First impressions at a marina start at the dock. When a transient guest arrives after a long passage and has to wait while dock staff radio back and forth trying to locate slip 47C, or when a new seasonal tenant circling the basin can't find their assigned berth, it signals an operation that hasn't invested in basic communication infrastructure.
A clear, shareable berth map solves this. It gives guests and tenants a visual reference they can consult on their phone before they even enter the marina channel — and it gives your dock staff a fast, confident answer when anyone calls to ask where they're going.
What a Guest-Facing Berth Map Includes
A berth map designed for guests and tenants differs from an operational slip management map. It doesn't need lease details, rate information, or maintenance records. It needs to communicate:
- Where the marina entrance is (channel access, any hazard markers)
- The overall dock layout (main pier, dock letters or numbers, orientation)
- Which area their slip is in
- Key facilities: fuel dock, pump-out, shore power service office, showers, laundry, marine store, restaurant
- Depth information for the approach channel and their basin (especially important for deep-draft vessels)
- Any seasonal restrictions or no-wake zones
The map should be readable on a 5-inch phone screen — which means it should be clean, clearly labeled, and not cluttered with operational detail that guests don't need.
Building the Guest Map in Atlas
Step 1: Start with the Marina Satellite Basemap
Open Atlas, navigate to your marina location, and set the basemap to satellite imagery. This gives guests a recognizable aerial reference — they can orient themselves immediately because the imagery matches what they're looking at from the water.
Step 2: Draw Dock and Pier Polygons
Trace the main docks, finger piers, and any fixed structures. Label each dock section with its designator — "Dock A," "North Basin," "T-head 2" — whatever your marina uses as standard wayfinding terminology.
Use bold outlines and enough fill opacity that the dock structures are clearly visible at the zoom level a guest would use when approaching on a chart plotter or phone.
Step 3: Label Key Facilities
Drop point features for each major facility and label them clearly:
- Fuel dock — marked prominently; approaching vessels need to see this first
- Pump-out station — often required for cruising permits
- Harbor master or marina office — where guests check in
- Showers, laundry, restrooms
- Ship's store or marine supply
- Parking areas
- Emergency contacts — consider adding a feature with the emergency call sign and VHF channel
Step 4: Mark the Entrance Channel
Draw a line or polygon showing the safe navigable channel into the marina. Add depth information as a label or attribute. If there are any markers — range lights, buoys, pilings — add point features for these with their marker numbers so approaching vessels can cross-reference with their charts.
For marinas with shallow approaches, add a text annotation on the map: "Approach channel 6.2 ft MLW — call VHF Ch. 16 before entry if draft exceeds 6 ft."
Step 5: Add a Depth Overlay
If your marina has a recent bathymetric survey, import the data into Atlas as a depth layer. Overlay it behind the dock and slip features using a color ramp from blue (deep) to light (shallow). This is particularly valuable for guests with deep-draft vessels who need to assess routing within the marina basin.
Sharing the Berth Map with Guests
For Transient Reservations
When confirming a transient reservation by email, include a link to the guest-facing Atlas map. The link opens directly to the marina layout and can be configured to start zoomed at the assigned slip.
Include in your confirmation:
- Map link
- Slip number and dock section
- Approach channel information
- VHF working channel
- Arrival time procedure
For Seasonal Tenant Welcome Packets
At the start of each season, send tenants a welcome packet including the berth map link. Tenants who haven't been to the marina in months appreciate a visual refresher — and new tenants especially value a clear map to orient themselves before their first visit.
For Your Club Website
Embed the guest berth map on your marina or yacht club website. Atlas generates an iframe code that you paste into your website's HTML. The result is an interactive, zoomable map that shows the marina layout and key facilities to anyone visiting your website — including people considering your marina for a transient stop.
For Navigation Apps
Export your marina slip boundaries and facility locations from Atlas as GeoJSON or KML and submit them to boating apps like Navionics, C-MAP, or Aqua Map. This gets your marina's layout into the chart plotters and navigation apps that cruising sailors and powerboaters actually use when planning arrivals.
Customizing the Map for Different Audiences
Consider creating multiple versions of the marina map for different purposes:
- Arriving guest: focus on entrance channel, fuel dock, check-in office, and slip location
- Seasonal tenant: full dock layout with all amenity facilities
- Service contractors: add infrastructure layer showing dock electrical and water connections
- Emergency responders: add a specific emergency response version with fire suppression, emergency shutoff, and access points
Each version starts from the same base marina map — you just toggle which layers are visible and who gets the link.
Keeping the Map Current
Update the guest berth map after:
- Any dock reconfiguration or new dock construction
- Changes to facility locations (pump-out relocated, new marine store)
- Seasonal changes (sections closed for winter, floating docks repositioned)
- Depth changes after dredging
A guest who arrives using your map and finds the pump-out station isn't where the map shows will have a significantly worse experience than if you'd said the pump-out was unavailable. Keep the map current — it's a direct representation of your operational standards.
