Discover The Bahamas with New BathyVision Data on TZ MAPS

From the Abacos to Eleuthera, Exuma Sound, Bimini, Harbour Island, Spanish Wells, Great Harbour Cay, and Crooked Island, the latest BathyVision detail on TZ MAPS brings a clearer view of the shallow-water around some of the most important boating routes in The Bahamas.

In The Bahamas, chart detail matters most where navigation becomes highly visual: reef-lined cuts, narrow harbor entries, bank-to-sound transitions, and close-to-shore island approaches. That is exactly where this new BathyVision data stands out.

For captains, cruisers, and boaters exploring the islands, BathyVision adds a more readable picture of the underwater landscape in places where detail matters most. Across The Bahamas, it helps bring greater visual clarity to the areas that define everyday navigation: shallow banks, coral heads, harbor entrances, narrow passes, and the approaches to anchorages and islands.

One of the clearest examples is found in the Abacos, one of the most important boating regions in The Bahamas. With busy routes, shifting shallows, and reef-lined passages, this area demands close attention on the water. New BathyVision detail gives a sharper view of key routes and approaches around Man-O-War Cay, Whale Cay, Tilloo Cut, North Bar Channel, and Little Harbour Channel, making some of the country’s most traveled cruising grounds easier to read at a glance.

“Big improvement on reef location and details” – Captain Jeff Gauthier on improved North Man-O-War Data

“It looks very good with your level of detail.” – Captain Jody on improved Devils Backbone data

This same advantage continues across other popular locations around The Bahamas. Around Eleuthera, Harbour Island, and Spanish Wells, navigation often depends on interpreting shallow-water detail through narrow, high-attention routes. In places like Devil’s Backbone and the approaches between Spanish Wells and Harbour Island, a clearer visual representation of bottom structure and surrounding terrain adds valuable context when planning and navigating these well-known passages.

Further south and east, BathyVision also brings stronger visual detail to the Exuma Sound cuts, where boaters regularly move on and off the bank, and to the entrance of Crooked Island North Harbour, where winding approaches and prominent coral heads make local detail especially important. In western arrival points such as Bimini, and key cruising gateways like Great Harbour Cay, this added clarity strengthens the overall navigation picture in areas that are central to many Bahamas itineraries.

What makes BathyVision especially valuable in The Bahamas is the way it helps transform complex underwater terrain into something more immediate and easier to interpret. Instead of seeing only isolated soundings and basic contour information, boaters can view the seabed with a more natural visual presentation that makes bottom shape, depth transitions, and shallow structure easier to understand in context.

That added visual detail supports better route awareness throughout the voyage, whether approaching an island, entering a harbor, following a pass, or reviewing a route between cays. It gives mariners a clearer sense of the water around them and helps make chart reading more intuitive in one of the most visually navigated cruising destinations in the world.

With new BathyVision data now available for The Bahamas on TZ MAPS, TIMEZERO delivers an even more refined way to explore and navigate these iconic waters. From the Abacos to Eleuthera, Exuma Sound, Bimini, Harbour Island, Spanish Wells, Great Harbour Cay, and Crooked Island, BathyVision enhances the view where it matters most, bringing more confidence, more clarity, and a better understanding of the shallow-water world beneath the boat.

Wide Charts vs. MegaWide Navigation Charts, what’s the difference?

Wide and MegaWide are terms commonly used by cartographic data providers to describe the size of navigation charts. MapMedia, MaxSea’s subsidiary specialized in digital cartography and Raster data treatment, also employs this terminology to better classify its charts offer in both mm2 (for MaxSea v12 and previous software) and mm3d (for TIMEZERO software) formats.

Wide and MegaWide area size vary according to its geographical coverage and the number of navigation charts included within each area.

Wide areas are approximately 3 times smaller than MegaWide areas at some locations.

Let’s take the Mediterranean Raster charts as an example:

WRMEM32MAP6.1 Mediterranean Sea – West

WRMEM32MAP6.1

This Wide area includes all the navigation charts available from Gibraltar to the west coast of Italy.

MWRMEM23MAP6.1 Mediterranean Sea

MWRMEM23MAP6.1

This MegaWide area includes all the Mediterranean Sea charts available.

In comparison, here’s the old area coverage of mm2 charts which were compatible with MaxSea v12 and previous versions:

Mediterranean MapMedia mm2 Navigation Charts

It takes almost 6 old mm2 charts to make the latest mm3d Wide chart.

The West Mediterranean Sea Wide area contains around 575 charts and maps whereas the MegaWide (covering the whole Mediterranean Sea) contains more than 1700 navigation charts and maps.

The level of detail is the same for both sizes as every area includes:

  • Route maps
  • Landing maps
  • Coastal maps
  • Detailed maps and all ports available

5 Tips for Choosing the Best Nautical ChartAll navigation charts are updated at least once a year. For Raster charts, MapMedia orders all available charts from each local Hydrographic Service every year in order to scan them and convert them to its unique mm3d format. For Vector charts, MapMedia retrieves the cartographic data from its providers (currently Jeppesen and Navionics) and converts it to mm3d as well.

Related topics:

What’s the difference between Raster and Vector charts?

5 Tips for choosing the best nautical chart Free Guide