Are you fond of spending time on a boat? You will need the best boating apps to make life easier on the water. These applications help you become a tech-savvy boater wherever you sail. With a full set of features, you can get the best out of boating journey. Here we have collected top-rated boating apps to download on your mobile devices. Many people have trusted their boating time with these apps so you can pick one that fits you best. No need to worry about the cost as most of the apps below are available for free.

Best Boating Apps for Android and iOS

There is a wide range of boating apps to find on the market. While some apps come with navigation system, others offer sonar information and even weather forecast. Can’t wait to find the best app for boating? Check out the following list.

1. Navionics

Navionics may be the most used navigation app for boating. It is a fantastic application for water activities from sailing to cruising and fishing. Mainly functioned as a navigation system, it highlights SonarChat with HD contour to help guide your voyage. This tool is able to show not only underwater topography but also terrain on land. It also offers satellite images that are provided by the third party. Just in case you can’t decide which route to take, Navionics has suggested route planning to make your life easier. Thanks to dock-to-dock auto-routing that offers ETA, fuel consumption, and more information. Download on Google Play Download on the App Store

2. MarineTraffic

Accurately locate your boat or yacht with MarineTraffic. This boating app provides real-time positions of ships so you can find more than 100,000 vessels per day from all over the world. Once downloaded, it allows you to access major shipping routes and ports in that it is connected to AIS receivers. MarineTraffic has a set of powerful features like live map to search boats, ships, and even seaport. Wind and weather forecast enrich its functionality. Not only can you view live wind, you can also find 48-hour wind forecasts shown on the map. One of the best features is vessel identification. Using this feature you can identify vessels around you through the phone’s camera. It is equipped with an augmented reality tool that helps figure out the ships instantly. Download on Google Play Download on the App Store

3. C-MAP

C-MAP is a boat navigation app to level up your sailing experience. It has everything you need to sail with some peace of mind, such as nautical maps, traffic information, and navigation. All is available on your mobile device. While marine chart is a key feature to navigate, the weather forecast helps you plan a trip on a good day. Offline chart is also available to download so you can enjoy cruising even without internet connectivity. On this app you can find relevant information such as harbors, beaches, marinas, and more. And if you visit a nice place, save it and access it later on your device. And, this app allows you to personalize the map based on your preferences. Download on Google Play Download on the App Store

4. FindShip

FindShip has been around for a while and it has helped millions of people to find any ship. Serving as a ship locator, this app allows you to find vessels and ships from all over the world. It also offers real-time map to track the movement of vessels. On this app you can find more than 100,000 ships that cover most ports around the globe. This includes ship particulars like AIS information, owner, photos, Inmarsat communication, and much more. There is also fleet management feature to help manage your vessel. Featuring a simple interface, Findship is an ideal app to start a trip. Don’t forget to check the weather using its weather forecast feature to avoid storm or typhoon. Download on Google Play Download on the App Store

5. i-Boating

This is an app that you need to view marine charts. It offers a range of charts from nautical charts, river navigation charts, and lake contour for kayaking or sailing. This app could be your best assistant for boat route thanks to Voice Prompts feature. i-Boating is loaded with features to make your water life easier, including offline charts, lake depth map, and record marine tracks. It also has wind prediction overlay, anchor alarm, and information about tides & currents. The navigation app is available for boaters worldwide. It provides detailed marine charts for lakes, waterways, and rivers in different countries like Germany, UK, Canada, and much more. Pick a destination and make i-Boating your sailing assistant. Download on Google Play Download on the App Store

6. VesselFinder

VesselFinder is the best free boating app you should download before sailing. As one of the most downloaded vessel tracking app, it provides real-time data of vessel’s position and movement. It utilizes terrestrial AIS receivers, a large network that offers tracking feature for more than 100,000 ships. Many other features are available on VesselFinder such as easy ship search by name, MMSI number or IMO number; ship details including ETA, destination, flag, and year of built; as well as ship photos taken by users. Using this application you can also save your favorite view of the map and filter ships based on their type. Best of all, VesselFinder is free of charge. But you can upgrade to the Pro version to get more features like ship movement history and ad-free. Download on Google Play Download on the App Store

7. WinGPS Marine

If you wish for the best boating app with modern navigational tools, WinGPS Marine is surely for you. The GPS on board has a number of features to ensure a safe trip on the water. Not only does it show your location, it also provides you with marine charts that can be downloaded for offline reading. Developed by Stentec, this app is ideal for navigation on water activities like sailing on a yachts, canoeing at the sea, and kayaking on inland water. Simply download this app on your mobile device and get the support for the trips. WinGPS Marine highlights up-to-date charts for navigation, track & chart management, and SD-card support. It also helps avoid collision with speed vectors, retrieve lost member with man-overboard button, as well as easy AIS and GPS connection with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Download on Google Play Download on the App Store

8. Nautics Sailmate

Leisure boaters should have this app. Nautics Sailmate offers nautical charts for a better user experience. This free mobile app allows you to do a lot of things like browsing and zooming official nautical charts and see approximate location on it. Nautics Sailmate also lets you create five personal points of interest, in addition to seeing a comprehensive database of guest marinas. All these features are wrapped in a simple, easy to understand design for a better usability. This app is completely free but you can upgrade to the Premium version for additional features. Sailmate premium has added features like unlimited personal POIs, marina maps, and offline charts. Download on Google Play Download on the App Store

9. RAMS Mariner

RAMS Mariner offers a GPS on board to give a better awareness to the situation around you. It comes packed with plenty of features such as logbook automation and travel time estimation. With the ability to record your trip, this app allows easier tracking. RAMS Mariner is equipped with speedometer gauge that can be customized with preferred scale. There is also cloud storage feature to keep backed up data and sync between devices. Five speed units are available, providing you with easy conversion. What’s more, this tool enables you to check live local weather and wind displays so you can gain real-time weather awareness. Travel time calculator is also featured to help you estimate how long your trip will be. Download on Google Play

10. Ship Locator

Do you need to know marine traffic updates? Ship Locator has got you covered. This useful app acts as a vessel finder, allowing you to track ships from mobile device. Whether you need to track shipment or work on the port, it offers reliable marine navigation for nautical traffics. Ship Locator could be an ideal choice for active captain, people who need to track their loved one on vessels, and much more. It comes packed with a number of key aspects like vessel map, live marine traffic, and ship schedule. And if you are fond of marine photography, Ship Locator brings new marine photos you could enjoy. Plus, it provides fantastic marine videos of marine traffic to save on your mobile device. Download on Google Play

11. Marine Radar

Next on the list, you have Marine Radar to download on Android smartphone. With an intuitive interface, this app provides reliable real time ship tracking. It enables you to monitor the traffic of ships from all over the world in an appealing design. In addition to ship tracking, Marine Radar has cargo ship checking feature that helps identify moving cargo ship from its point of departure, ship type, and shipping line. For your convenience, different colors are used for specific vessel type. Download on Google Play

12. Boat Watch

Designed for iPhone and iPad, Boat Watch is all you need to know more about vessels and ships. Using this app you can track ships around the globe. It also has the ability to spot and identify boats in a matter of seconds. Boat Watch is completely free but it has plenty of fantastic features. In addition to tracking and identifying ships, it can see the destination of vessel and even find boats. Upgrade to Pro version for additional features like full boat information, boat recent tracks, and augmented reality to level up your experience. Download on Google Play Download on the App Store

13. TrackaShip Universal

TrackaShip Universal is another top-rated boating app for iOS devices. If you ever wondered what kind of ship you see off the beach, this app helps you find it out. It provides you with detailed information about the ships, including its destination, speed, and size. With a beautiful design, this app is completely easy to use. You will find impressive graphical design as well as large icons for easier identification. And obviously it offers a bunch of useful features like built-in compass and OpenSeaMap data. Download on the App Store

14. OnCourse

Leverage your boating experience with OnCourse. This free app offers boating and sailing navigation from MarineTraffic, a leader vessel tracking worldwide. While you enjoy your time on the water, this application helps increase your awareness. You can do a lot of things with OnCourse, such as planning and monitoring the journey and calculate optimal route. The same app also lets you add a customizable waypoint of your own as well as detect collision and avoid it. Additionally, OnCourse has standard features like vessel identification and boat tracker. And if you want to share incredible photos with boaters community, you can simply press the share button. Download on Google Play Download on the App Store There are so many boating apps to choose from but only few are the best. Now that you know the best boating apps for Android and iOS, it helps you make a better decision for the upcoming boating journey.