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Marine Chart Comparison of BlueChart® g3 and Garmin Navionics+™
Garmin offers multiple marine cartography products. The most recent offering is Garmin Navionics+™ while the previous generation is called g3, which consists of BlueChart® g3 coastal charts and LakeVü g3 inland maps. Each of these products have a standard option and a Vision option available.
It is important to be aware that if used together, the Garmin Navionics+™ mapping on a chartplotter will be prioritized over g3 mapping in areas where their coverages overlap.
Examples:
A chartplotter with built-in Garmin Navionics+™ Built-In for Coastal North America, Canadian West Coast and Alaska, combined with a U.S., South Florida and North Bahamas Coastal Charts BlueChart® g3 Vision will not display the g3 Vision mapping because the built-in completely overlaps the g3 Vision card coverage
A unit with built-in BlueChart® g3 U.S. and Western Canada Coastal Charts running a supplemental GN+ chart, such as Central America & Caribbean - Inland and Coastal Marine Charts Garmin Navionics Vision+™, will be able to view their built-in BlueChart® until the overlap occurs in Baja California. The transition is seamless, and the unit automatically switches to pulling in the priority chart for the Garmin Navionics ™ Vision+ in the area that overlaps.
- A chartplotter with built-in Garmin Navionics+™ US mapping, combined with a Europe Atlantic Coast g3 Vision Card will display the entire g3 Vision mapping region because the coverage of the two maps does not overlap.
BlueChart® g3 and BlueChart® g3 Vision
BlueChart® g3 is an affordable option for compatible Garmin chartplotters. The product includes detailed navigation charts, tidal stations, currents, depth contours, IALA symbols, and detailed fishing (bathymetric) charts.
BlueChart® g3 Vision is a premium option that offers all of the same mapping and features as BlueChart® g3, with extra features such as high-resolution relief shading for the continental US Coastline out to 40 miles, 3-D views, and aerial photos. This product is only compatible with certain chartplotters and sounders. See Garmin Marine Chart Feature Compatibility for more information.
Garmin Navionics+™ and Garmin Navionics+™ Vision
Garmin Navionics+™ and Garmin Navionics+™ Vision is the most up-to-date cartography with daily downloads available. Integrated Garmin and Navionics content, it renders a whole new look and feel on the chartplotter with vibrant color palette and popular Navionics-style chart presentations and many other features.
BlueChart® Feature Comparison
| Features | BlueChart® g3 | BlueChart® g3 Vision | Garmin Navionics+™ | Garmin Navionics+™ Vision |
| Integrated Garmin and Navionics content | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Auto Guidance+™¹ technology | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Depth range shading | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Up to 1' contours | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shallow water shading | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Raster cartography² | ✓ | ✓ | ✓3 | ✓3 |
| ActiveCaptain® app Support3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| ActiveCaptain Community3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Daily Updates | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Includes Coastal and Lake mapping | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| High-resolution relief shading3,4 | ✓ | ✓3,4 | ||
| High-resolution satellite imagery | ✓ | ✓3 | ||
| 3D chart views | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Aerial photos | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Dynamic Lake Level | ✓ | |||
| Sonar Imagery3 | ✓ | |||
| Side Scan Images | ✓ | ✓ |
See the Garmin Cartography Catalog for more information about marine charts.
1 Auto Guidance+ is for planning purposes only and does not replace safe navigation operations. Not all devices preloaded with g3 content will receive Auto Guidance+.
2 Raster cartography cannot be viewed on ECHOMAP devices but can be viewed on mobile devices via the ActiveCaptain app. See Getting Started with ActiveCaptain for more information.
3 Available for download via ActiveCaptain, see: High-Resolution Relief Shading Download via ActiveCaptain.
4Full region including High-resolution relief shading is available for download via Garmin Express.