Navigating the Download of Navigation Charts

Overview

US nautical chart products are available for free download from NOAA's Office of Coast Survey (OCS) website. The six steps outlined here are designed to guide you, step by step, through the process of understanding what is available, then choosing, downloading, viewing and updating the right charts for your use.

Note: Links directly to NOAA pages will open a new browser window so that you can easily move between that page and this one. Internal pages are linked via a navbar at the bottom of each page.

1. Select your chart format and scale
   1. Compare Nautical Chart Formats available from NOAA: traditional paper charts, print-on-demand charts, Electronic Navigational Charts®, Raster Navigational Charts®, PocketCharts™, and BookletCharts™.
   2. Read NOAA's discussion of nautical charts: chart scales, projections, sounding datum, elevations.
   3. Understand differences between maps and charts
2. Find your chart online.
   1. Step by Step Chart Selection
   2. NOAA Chart catalogs
3. View selected charts online or on your computer
   1. NOAA's On-Line Viewer
   2. Downloading Free Chart Viewer(s)
4. Download charts from NOAA
   1. BookletCharts™
      1. BookletChart™ features
      2. Download and print free BookletCharts™
   2. NOAA ENC® charts
      1. About NOAA ENC® charts
      2. ENC viewers, compatable systems, and other resources
   3. NOAA RNC charts
      1. About NOAA RNC charts
      2. RNC viewers, compatable systems, and other resources
5. Update your charts
   1. Differences Between "Notice to Mariners" and "Local Notice to Mariners"
   2. How NOAAs Chart are Updated
   3. Locate and download relevant notices using Notice to Mariners and Local Notice to Mariners
   4. Update Your Charts
6. Acquire and use other essential NOAA publications.
   1. A guided tour of the OCS website
   2. Chart 1: Nautical Chart Symbols and Abbreviations. (Everyone should have a copy of Chart 1.)
   3. United States Coast Pilot® – contains important supplemental information not found on nautical charts. (View sample info from a Coast Pilot page.)
   4. Charts and Publications available from the Office of Coast Survey
      (Worth a bookmark --This page is 'the' place to start when looking for nautical charts or chart information.)