Canal-aware routing
Turn-by-turn along the water, counting locks and timing your days – not a road engine guessing at towpaths.
Navigation for the UK canal network
Know the water before you cast off.
A proper satnav for the canals and rivers. Other maps and planners stop at showing you the network – Canal Nav guides you turn-by-turn with GPS, routing around live closures on the canals and the rivers alike, counting your locks and pacing your days, and calling out every lock, bridge and junction as you reach it. Community moorings and hazards, round-trip rings, an automatic logbook and offline maps are all built in.
✦ Free, and always will be – a free tier forever
3,000 mi of navigable canal & river
Live closures – canals & rivers
Offline maps for no-signal stretches
The core app is free – and always will be.
Routing, live closures, community points and offline maps cost you nothing. Premium adds extras for heavy cruisers – but you never hit a wall.
- ✓ No card required to plan & navigate
- ✓ Unlimited routes on the free tier
- ✓ Community hazards & moorings, always open
What you get
Everything a boater needs on the cut.
A proper navigator for the slow world – the water, the locks, the stoppages and the stops.
Live closures – canals & rivers
Official stoppages pulled live from the Canal & River Trust and the river authorities (the Thames, Nene, Great Ouse and more), routed around automatically – and when one has a reopen date, it weighs waiting it out against the detour.
Rivers & tidal safety
Full coverage of the rivers alongside the canals – with a clear warning before you reach tidal water, and moorings never placed on the tide.
Routes to your licences
Won’t send you down water your boat isn’t set up for – a book-ahead passage like the Manchester Ship Canal, or a tidal crossing – unless you tell it you’re licensed for it. Set it per boat.
Multi-day itineraries
Plan by days and hours, not just miles – overnight moorings picked to fit your pace, and re-planned from wherever you actually tie up.
Turn-by-turn on the water
GPS-followed, with a live speed readout and a heads-up for each lock, flight, swing or lift bridge, tunnel and junction as you reach it.
Round trips & rings
Plan a loop by days or distance, cruise a classic signposted ring, and flip the direction to dodge a closure.
Community points
Moorings, water points, hazards and services added and confirmed by boaters who are actually out there.
Your boat & logbook
Keep a record of your craft and an automatic log of every cruise – distance, locks, hours on the move and where you moored.
Offline maps
Cache the vector basemap and your route so navigation keeps working through the no-signal cuttings and tunnels.
Share your cruise
Drop a spot or share a live position with family and crew – password-gated, with windows you control.
Badges & rewards
Earn brass badges as you plan, cruise and explore – then show them off with a personal share link for your email or forum footer that invites friends to come aboard.
Why Canal Nav
Most canal maps stop at showing you the water.
A static canal map
- ✕ Shows the network, leaves the planning to you
- ✕ No live stoppages or auto-reroute
- ✕ No lock counts or day planning
- ✕ No navigation once you set off
Canal Nav
- ✓ Plans the route, days and locks for you
- ✓ Live canal & river closures, routed around
- ✓ Turn-by-turn, GPS-followed navigation
- ✓ Community points & a business directory
On your route
Marinas, chandlers & services – find them on the cut.
Search the directory by trade to see who’s on your route, from marinas and chandlers to roving fuel boats.
Start planning your next cruise – it’s free.
No card, no trial clock. Make an account when you want to save routes across devices.