maritime charts
Sea navigation guides
Maritime charts are specialized maps designed for navigation at sea, showing water depths, coastlines, hazards, currents, and navigational aids like buoys and lighthouses.
Unlike land maps, they prioritize what sailors need to avoid running aground or colliding with obstacles: The captain consulted the maritime charts before entering the harbor.
Also called nautical charts.
- tide tablesForecasts of sea heights
- nautical almanacSailor's celestial position tables
- legendUnverified traditional tale
- latitudeGeographic or personal freedom
- compassDevice showing cardinal directions
magnetic north · nautical mile · longitude · projection · soundings · colonial maps · contour lines · bathymetry · medieval maps · here be dragons · scale bar · dead reckoning · shipping lanes · hydrography · sea lanes · buoys · reefs · small craft advisory
maritime chartsroad maps
Printed route diagrams
topographic maps · road atlases · street maps · hiking maps · trail maps