Handheld GPS
Handheld Marine GPS Units & Portable Navigation
Portable GPS navigation with handheld marine GPS units from Garmin and other leading manufacturers. Perfect for dinghies, backup navigation, and waypoint marking.
Handheld GPS units provide reliable positioning, waypoint storage, and basic chartplotting in a waterproof, floating package. Essential backup navigation for all vessels and primary navigation for small craft.
Portable Navigation: Part of our Navigation collection. Backup for fixed chartplotters. Use with marine charts and external GPS antennas. Essential safety equipment alongside handheld VHF radios.
What a handheld GPS adds to a fixed plotter
A handheld unit is not usually meant to replace a fixed chartplotter, it is there for when the fixed system fails, when you leave the boat in a tender or on foot, or as primary navigation on a small craft with no room or power budget for a mounted plotter. Battery life and waterproofing are the two specifications that matter most in that role, since a handheld is only useful as backup navigation if it still works after being dropped in the bilge or left out in the rain.
Screen size is a genuine trade-off against portability: a bigger screen is easier to read chart detail on but is heavier and less pocketable, which matters if the unit needs to go into a liferaft grab bag or stay clipped to a lifejacket. Check whether preloaded charts cover your cruising area or whether a card needs to be purchased separately, and pair a handheld with a handheld VHF for a minimum safety set-up on any small or open boat.
