NOAA authorizes the production of two types of paper charts. The traditional paper chart is a lithographic version that is printed at a specific point in time and does not contain critical updates that were published in the United States Coast Guard’s Local Notice to Mariners (LNM) or in the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s Notice to Mainers (NM) since the chart publication date.
A Print on Demand (POD) chart is printed within a day or two of the date it is ordered and contains all of the critical chart corrections published in the LNM and NM within a week of the order date.
Find a local NOAA chart agent at: http://aeronav.faa.gov/agents.asp
(Note that this is an FAA site that lists both aeronautical and nautical chart agents). NOAA
recommends that you call and verify the availability of the latest paper edition from the vendor you
select.
Order online or over the phone by contacting one of the following retailers*
* This list is not comprehensive. Charts may also be purchased over the counter at a number of locations. (Check with your local marine supply store for availability.) Please submit questions, updates, additions, or corrections regarding this list. Links to non-federal websites do not imply endorsement of any particular product, service, organization, company, information provider, or content.
Nearly all NOAA paper charts are available in Print on Demand (POD) format. Charts are fully corrected within a week of the time of purchase. Purchase NOAA and NGA PODs through OceanGrafix or East View Geospatial
Nautical Charts in booklet format that you can print at home for free. They are currently still considered experimental as NOAA evaluates the usefulness of this product.
NOAA's entire suite of over 1,000 nautical charts is available for free as Raster Navigational Charts in the BSB format. Commercial electronic charting software is required to use them. Weekly digital upates are also available.
NOAA ENC® cells are available for free download. These are electronic vector data sets in the international S-57 standard. Updates are also available. Commercial software is required to view ENCs and to apply updates.
The Office of Coast Survey's Historical Map and Chart Collection contains over 20,000 maps and charts from the late 1700s to present day. The Collection includes some of the nation's earliest nautical charts, hydrographic surveys, topographic surveys, geodetic surveys, city plans, and Civil War battle maps.
NOAA's Office of Coast Survey, in conjunction with the NOAA Climate Database Modernization Program and the NOAA Central Library, is in the process of imaging the entire collection of historical U.S. Coast Pilots.