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EnglishWhat Is Navionics and How Does It Compare with Maptech Charts and Cruising Guides?
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Navionics is a digital marine chart and navigation service: chart data delivered through plotters and mobile apps rather than printed pages. Maptech is a publisher of paper and print-oriented navigation products—ChartKits, Richardsons' Chartbooks, Embassy Cruising Guides, paper nautical charts, and navigation software. The two overlap in purpose (getting you safely along a coast or waterway) but differ in format, updating, and what they are best at. Choose Navionics-style digital charts for live position, zoomable detail, and route planning on a screen; choose Maptech print products for planning at the table, backup navigation, and facility/local-knowledge content that a chart alone doesn't carry.
What Navionics is
Navionics is best understood as a chart service rather than a single product. Its core is digital chart data—depth contours, aids to navigation, and chart detail—displayed on compatible chartplotters and in mobile apps, with route and track tools built around a live GPS position. Because it is software-based, the chart you see is tied to a device and a subscription or chart card, and updates arrive electronically.
That description is general product knowledge. Maptech's site lists "Navionics" among its related keywords but does not sell or describe Navionics products; everything Maptech actually offers is its own line, described below.
What Maptech offers
Maptech's catalog, as listed on its site, is organized around print and planning tools:
| Product | What it is | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Nautical charts | Paper charts with detailed navigation information | Cockpit reference, backup, framing a route on paper |
| ChartKits / Richardsons' Chartbooks | Bound chartbooks covering a cruising area | Trip planning and underway reference without loose sheets |
| Embassy Cruising Guides | Comprehensive guides with facility information and local knowledge, in four regions (New England Coast; Long Island Sound to Cape May; Chesapeake Bay to Florida & the ICW; Florida to Mobile Bay) | Marinas, provisions, restaurants, and area overviews |
| Navigation software | Software to guide you on the waterways | Digital route planning on a computer |
| Navigation publications | Great Book of Anchorages (approach data and chartlets); Rules and Regulations Handbook | Anchoring decisions and regulatory compliance |
| NOAA Interactive Chart Selector | Click-a-map tool to find NOAA charts | Locating the right official chart for an area |
| Destinations web guides | Free web guides sampling the Embassy Guides content | Early-stage cruise planning |
Maptech also publishes decorative charts and a 2026 product catalog for comparing its line. The site describes 50 years of publishing charts, cruising guides, and navigation tools.
The practical differences that decide the choice
- Live position vs. planning. A digital chart service centers on where you are right now and what's ahead on screen. Maptech's chartbooks and guides center on planning a passage and understanding a destination—facilities, anchorages, local knowledge—before and during the trip.
- Updates. Digital charts update electronically; paper charts and chartbooks are editions you replace. Neither approach removes the need to check notices to mariners for your area.
- Screen dependence. Digital navigation depends on a powered device, a working GPS, and a readable display. Paper products work when electronics don't—the usual reason cruisers carry both.
- Depth of destination content. Maptech's Embassy Guides and the Great Book of Anchorages carry facility and approach information that a chart display typically doesn't. If your question is "where do I tie up and eat in this harbor," the guide answers it; if it's "where exactly is the channel edge," the chart does.
How to choose
Use these conditions to decide:
- You cruise mostly with a chartplotter or tablet and want routing tools. A digital chart service is the primary tool; add a paper chart or chartbook for the area as backup.
- You plan at home and want one bound reference per region. A Maptech ChartKit or Richardsons' Chartbook for your cruising area, plus the matching Embassy Cruising Guide, covers planning and underway reference in print.
- You need marina, provisioning, and dining information. Start with the Embassy Cruising Guide for your region; Maptech's free Destinations web guides give a sample of that content before you buy.
- You want the official chart for an area. Use Maptech's NOAA Interactive Chart Selector to identify it, then decide whether you need the paper version.
- You are equipping a boat from scratch. Most cruisers end up with both: digital charts for live navigation and a print chartbook plus guide for planning, backup, and local knowledge.
If your cruising is confined to one of Maptech's four guide regions, the print route is straightforward—one chartbook and one guide per region. If you move between regions or want route planning on a screen, treat digital charts as the base layer and add Maptech print products where destination detail matters.