Navigational Info: daily updated safety data on your chart

Official nautical charts are essential, but they're not updated in real time, and a lot can change between chart editions: a buoy gets moved, a channel starts shoaling, a temporary hazard appears overnight.

Aqua Map's Navigational Info feature fills that gap, pulling changes to navigational aids, marine activities, hazards, regulations, and restricted areas straight from official sources like national coast guards, then updating the app daily so you're always working with current information, even when it hasn't made it onto the official chart yet.

Right now, coverage includes the United States, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Portugal and Western Australia, and we're actively working to add more countries.

Navigational Info requires an active Master subscriptions.

Setting up Navigational Info

You'll find the Navigational Information settings from the main Settings page. Since Aqua Map can display data from several countries at once, this page is organized with shared controls at the top and country-specific settings below.

At the top, you control how data is downloaded and refreshed:

download Navigational Info turns downloading and updating on for all Navigational Information;
update now forces an immediate download of the latest available data;
automatic update lets you choose how updates happen going forward. Set it to "Never" and you'll need to tap Update now manually. Set it to "WiFi" and updates download automatically whenever the app is active on a WiFi network. Set it to "Always" and the app updates daily over any connection, including cellular, which is convenient but worth knowing about if your mobile plan has data limits.

Just below, you can adjust how this information looks on the map:

icon size on map sets how large the Navigational Information icons appear.
display lines and areas lets you show every type of data (points, lines, and areas) or limit the display to points only, which is useful if the map is starting to feel cluttered.

United States: USCG aids and Local Notices to Mariners

Across the country, US Coast Guard districts maintain over 54.000 navigational aids and keep them current by publishing an updated List of Lights daily. On top of that, the USCG issues Local Notices to Mariners (LNMs) and Notices to Navigation Interests (NTNIs) multiple times a day, covering shoaling, dredging, scheduled events, and other changes that affect safe passage.

Aqua Map brings both of these together, so captains get timely updates on navigational aids and the practical details they need for a safe trip.

The settings here are:

Display Coast Guard - LNMs shows Local Notices to Mariners on the map and makes them searchable;
Display USACE - NTNIs: Shows all the NTNIs from the USACE directly on the map. Enabling these options also allows you to search for them in our search section;
Display Coast Guard - buoys shows USCG buoys pulled from the List of Lights;
NOAA buoys display controls how standard NOAA navigation aids appear alongside USCG buoys. This matters because the two can occasionally conflict: NOAA also sources from the USCG List of Lights, but updates it less frequently, so USCG data is generally the more accurate of the two.

Worth knowing: the display settings you choose here are the same ones Route Planner uses to calculate safe areas for navigation, with the exception of icon size.

Reading USCG buoys on the map

Once "Display Coast Guard - buoys" is switched on, every buoy, beacon, and light from the USCG appears on your chart. They look similar to standard NOAA icons, but each one carries a small USCG flag so you can tell them apart at a glance.

You may also see a small info icon in the top-left corner of a buoy symbol , flagging something you should know about the following ones.

Navigation alert , meaning there's a potential hazard in the area.
Missing aid , meaning a buoy should be there but currently isn't.
Out of position aid , meaning a buoy has drifted from where it's meant to be.
General information , meaning there's useful navigation info attached.
Temporary aid , meaning the buoy is temporary and due to be removed.

Tap any USCG buoy to pull up its full details.

Canada: NAVWARNs

The Canadian Coast Guard continuously publishes NAVWARNs, warnings covering changes to navigational aids, currents, marine activities, and other hazards. Aqua Map displays these directly on the map and refreshes the data daily.

The relevant setting: Display Coast Guard - NAVWARNs, which shows all Canadian NAVWARNs on the map and makes them searchable.

Denmark: DMA

The Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) is Denmark's official source for navigational warnings and notices to mariners, covering both Denmark and Greenland. Aqua Map pulls this data in and updates it daily.

The setting: Display DMA - Warnings and Notices, which shows the data on the map and enables searching.

France: PING

In France, the PING (National Nautical Information Platform) is the official government service publishing warnings, notices, and regulations for mainland France, the Antilles, Guyane, and the North-East Atlantic (NAVAREA II). Aqua Map displays this data on the map and updates it daily.

Two settings apply here:

Display PING - Warnings and Notices showing warnings and notices on the map and enabling searching for them.
Display PING - Regulations showing regulations separately, kept apart from warnings and notices because multiple overlapping regulations in one area can otherwise clutter the display.

Italy: Ordinanze

The Italian Coast Guard is Italy's official source for navigational warnings and notices to mariners Aqua Map pulls this data in and updates it daily.

Two settings apply here:

Display Coast Guard - Ordinanze, which shows the data on the map and enables searching.
Select max age controls the maximum publication age of the data displayed on the map. Please note that Ordinanze marked as permanent are always displayed.

Portugal: IHPT

The Portuguese Hydrographic Institute (IHPT) is Portugal’s official source for navigational warnings and notices to mariners, covering mainland Portugal and its islands. Aqua Map pulls this data in and updates it daily.

The setting: Display IHPT - Navigational Warnings , which shows the data on the map and enables searching.

Western Australia: Transport WA

Transport WA, the Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure for Western Australia, publishes temporary notices and navigational warnings across the state. Aqua Map displays this data and keeps it updated daily.

The setting: Display Transport WA - Warnings and Notices, which shows the data on the map and enables searching.

Recognizing Navigational Info on the map

With the exception of the US List of Lights and buoys (covered above), Navigational Info uses a consistent set of map symbols, though line patterns can vary slightly by country.

Warning icon : a point with a navigation hazard.
Notice icon : a point where navigational information is available.
Line pattern : a notice or warning tied to a specific line, like a channel edge.
Warning area : a zone with potential danger.
Notice area : a zone with relevant navigational information.
Regulation area : a zone with specific rules to follow.

Viewing the details

Tap any Navigational Info object on the map, and the info page opens with everything available about it, from the type of warning to when it was issued.

Searching Navigational Info

Navigational Info is fully searchable. Head to the Search page, choose "Places and POIs", then select Navigational Info under Search filters.

From there, type your query, searching for a place name like "Alligator", for example, will surface every navigational notice or warning containing that term.

Tap a result to highlight it on the map in magenta, and the same highlight appears if you open its details from the info icon. To clear the highlight, just tap anywhere else on the map.