Blog
For people who go to sea without a sounder or chartplotter
Inflatables, RIBs, small powerboats and dinghies. Practical guides with Spanish regulations and their links, and an honest comparison of the apps that exist, with prices and the date they were checked.
Why Embarca exists
Comparison
Guides for getting out on the water
Where to anchor without a depth sounder: choosing a spot and how much rode to pay out
How to choose an anchorage when your boat has no depth sounder: chart depth, seabed type, rode length (the 3 to 1 rule), landmarks on shore and what to do if you are going to dive.
How to read a nautical chart and its depth contours (without being a professional skipper)
What the numbers, lines and colours on a nautical chart mean: soundings, depth contours, chart datum, seabed types, and why the depth shown by an app is an estimate.
The 2-mile limit of the Spanish Navigation Licence: what it is and what happens if you exceed it
What the Spanish Licencia de Navegación and the no-qualification exception allow (Royal Decree 875/2014), where the 2 miles are measured from, and the risk of sailing beyond your entitlement.
Levante, poniente and terral: when to go out in a small boat in the Mediterranean
How to read the wind before heading out in an inflatable or small boat: what the levante, poniente and terral are, how to check wind, gusts and swell, and a simple decision rule with official sources.
How to watch dolphins and whales within the rules: distances and regulations in Spain
What Royal Decree 1727/2007 says about watching cetaceans from a recreational boat in Spanish waters: a 60-metre exclusion zone, 4 knots, at most two boats, and what to do if the animals approach.
Diving from an inflatable: choosing the spot, the seabed and a day with clear water
What to check before anchoring to dive or snorkel: depth, rock or sand, what clouds the water and how to signal your presence. With what Embarca knows (depth and sea) and what it does not (visibility).
What to bring on an inflatable boat trip: mandatory kit and what you really need
A kit list for a trip in an inflatable or small boat: the safety equipment required by Spain's Royal Decree 339/2021 in zones 5 and 6, and what is worth carrying even if nobody asks.
Where to launch an inflatable: how to find and choose a boat ramp
How to find ramps for launching an inflatable or small boat in Spain: ports, clubs and beaches, what to ask (fees, access, hours), what to look at on the ramp and how to handle the trailer.
What to do if you lose phone coverage at sea: offline charts and maps
What keeps working without mobile data (GPS does), what breaks, how to download maps and charts before you go, and what plan B to carry: VHF, paper and a prior alert.
A trip from Caleta de Vélez to Maro, with photos, in the logbook
How an outing along the Axarquía coast looks in Embarca's logbook: the track, photos pinned on the map, the step-by-step replay and what is free and what is Pro.
Routes from other boaters: using Embarca's community without giving away where you moor
Which cove is worth anchoring in, where pilot whales have been seen, where people go with an inflatable. How to explore community routes (free), follow them and publish your own (Pro), and how your privacy is protected.