Step-by-step help for getting the most out of Buoycast, plus answers to common questions. Need something else? Email us at [email protected].
Find your closest buoy. Buoycast opens straight to your closest buoy. Allow location access the first time you open the app and Buoycast selects the nearest buoy for you, with live wind, waves, temperature, and pressure. You can change your location any time from the search screen.
Search every buoy. Tap the search icon and open All Buoys to browse or search the full list of 1,000+ NOAA NDBC buoys by name or ID. Tap any buoy to open its detail screen.
Save a favorite. Open a buoy and tap the star to add it to Favorites. Your favorites appear at the top of the buoy list and sync across iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch over iCloud.
Choose which sections you see. In Settings you can pick which sections appear on the buoy screen (Conditions, Wind, Waves, Temperature, Atmospheric Pressure, Tides, Sun, Moon, Forecast, Maps) and, with Buoycast Pro, set the order they appear in.
Read the AI condition summary (Pro). The Conditions card at the top of each buoy gives a plain-language read of what the water is doing right now. On iPhone 15 Pro and newer the summary is generated on your device, so nothing leaves your phone. Tap for sources to see the raw observations and forecast behind it. Older devices fall back to a rule-based summary.
See how the forecast held up (Pro). Open any data type to see the NOAA and WeatherKit forecast overlaid against the observations recorded at the buoy, with 12-hour history, so you can judge how the last forecast held up before you rely on the next one.
Check the marine zone forecast. The Forecast section shows the 5-day NOAA marine zone forecast for your buoy and the zones nearby, alongside tides, sunrise, sunset, and moon phase.
Watch the weather maps (Pro). Open the Map tab for animated radar, wind, and pressure so you can see what is coming in before it reaches the water.
Set custom threshold notifications (Pro). Open a buoy, tap the notification bell, and set your limits on wind, waves, gusts, temperature, or pressure. Buoycast pushes you the moment those limits are crossed. Combine conditions with AND/OR logic to get notified only when it matters.
Get NOAA watches, warnings, and advisories (Pro). Turn these on to receive Small Craft Advisories, Gale Warnings, and other NOAA watches, warnings, and advisories as a push notification the moment they are issued.
Threshold notifications and NOAA alerts are two separate features. Threshold notifications use the limits you set at a buoy. NOAA watches, warnings, and advisories come straight from the National Weather Service.
Add Buoycast to your wrist. Install the Apple Watch app to check wind, waves, temperature, and pressure from your closest buoy right on your wrist.
Add a complication (Pro). Touch and hold your watch face, tap Edit, choose a complication slot, and select Buoycast to see conditions at a glance.
Add a widget (Pro). Touch and hold your Home Screen or Lock Screen, tap the plus button or Edit, and add a Buoycast widget for wind, waves, and tides at a glance.
What Pro includes. Buoycast Pro unlocks AI condition summaries, custom threshold notifications, NOAA watches, warnings, and advisories, interactive weather maps, forecast-vs-observation charts, Apple Watch complications, Home and Lock Screen widgets, custom section order, and iCloud sync, and it removes ads. Every subscription starts with a free week.
Start your free week. Open the Pro screen in the app and tap Start Your Free Week. Buoycast Pro is $2.99 per month or $19.99 per year.
Manage or cancel your subscription. Subscriptions are billed through your Apple Account, so Apple handles changes and cancellations. On your iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, tap Subscriptions, and select Buoycast. Canceling stops the next renewal, and you keep Pro until the end of the current period.
Restore a purchase. If you reinstalled the app or switched devices, open the Pro screen and tap Restore Purchases to bring back an active subscription.
Is Buoycast free? Yes. Buoycast is a free download for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Buoycast Pro is an optional subscription that starts with a free week.
Where does the data come from? Real-time observations come from 1,000+ NOAA NDBC buoys. Forecasts come from NOAA marine zone forecasts across 300+ coastal and offshore zones and from Apple WeatherKit. Radar and weather maps come from NOAA.
Does the AI summary send my data anywhere? On iPhone 15 Pro and newer, the AI condition summary is generated by an on-device language model, so nothing leaves your phone. Older devices fall back to a rule-based summary.
Why is a buoy missing data or showing as offline? NOAA buoys are physical instruments that sometimes go offline for maintenance or in heavy weather. When a buoy is not reporting, Buoycast shows the most recent data available and falls back to the forecast. Try a nearby buoy for a fuller picture.
Which devices are supported? iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Your buoys, favorites, and settings stay in sync over iCloud.
How do I get help? Email [email protected] and we will get back to you.