Boating apps charge for this. Tampa Bay boaters get it free.
The big boating apps charge $40 to $170 a year for charts, weather and fishing forecasts — and none of them know Tampa Bay. Here’s what those apps charge, and the local version of it you get here for $0.
Chart & navigation apps
$40–$70 / year
Detailed charts, tides and wind for the whole coast — sold by yearly subscription.
Free here: Tides, the marine forecast and a plain-English wind verdict for your part of Tampa Bay — plus the local map of ramps, fuel and food the chart apps don’t carry.
Weather-routing apps
$99–$169 / year
They crunch weather models to tell you the best time to leave the dock.
Free here: The Day Score and Hour by Hour — the same go / no-go answer, for this bay, in plain English.
Fishing apps
~$80 / year
Bite forecasts, fishing spots and species info, behind a paywall.
Free here: The daily fishing report, what’s biting now, and the state keep-it-legal rules in plain English.
Boat towing memberships
$215–$249 / year
The big towing memberships — the apps are free, the tow protection isn’t.
Free here: We don’t tow anybody, and we say so. What we do free: lay the memberships side by side — cost, what’s covered — so you buy the right one before you need it. One tow without one can run $950+. See the full tow math.
Add it up
Stack just three of these — charts, weather planning and fishing — and you’re at roughly $230 a year, for national data that has never heard of Beer Can Island. The Tampa Bay layer is free here, because local sponsors pay for it — not you.
Today’s cheapest fuel
Non-ethanol and diesel prices, checked store by store every morning around Tampa Bay. Boaters plan their fuel stop around it. No national app sells this at any price — it has to be local, and it has to be checked.
Every event on the water
Boat parades, raft-ups, fishing tournaments, waterfront festivals — one calendar, free to browse and free to list your own event. Sponsors keep it that way.
Local rules, plain English
Manatee slow-speed zones and when they change, bridge heights, tricky passes, what’s legal to keep. The stuff that costs Tampa Bay boaters tickets and tow bills — explained like a neighbor, from the official rules.
This site is run by David and Nancy, two Tampa Bay boaters. When something here is wrong, a local fixes it — not a support ticket on another continent.
Straight talk
We are not a chartplotter. Use real charts for navigation — the chart apps earn their money there, and no website (including this one) should steer your boat. Anyone who tells you different is selling you something.
Our weather comes from NOAA and the National Weather Service — the same source the paid apps repackage. We translate it into a plain verdict for Tampa Bay instead of charging you to read it.
How it’s free
Local marine businesses sponsor the site so boaters never pay. That’s the whole deal — no subscriptions, no paywall, no app to install, no account to create.
Everything a boater touches here is free — the map, the forecasts, the fishing report, the events calendar, even listing your own event or boat. The businesses get seen by local boaters; you get the tools. Everybody’s deal is on the table.
One short email a week: conditions, events, fuel prices and what’s biting. Free, like everything here.
Price ranges checked October 30, 2026 against published pricing for these app categories. App prices change — the point stands either way. This page compares categories, not any single company’s product. TampaBayBoating.com is 100% free to use — local sponsors keep it that way.
