The current Intracoastal Waterway navigation map is NOAA's Electronic Navigational Chart (ENC) data. It is free, updated every weekday, and you view it in a chart plotter or navigation app, since NOAA cancelled the last of its 1,007 traditional paper charts in December 2024.
You can download ENC files free from NOAA's ENC page, load them in a plotter or an app that uses NOAA ENC data, such as Aqua Map, or look at the map right now in NOAA's free ENC Online viewer. For paper, print your own from ENC data with NOAA Custom Chart, or buy a commercial chartbook and check how old its source charts are.
NOAA's raster sunset program finished in December 2024. These products were cancelled:
NOAA moved everything to ENC, which is now its primary nautical chart product. NOAA explains the change on its farewell to traditional nautical charts page.
Past editions, including the last edition of each paper chart, can be downloaded free from the NOAA Historical Map and Chart Collection. They no longer receive updates, so treat them as reference only.
Use a plotter or app that loads current NOAA ENC data. ENC update files are released every weekday evening, so update your charts before each trip. For more on the free government data behind most apps, see our guide to NOAA charts.
The ENC Online viewer is a free web map of NOAA ENC data. It works well for planning at home. NOAA states that neither the viewer nor images taken from it are suitable for navigation.
NOAA Custom Chart lets you make your own paper charts from the latest ENC data. You can choose depth units and set a safety contour based on your boat's draft. For the Gulf ICW, this is the dependable way to get current paper charts.
Many chartbooks for sale were built from NOAA paper charts that have since been cancelled. Check the source chart dates before you buy. For example, the 2024 Bob423 Atlantic ICW Chartbook covers Norfolk to Key West, plus the Okeechobee crossing to Fort Myers, but not the Gulf ICW. Its 29 NOAA source charts were current at various dates between October 2022 and November 2023, and the seller notes most have since been cancelled by NOAA.
ICW mile markers are in statute miles, and the Atlantic and Gulf use different starting points.
According to NOAA Coast Pilot 4:
Project depth is the authorized depth, and the water you find can be less because of shoaling.
NOAA's description of the Gulf ICW stops at Carrabelle. Don't assume one continuous marked channel from the Panhandle down Florida's Gulf coast. Check the ENC for each stretch you plan to run.
The ICW marks its aids to navigation with yellow symbols, as described in the USCG Light List. The yellow symbol tells you how to pass the aid on the ICW, whatever color the aid itself is.
Southbound on the ICW means the direction from New Jersey to Florida, then around the Gulf to Texas. The marker convention starts with the New Jersey ICW, north of the Norfolk Mile 0.
Heading south, red aids are usually on your starboard side. Where the ICW crosses or shares an inlet or port channel, the aid's color can conflict with the ICW direction, so always go by the yellow triangle or square.
On Florida's Gulf coast the ICW runs north toward the Panhandle. Southbound still means toward Texas there, so keep yellow triangles to starboard even while your compass reads north.
Chart depths can lag behind ICW shoaling. Before each leg, check these sources and note the date on each one:
Aqua Map overlays USACE eHydro surveys on its charts, and Waterway Guide Navigation Alerts can be viewed in Aqua Map and on Waterway Guide's Explorer site.
Real depths can fall far below project depth. In one reported example, a survey dated 1/30/2025 found under 3.3 ft MLLW in the channel at Jupiter Inlet (MM 1004), on a stretch with a 10-foot project depth. That survey is old now, so look up the current one.
Surveys age quickly, so time shallow stretches and inlet crossings for higher tide and watch your depth sounder the whole way.
Helm has chart packs built from NOAA data for the Florida East Coast (NOAA 2026 chart data), Florida Gulf Coast, Florida Panhandle and Texas Coast, plus a Miami & Biscayne Bay pack. These packs do not cover the whole ICW, so check whether your stretch is included.
No. NOAA cancelled all of its traditional paper charts, including print-on-demand, by December 2024. You can print your own from current ENC data with NOAA Custom Chart, or download past editions free from the NOAA Historical Map and Chart Collection for reference.
Yes. NOAA ENCs are free and update files are released every weekday evening. The NOAA ENC Online viewer is also free, but NOAA says it is not suitable for navigation.
Southbound runs from New Jersey to Florida, then around the Gulf to Texas. Traveling that way, keep yellow triangles to starboard and yellow squares to port, even where the ICW runs north along Florida's Gulf coast.
Check the latest USACE hydrographic survey in eHydro or on the district's site, and note the survey date. Then check Local Notices to Mariners and Waterway Guide Navigation Alerts, plan for higher tide, and watch your depth sounder.
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