Aqua Map Boating Reviews

by TomSmojo

I am on an extended cruise in the Bahamas. I bought the full Explorer Chart Kit for Aqua Maps and installed it in my iPad as a secondary planning tool. I emphasize secondary as it can’t be trusted as a primary for any offshore sailing.
Unexpectedly, three times in the past two weeks all of my charts have disappeared with the message o must be connected to the internet. I’ve then had to reload all of the charts.
This is dangerous. Internet is spotty on these parts and there is no cell service if you are further than 10 miles offshore. Aqua Maps needs to fix this serious safety problem!

by Maine Cruiser

AquaMapBoating has become my go to after losing Garmin BlueChart. The features are great with the along route info on bridges, fuel stops etc and the USACE sonar survey overlay is an amazing tool! BUT, despite ensuring the button in settings is off for delete charts in case of low available space my charts continue to disappear from two devices, but more obvious on my phone than tablet. Wrote to tech support and was dismissed as the button being my issue. It is certainly not on and I continue to have my charts disappear or require downloading 4-5 times before the tiles stop showing update in the corner. AquaMapBoating is on track to be great, but is currently unreliable.

by Neffilicious

Use AquaMapBoating for Explorer charts. While the price for these charts is good, the detail leaves a lot to be desired since the charts are Raster scans instead of Vector. This means you are restricted to meter depths and no additional detail when zooming in. The Explorer data is good for suggested routes and locations of services cruisers are interested in such as anchorage data, grocery stores, dinghy docks, etc. AquaMapBoating interface is also not intuitive leading me to go through the tutorial often to find how to perform simple navigation tasks.

Buy AquaMapBoating for the chart data, not the interface.

by Chrushev

Good app; however tracking polling rate is too slow, when maneuvering in tight areas you will have the line cut across objects and land instead of following the actual track of the boat. I wish there was a setting to increase or decrease the polling time. For ocean passages slow poll rate is great, saves on gpx size among other things, but for coastal navigation need to be able to increase polling time to reflect frequent course changes.

by MagicHour

I guess I’m a bit strange but I’ve always loved maps! AquaMapBoating rocks! It lets me take trips before I actually do it for real! So awesome!
Now we finally got our boat and I’ve been using this each time we have gone out. It’s invaluable to have when sometimes the water level is so low and if you are not paying attention to the map, you can run a ground. Many times it’s not about staying the middle of the ICW, you have to pay close attention to where you are at!
I love AquaMapBoating and how I’ve been able to plan all our trips making sure we are safe and enjoying the waterways!
I”m also very impressed that anytime I’ve asked a question, I’ve gotten a real answer, not a bot sending me links.
Great job!

by JimLinVA

I have used this program for thousands of miles of boat trips. It has excellent charts, great search engine and access to useful reviews. The only thing missing is routing for estimates of time and distance of trips. I have to use Navionics Boating for that function, though Aquamaps beats Navionics in all other categories.

by Ezspacez

I suspect this is a very powerful app. However this is not what I was looking for as I am a weekend sailor and wanted a simple navigational program for sailing the Chesapeake. Tried several other programs that were way too complicated and expensive. This this one was easy to install and easy to use and very affordable. Perfect for what I needed for a week of sailing on vacation.

by PDF Paul

Basic plotter I use in Mid-Chesapeake Bay. And I tried a bunch of them. This is the best by far. Even works ok on an old iPhone 6 Plus. I wound up paying the $4.99 for an extra map. Some won’t have to. Otherwise you have to delete and download the next area if on a long transport. I spend lots of time where two map grids meet so I really need two areas. They give you one area of a map grid at a time free. Total bill: $4.99 for the plotter I use more than anything. Again, the one free map you get will work for most people. Best money I’ve spent boating... if there is such a thing!

by Anderson5420

Aqua Map is THE mobile app that should be on a tablet on a Ram mount at every helm and on your smart phone. Please go through the built in tutorial. Until I did that, I did not understand just how capable AquaMapBoating is. App is free, best approach to pricing charts. Buy charts (I got “forever” updates) and use on up to five devices. Nobody else even comes close in value. Too many features to list.

by J-81

Actually a really good boating chart. I always find myself using this over the other apps. I sail around the San Francisco Bay Area. The company also seems to care about its product and it’s users. Customizable useful features. I verrrry rarely write reviews, last one was forever ago. So I’m usually only writing if it’s really good or really bad. This is on the good side.

by SailFlipper

While I generally use dedicated chart plotters as the primary means of navigation, I do use this application to double check my primary systems. I also frequently use the application for planning trips using it’s access to active captain. I have a large memory capacity on my Iphone6s, and have 8 gig of charting data stored on the phone. The application seems to manage this large data base without any issues.

by Ginnyyy2639

Aquamap and the USACE overlays is a must have for any mariner. With the added value of integration with the popular Waterway Guides and ActiveCaptain, this integrated tool will save you from grounding, provide up to the moment tide and current info and offer Marina and fuel solutions all along your route.

I cannot see a reason to NOT have this important tool. As a USCG Auxiliary Vessel Examiner, I tell every boater I interact with to consider it as part of their safety gear.

Capt Pat, M/V Hail Mary

by JamuJoe

I loaded AquaMapBoating and purchased charts because SEAiq lost access to Active Captain after the Garmin acquisition. I am delighted to once again have offline access to Active Captain data. It is limited, though. One cannot create new POI’s or add reviews without being directed to the Garmin Active Captain website. Please, developer, add these features.
The nav app itself is very good, although screens are slow to load, even on my new iPad Pro.

by Davb1947

I use iNavX and Aqua Map. One uses raster charts and the other uses vector charts. They are the best of the best (I also have a Garmin dedicated chartplotter). Of the two, Aqua Maps is easier to use, gives more information (especially with the USACE overlays and the Active Captain data), and is less expensive to load up with charts that cover the whole US and Canada.

Update: After several more years and a few thousand more miles, AquaMap is still my favorite.

by Picadillycoop

Looking for a navigation app to help me on my first trip on the Hudson River. I have a runabout without any electronics so thought I’d try finding an app that would be fun to try and hopefully be of some help. I used it for the first time on the water and it worked flawlessly in helping me keep in the main channel. Seemed to be very accurate in marking the hazards and all of the channel markers that I saw along the way. Worked great for me and made my trip much more enjoyable and I believe, safer.

by Evilleone

The absolute best app that I’ve found so far for my boating needs. Having used AquaMapBoating up and down the eastern coast and Bahamas I can highly recommend. Aquamap master with a NEMA gateway such as Vesper AIS makes critical information available from anyplace on the vessel.
Information equals safety and having that at a glance, for me, is a sound investment in safety. Active captain data overlaid on charts makes using AquaMapBoating a must have for planning and on tbr fly changes when finding dockage or anchorages.

To top it off support has been wonderful with any questions I’ve had

by Brewster81

At the recommendation of a fellow cruiser, I purchased an annual subscription for the Bahamas as a trial. I was able to use it for a short period of time and then kept getting a message that the tutorial period was over. My only thought was that I needed an internet connection to validate my subscription. If that is the case, AquaMapBoating is useless because while cruising, internet access is not reality. Also because I was in the Bahamas, sorting out the problem was not possible. Now back in the US, I want to know what went wrong before purchasing US charts.

by Sunrise46

I wrote a less-than-desirable review a few weeks ago. I was contacted by AM and they remained engaged until they had resolved all of my issues…..all of which were MY issues, not issues of AquaMapBoating . I now have the most current version correctly installed and I am delighted with every aspect of AquaMapBoating . I am using AquaMaps to navigate the ICW and near off-shore runs. The stress level at the helm has dropped significantly simply because I now have access to immediate, accurate, and actionable information heretofore unavailable on any app anywhere. Thank you Aqua Map!

by Fell4itonceonly

On our way to Lahaina from Oahu, we got beat up and had an electrical failure and lost our GPS, amongst many other things. It was Hectic and was about midnight next to Lanai. I downloaded AquaMapBoating, got the free map at Lahaina, which has a tiny entrance with many mooring balls before the first buoy marker. This free app got us in safely. 75’ Sunseeker Yacht. I absolutely love AquaMapBoating. I will download AquaMapBoating for future trips, but my only question, is if I download it to my iPhone, can I also use AquaMapBoating on my IPad without having to pay a separate subscription for my two devices. Hope to hear from you. Mahalo. Highly recommend.

by Tanner Schult

If you are a boater you need to have AquaMapBoating. AquaMapBoating has everything you need as a builder. You could see all of the maps if you just pay five dollars you get to see everything in your area. I recommend this to all boaters and even if you are not a boater and just want to learn more about the water you should definitely get AquaMapBoating or recommend to anybody.

by SStresau

I use AquaMapBoating primarily for access to Active Captain. It seems like a good replacement for Blue Charts which is no longer available. It works very well for finding Active Captain reviews - the charts are clear and nicely detailed, it's easy to use - unfortunately, not all the Active Captain data is displayed. For anchorages, it is missing the ratings section and the sections called Dock, and Services. If it had the missing data I would give it five stars.

by CalFlier

My wife and I recently purchased AquaMaps along with the maps for the Bahamas. We were on a leg of our journey and when I tried to zoom in on the maps,it said maps not downloaded. I waited until we were close to land and downloaded just that section again,but once again,it said the maps weren't downloaded. So we ended up using Navionics maps which are notoriously inaccurate in the Bahamas.

by Funtime1062

I have fished and hunted my whole life in Alaska. I tap on a region and download it. I live on an island in Alaska , only way to get in and out is by plane or boat ! AquaMapBoating is perfect for my region or any region in Alaska for that matter. Thank you for making an app available to people who live in the areas in America that are off the charts!

by Pgudelis

Had issues sharing purchased charts across multiple devices. Enrico was very patient walking me through the troubleshooting process and resolving the issue. Great product! Especially like the AIS WiFi integration as well as the ability to submit reviews to ActiveCaptain within AquaMapBoating .

by Hoeer

Each app has its strong points. I use AquaMapBoating mostly for planning and for AC access. In some areas, like in the USA AND Canada I would feel OK using it for navigation. But no app is completly perfect and this is a lot of bang for the buck. I use it a lot, more than I thought I would.