NOAA BookletCharts

Our Review
From the Office of Coastal Survey, NOAA has optimized nautical charts for printing from you own computer. These Charts booklets are free and can be printed on 8 ½ x 11 inch paper. They also include up to date notice to Mariners. You can chose to store the charts as PDFs and store on your computer. The image shows the booklet for the Chesapeake Bay include an enlarged area 4.

NOAAs Experimental BookletChart™

The experimental BookletChart is made to help recreational boaters locate themselves on the water. It has been reduced in scale and divided into pages for convenience, but otherwise contains all the information of the full scale nautical chart. Bar scales have also been reduced in scale, and are accurate when used to measure distances in a BookletChart. Excerpts from the United States Coast Pilot are included, and chart notes are consolidated on a single page for easy reference. Emergency information for the charted area is printed on the back cover.

Print as many copies as you like. Use them at home, on-board, or attach a page or two to the Float Plan that you leave with a friend, relative or local marina before heading out on the water. In an emergency, your Float Plan gives pertinent information to enable them to contact the local marine police or Coast Guard with necessary details.

NOTE: During this experimental period, BookletCharts are not being updated every week with Notices to Mariners. Further, there are some known errors in the ones posted, e.g. the "Approximate Page Index" on the cover might not match the chart inside. You can tell us about errors you find by using the “Your Comments” link above in the main menu. Thanks for your patience.

Download and Print BookletCharts™ for Free! Download and Print BookletCharts™ for Free!

A selection of experimental BookletCharts is available for free from NOAA. Download them as Adobe .PDF files and print them at home. 2-sided printing gives the best results. (See Printing Tips) Staple the pages along the left edge to make a booklet.

Then click here to tell us what you think about this experimental service! Would this be a useful product? Why or why not? How can we make it better? Is “print at home for free” a good distribution method? Should we make the entire suite of charts available?

Use the official, full scale NOAA nautical chart available from authorized NOAA nautical chart sales agents for real navigation whenever possible. BookletCharts do NOT fulfill chart carriage requirements for regulated commercial vessels under Titles 33 and 46 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

 Home | Newsletters | About | FAQ | Contact Us | Site Map