Beacon is a marine conditions and hazard-reporting app for Florida boaters. Live NOAA wind, tides and water temperature for 28 waterways, the real nautical chart, slip pricing for 213 marinas, and hazard reports from the boaters actually out there.
Your first month is free — every feature, no card. After that Beacon Pro is $5.49/month or $54.99/year. There is no limited free version: when the month is up, Beacon asks you to subscribe. Nothing you have saved is deleted either way.
Conditions come straight from the National Weather Service and NOAA tide stations. Where there is no forecast for a waterway, Beacon says that rather than printing a calm-looking zero.
Shoaling, debris, a manatee zone, a patrol. Filed in one tap with the position attached, and on every other boater’s chart seconds later.
213 Florida marinas with amenities and an estimated seasonal slip-rate band. Where Beacon only knows the town rather than the dock, the card says so.
Set a budget for fuel, dockage and provisions, log what you spend at the pump, and see what is left before the next stop.
It is a planning aid. Depths shift, markers move, and boater reports are unverified. Keep official charts and a working VHF aboard, and trust your eyes over any screen. In an emergency call 911 or hail the U.S. Coast Guard on VHF Channel 16.