slack
Calm sea
A glassed-off morning, and a light you can count on.
0.3 m swell
Live coastal signals
light inthe dark.
A live network of coastal signals — lighthouses, buoys, and foghorns, streamed in real time so you can read the water from anywhere.
● live · Point Reyes · Fl 5s
01
How it works
Three steps. No chart-reading required.
/ 01
Watch the light
Every station streams its signal live — flash count, color, and range — straight from the tower.
/ 02
Read the water
Tides, depths, and buoyage mapped against the signals, so one glance tells you where you are.
/ 03
Sail sure
Set your course and let beacon watch the water all night. Alerts only when something changes.
02
Everything but the rocks
See more, hit less.
Live station feed
1,218 lighthouses and buoys, streamed in real time.
Fog & storm alerts
Pushed the moment a light drops out or the swell turns.
Chart overlay
Tides, soundings, and buoyage layered on one map.
AIS traffic
Every vessel on the water, live on one screen.
Night watch mode
A dark, low-glare view for the wheelhouse after sunset.
Crowd-sourced
Keepers and watchers on every coast, keeping the lights honest.
03
The coast, up close
Shot where the water actually happens.
04
Every light has a character
The blink is the name. Here are the five you'll meet on the water.
Fixed
Never blinks. The steady light that just… is.
FIsophase
Equal light, equal dark — a slow, even heartbeat.
Iso 10sOcculting
Steady, with a brief blink out. The opposite of a flash.
Oc 6sFlasher
One quick flash, then dark. The classic single.
Fl 2sGroup flashing
Three quick flashes, then a long rest.
Fl(3) 15s05
The slow swell
One wave, one frame at a time.
slow motion · Ahmed
06
Four waters
The conditions decide the signal.
fog
Fog
The light's gone, so the horn takes over.
vis 0.2 mi
gale
Storm
The beam punches through, twice a second.
35 kt
night
Night
The whole coast, lit like a string of embers.
dark
From the desk of Rowe Whitaker
Most people think a lighthouse is a building. It's a promise.
I learned to read lights before I learned to read charts. A lighthouse isn't architecture — it's a rhythm that says I am here, every night, on the exact same beat. That constancy is the whole product.
What I learned on the water: a chart tells you where the rocks are. A light tells you where you are. There's a difference, and it's the difference between knowing the coast and trusting it.
So here's the invitation: pick a light you've never seen. Watch it blink for ten minutes. That's the entire product, and it never stops.
Rowe WhitakerFounder, BEACON
07
By the numbers
Live, from our backend.
1,218
stations watched
46k
watchers
8,400
signals logged
11 nm
avg visible range
08
Trusted on the water
People who read the coast.
★★★★★
"I fish the Point Reyes line at 4 a.m. Beacon is the only app that reads the fog as well as my own ears."
Danilo R.Commercial fisherman
★★★★★
"The flash-timing page alone is worth it. Every buoy in the channel, on its exact rhythm."
Priya M.Cruiser
★★★★★
"I kept the Barnegat light for nineteen years. Watching it on beacon from my kitchen is the closest thing to being in the tower."
June A.Keeper, retired
09
The roadmap
Where we're going.
Q3 2026
Live station feed + 1,218 lights, in beta.
Q4 2026
Fog & storm push alerts, plus the chart overlay.
Q1 2027
AIS collision warnings for night passages.
Q2 2027
beacon hardware: a bedside lamp that blinks your home port.
10
Questions, answered.
What exactly does beacon do?+
It watches coastal signals — lighthouses, buoys, and foghorns — and streams their state in real time, so you can read the water from anywhere.
Do I need a boat to use it?+
No. Keepers, watchers, and shore people use it as much as anyone on the water. It's a live map of the coast.
Where does the data come from?+
A mix of official feeds (AIS, tide tables) and a network of keepers and watchers who confirm each light by eye.
Does it work offline?+
Charts and tide tables are stored locally. Live signal state needs a connection, and degrades gracefully to last-known.
Is it free?+
Yes — the live feed and charts are free during beta and stay free after launch.
Can I add my local light?+
Yes. The contributor network is open, and every confirmed sighting improves the map.
The coast is already lit.
light in the dark.