Garmin maps for the Bahamas.

[Drew-]

Greetings
This is my first trip down the icw and will be my first time sailing to the Bahamas.
We finally made it far enough south that we can start thinking about the crossing to the bahamas.(we are currently doing a bottom job in fort pierce)... One of the requirements is going to be new maps for the garmin 74 cv(1 year old). I went to the garmin website to purchase "the Bahamas" and to my dismay it is broken up into two categories. South Florida + north Bahamas and south Bahamas. @350 each! Why would i pay for Florida when its included in the g3 maps? This will end up costing more than the chartplotter itself. For a 3 month trip? Any advice?

[Sailmonkey]

Buy the explorer chart book and use the plotter to supplement the book.

You’ll sail by eyeball and bearings anyway.

[chris mac]

We have navionics on chartplotter. Lighthouse 3, brand new! Depths are incredibly inaccurate.
On advice from other cruisers, we bought aquamaps for our tablet and purchased the explore charts digital for bahamas. 1 year is around 40 bucks, lifetime about 150ish(going from memory)
It is by far more accurate for the bahamas. It's pretty comparable for coastal usa as well, and those charts are free add on as long as you have internet and storage room on the tablet

[Cthoops]

I second the suggestion for AquaMaps on a tablet with the Explorer charts downloaded onto it. We have a B&G so we have the Explorer Charts on our plotter, but we also have them on our tablet via AquaMaps. They are spot on.

[AA3JY]

Originally Posted by chris mac

We have navionics on chartplotter. Lighthouse 3, brand new! Depths are incredibly inaccurate.

Interesting..Garmin bought out Navionics..

[AJ_n_Audrey]

Get Explorer Chartbooks. Garmin, unfortunately, is not using Explorer data directly any more. Explorer is absolutely accurate, and is the only one that is completely reliable for Bahamas.

[AJ_n_Audrey]

Fyi, there is an iPad version of C-Map, which I've played with but not used extensively. Since C-Map has Explorer as data for the Bahamas, you might be able to get it there. AquaMaps also has Explorer, but I did not like how it displayed charts - but that could be user error on my part. I didn't spend much time trying to resolve my issue with AquaMaps because I have Explorer on the chart plotter at the helm (Raymarine/C-Map) so I just used that.

[garychurch]

Also recommend Aqua Map, and if you don’t have a great weather program recommend Windy as well.

[Stmurray62]

Originally Posted by Cthoops

I second the suggestion for AquaMaps on a tablet with the Explorer charts downloaded onto it. We have a B&G so we have the Explorer Charts on our plotter, but we also have them on our tablet via AquaMaps. They are spot on.

Get Navionics (Carribean maps), download onto iPad. <$30/year.
Get <32 gb micro chip. ($20 or so)
Get Active Captain ap (free)

Garmin owns Active Captain & Navionics.. use Navionics/iPad as primary, plotter as backup. Download upgrades to plotter via Active Captain app on phone and then download from phone to plotter. That’s why u need the microchip.

[psp2psp2]

Originally Posted by Drew-

Greetings
This is my first trip down the icw and will be my first time sailing to the Bahamas.
We finally made it far enough south that we can start thinking about the crossing to the bahamas.(we are currently doing a bottom job in fort pierce)... One of the requirements is going to be new maps for the garmin 74 cv(1 year old). I went to the garmin website to purchase "the Bahamas" and to my dismay it is broken up into two categories. South Florida + north Bahamas and south Bahamas. @350 each! Why would i pay for Florida when its included in the g3 maps? This will end up costing more than the chartplotter itself. For a 3 month trip? Any advice?

Forget the electronic charts, you need EXPLORER BOOKS

[Stmurray62]

I’m a delivery Captain; do a lot of Caribbean deliveries. Plot proposed course on tablet ( via Navionics/iPad) then use iPad as primary and plotter as backup. Never, never had any issues. Navionics is very accurate, easy to use/user friendly, reliable and easy to alter quickly. I’m chagrined that plotters are not as easy to use and manipulate. Navionics is my go to, primary tool. Just keep iPad plugged in to power and shut off cellular/data roaming...

[chris mac]

Originally Posted by Stmurray62

I’m a delivery Captain; do a lot of Caribbean deliveries. Plot proposed course on tablet ( via Navionics/iPad) then use iPad as primary and plotter as backup. Never, never had any issues. Navionics is very accurate, easy to use/user friendly, reliable and easy to alter quickly. I’m chagrined that plotters are not as easy to use and manipulate. Navionics is my go to, primary tool. Just keep iPad plugged in to power and shut off cellular/data roaming...

That may be true for the caribbean. But bahamas, not so much. Just today I followed explorer charts showing 6'(1.8m) and actual was a little over 7'. I was on a rising tide so pretty accurate. Navionics showed I was going through an area charter at 2'.(I draw 4.5')
Navionics is hard to rely on in the bahamas. Explorer is much more accurate

[vpbarkley]

We also have a new Garmin chartplotter and want to add the Bahamas.

This ad is for the entire Bahamas to Jacksonville, FL, with the latest maps for $350:

https://www.thegpsstore.com/Garmin-B...RoCnF8QAvD_BwE

I also saw this ad on eBay for the entire Bahamas, these maps are dated 2008 for $99:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Garmin-Blue...6/333783273400

I have no affiliation with any of these parties.

I have purchased from the GPS Store and they were great.

[AA3JY]

Originally Posted by vpbarkley

We also have a new Garmin chartplotter and want to add the Bahamas.

This ad is for the entire Bahamas to Jacksonville, FL, with the latest maps for $350:

https://www.thegpsstore.com/Garmin-B...RoCnF8QAvD_BwE

I also saw this ad on eBay for the entire Bahamas, these maps are dated 2008 for $99:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Garmin-Blue...6/333783273400

I have no affiliation with any of these parties.

I have purchased from the GPS Store and they were great.

Read the bottom disclaimer...maybe outdated charts..

[Flatswing]

As mentioned Aqua maps uses Explorer. The masters version also gives u AICW USACE sonar data which is very useful for the skinny parts of the ditch & makes a very cheap, completely independent back up to your Chart plotter using iPad that will be your primary navigation source in the Bahamas.