About Canal Nav
Canal Nav is a free route planner and live map for the UK’s canals and rivers – the boater’s companion for planning a cruise, working through locks and bridges, and finding what you need along the way.
What Canal Nav does
- Plans your route – locks, days and rings, with realistic day-by-day itineraries and auto-suggested overnight moorings.
- Routes around closures – live Canal & River Trust stoppages folded into your route, with the app telling you whether it is quicker to wait one out or take the long way round.
- Guides you on the water – turn-by-turn GPS navigation with a heads-up for the next lock, bridge or tunnel.
- Works offline – cache your route and maps so you are covered where there is no signal.
- Keeps your logbook – a record of your journeys, distances, locks worked and nights aboard.
- Keeps you connected – share your live position with family or crew, and share a boat with the people you cruise with.
- Is powered by boaters – community points, hazards and reports that help everyone on the network.
Why we built it
Planning a canal trip has always meant juggling paper guides, scattered closure notices and guesswork about how far you can really get in a day. Canal Nav pulls it into one place – accurate, current and easy – so you can spend less time planning and more time on the water.
About Apexl Studios
Canal Nav is designed and built by Apexl Studios, an independent software studio. It is an independent project – not affiliated with, endorsed by or sanctioned by the Canal & River Trust, the Environment Agency or any navigation authority.
A note on safety
Canal Nav is a planning and navigation aid, not an official or safety-approved system. Always check the official notices and the conditions in front of you, and never rely on Canal Nav alone. Our terms of use set this out in full.