great outdoors. Today, we are lucky to live in an information age where our questions are answered in no time, thanks to a quick Google search. But Google isn’t the only one we have to thank.

Mobile phone applications have become a tried-and-true tool we live by to facilitate our day-to-day lives, whether we need directions to the next restaurant or someone to count our calories after a meal. And if you need to navigate life at sea? You better believe there is an app for that! Sailors rely on a handful of boating apps to help them manoeuvre life on board, from nautical information services and electronic navigation charts for marine areas to detailed weather forecasts, knot tutorials, online berth booking systems, and everything you need to know about a marina before docking. Today, life at sea is seamless due to the quickly advancing technology we have at our fingertips. We’re bringing you the best boating apps in the game to simplify your next sailing adventure. You’ll be a pro in no time.

Six best boating apps for your next sailing adventure

nIS

nIS, or nautical information service, is a multilingual application created by the Croatian Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, available in Croatian, Slovenian, English, German, Italian, French, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Hungarian, Spanish and Russian. What makes nIS one of the best boating apps out there is that its ultimate goal is to contribute to the safety of human lives and property at sea while making public services readily available for all boaters.

Intended for owners of yachts and boats, fishers, divers, swimmers, and others who spend a considerable amount of time at sea, nIS prioritizes navigation safety, marine pollution prevention, and search and rescue services by effortlessly sending detailed information to harbormaster’s offices and other competent services.

Namely, users are given a toll-free number to call search and rescue services (195) in the event of danger. At the same time, the caller’s location is automatically reported to ensure no time is wasted! Users can also report maritime violations with photos and videos, enjoy detailed weather forecasts, and learn about navigation rules, from information for foreign vessels to marine environment protection tips. The app also provides vital public service contacts like search & rescue, medical institutions and emergency services, and coastal radio stations. Marinas, nautical anchorages, petrol stations, and border crossings can also be explored on the app through the Ports and Anchorages section.

nIS is available in the Google Play and App Store.  

Navionics

If you’re looking for the ultimate guide on the water, Navionics is it. Offering nautical charts for cruising, fishing, sailing, diving, and all the other activities at sea, Navionics has become an indispensable app for boaters with charts created based on official government and private sources through a user-friendly display that can compete with the best GPS plotters out there. Navionics allows users to download nautical charts with port plans, safety depth contours, tides & currents, navigation aids, and nearby marine services, while sonar charts offer a detailed rendering of the seafloor. Both can also be downloaded and used offline

Furthermore, with the help of local insight, users have access to first-hand knowledge to find seasonal buoys, lights, rocks, moorings, boat ramps, restaurants, and shops, which are constantly revised and enhanced with up to 5,000 chart updates every day! Navionics’ advanced options give users Dock-to-dock Autorouting, suggesting routes based on chart data and navigation aids with fuel consumption, distance, and ETA estimations. Users can also keep track of fellow boaters with the Connections feature, allowing you to share your profile, live location, tracks, routes, and markers. Daily and hourly forecasts, with wind, weather buoys, tides, and currents are also available through the advanced features.

Navionics is available in the Google Play and App Store.

Knot Guide

You may be wondering why you’d ever need to learn to tie over 100 knots, but Knot Guide will convince you otherwise - especially when you’re sailing. Unassumingly one of the best boating apps to learn the ropes at sea, Knot Guide has quickly become a sailor’s best friend, with an index of over 100 knots and photo depictions, filtered into categories depending on your needs. Knot Guide also allows you to save your favourite knots in the app to easily access them the next time you need to brush up, while you can learn the nautical knot lingo, from bowline to rolling hitch. An essential tool to the world of all types of knots, Knot Guide educates users on tying the knots they may need in everyday tasks, outside of sailing, too!

Knot Guide is available in the Google Play and App Store.

Windy App

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) didn’t recognize Windy as the best app in its category for no reason. And this professional weather app has become one of the most beloved boating apps on the market thanks to its precise forecasts for wind and water sports. With detailed 10-day weather forecasts, live worldwide wind maps, and local weather reports sourced from the most accurate weather models, Windy is a go-to app for sailors, surfers, fishers, and wind sports enthusiasts who rely on it to uncover wind direction, speed, knots, temperature, cloud average, precipitation, wave direction, height, periods, and tides. Users can also find the weather history in their location from different months and years in the past. But this app does more than predict the weather. Windy allows users to compare spot conditions and speak to locals in the chat application. At the same time, they can also discover meteo lessons and share their first-hand experiences in the Windy community.

And once you meet the winds on the Adriatic Sea, we’re certain Windy will be your best friend.

Windy is available in the Google Play and App Store.

My Sea

Because everything can be done online in 2022, like booking your berth in marinas, buoy fields, and at restaurant jetties, all thanks to the My Sea application.

Namely, My Sea has quickly become the leading portal for online berth booking, allowing users to secure their spot at sea with a few clicks. Whether you’re sailing in the offseason or bustling high-season, My Sea promises your berth will be waiting for you at the same price offered if you were to book directly at the marina. My Sea is available for boaters in Croatia, Turkey, Montenegro, Germany, Switzerland, Greece, Slovenia, and Austria, ensuring you’ll never have to worry about a fully reserved marina again!

But this app is not solely a booking platform. My Sea also acts as an online travel guide to help users discover the most beautiful locations in their destination, with helpful information about harbours, anchorages, buoys, restaurants, shops, sailmakers, mechanics, and more! Users can even locate the nearest doctor or taxi inside the app while leaving tips and reviews, adding new destinations, or correcting outdated information is encouraged.

My Sea is available in the Google Play and App Store.

ACI Marinas

ACI is the Mediterranean’s largest chain of marinas and the leading marina operator, whose name has been recognized in the Adriatic since 1983. And as arguably the most established sailing name in Croatia, it comes as no surprise that they boast one of the best boating apps out there today, too.  The ACI Marinas app not only provides users with the detailed content offered at its 22 ACI marinas around Croatia, but users can also enjoy a comprehensive weather forecast, service information, available capacity at each marina destination, book and pay for a berth, register boats, and moor multiple vessels on one user through the app! This app proves to be extra helpful during the summer months when the demand for berths in the Adriatic is higher than ever.

Available in Croatian, English, German, and Italian, the ACI Marinas app has been a pioneer in the yachting world since 2018 and is often considered the first choice of sailors cruising the Adriatic Coast.

 ACI Marina is available in the  Google Play and  App Store.