From luxury designs to smartwatch technology and boat interactivity, here's how we crowned the very best Garmin watch for sailors.
With a wide range of watches available from a variety of brands, differing price points and a list of unique specifications, it can be challenging for even the most technologically-minded sailors to keep up with the best on the market. That’s why I’ve made it our mission to bring you the best Garmin watch for any time you spend at sea.
If you’re not familiar with Garmin, the best way to describe the global company is that they bring wearable technology and GPS navigation to the marine world (as well as many other markets).
Dan Bartel, Garmin’s Vice President of Global Consumer Sales, commented on the MARQ™ Collection in 2019 and said, “For the past 30 years, we’ve created products that have fueled people’s passions.
“And now, we have reimagined the tool watch with MARQ, a series of extraordinary connected instruments, authentic in every detail, an inspiration for new adventures.”
Best Garmin watches at a glance
Best Garmin marine specific smart watch – Garmin Quatix 7
Best Garmin watch for premium luxury design – Garmin MARQ Captain
Best Garmin watch for robust multi sport action – Garmin Instinct 2 Solar
What makes a good Garmin watch for the open water?
Garmin watches are renowned in the fitness world for being top-of-the-line wearables. Many features that attract athletes to this brand, such as extensive tracking, duration and navigation, will also appeal to sailors and boaters alike.
Whether you leave port on a catamaran, cruiser or sailboat, here at Yachting World, we think that the best Garmin watch should have GPS functions, good battery life and health monitoring. While we’re all familiar with using a watch for directions, making calls and sending messages, the options selected take features beyond that and into the realm of having navigation technology on your wrist.
If you’re on the lookout for the best sailing watch options for racing and cruising, you’re in luck because we found one timepiece with a multiple-start sequence option.
Garmin Quatix 7
Best marine specific smart watch
Specifications:
• Facia sizes: Size: 47mm / 51mm
• Display: 1.4-inch sunlight-readable color AMOLED display with touchscreen and sapphire glass
• Battery Life: Up to 16 days in smartwatch powersave mode and up to 36 hours in GPS mode.
• Health and Fitness Tracking: Advanced health monitoring, heart rate monitoring, Pulse Ox, sleep tracking, and body battery.
• Navigation: Marine features including GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo support, barometer, altimeter, and compass.
• Sports Modes: Preloaded with various sports profiles including rowing, paddleboarding, and swimming.
• Smartphone Integration: Smart notifications, Garmin Pay for contactless payments, and compatibility with both Android and iOS devices.
• Marine Features: Boat data, sail racing assistance, anchor alarm, fishing calendar, tides, and more.
• Water Resistance: Up to 100 meters.
Reasons to buy: It has a large easy-to-read face, incredible versatility for an array of lifestyle activity, health, wellbeing and boat interactivity as well as being customisable to suit individual needs. Includes a dedicated MOB button.
Reasons to avoid: The battery life isn’t as good as the Quatix 6, it has bright facia which can be distracting, and the touchscreen is pointless without the additional kit it interfaces with.
Debating on upgrading to the Garmin Quatix 7? The next-gen sailing smartwatch includes improvements to strengthen integration with onboard electronics. For instance, the touchscreen model on this watch can be used to control MFD displays, Fusion audio systems and Garmin autopilots.
But if you’re a Quatix 6 user, here are the major changes for the Quatix 7 over the Quatix 6. The main difference is the display it’s bigger and brighter and touchscreen.
If you found darkness or difficulty seeing the Quatix 6 screen, this has been addressed with a much brighter lit-up option. Whilst this might appease a large number of wearers, it can be harsh for some especially if you’re a frequent night sailor like me. The obvious compromise to this is that the battery life takes a hit if you want an always on display. To eek out the battery life, then you’ll need to switch the display to on demand motion controlled.
The Quatix 7 has integrated more functionality into the Garmin app on the phone, so it’s easier to make changes to the user functionality of various apps within the watch, rather than having to fiddle about doing them on screen as with the earlier Quatix watches.
The Quatix 7 is undoubtedly one of the best watches for sailors and boaters currently on the market. I love mine and feel undressed without it.
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Garmin MARQ Captain
Best Garmin watch for premium luxury design
Specifications:
• Facia Size: 46mm
• Display: 1.2-inch (30.4 mm) diameter, 240 x 240 pixels, sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) display.
• Lens Material: Domed sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating.
• Case Material: Titanium with a ceramic or DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) coating.
• Bezel Material: Titanium, ceramic, or DLC-coated titanium.
• Water Resistance: Up to 100 meters (10 ATM).
• Battery Life: Up to 12 days in smartwatch mode, up to 28 hours in GPS mode, and up to 48 hours in UltraTrac mode.
• Navigation: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, barometric altimeter, and compass.
• Health and Fitness Features: Heart rate monitoring, Pulse Ox, Body Battery, stress tracking, sleep tracking, and more.
• Sailing Features: SailAssist, tack assist, virtual starting line, and race countdown timer.
• Smart Notifications: Receive smart notifications from your connected smartphone.
• Music: Store and play music on the watch, and sync playlists from music streaming services.
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and ANT+.
• Strap Material: Interchangeable, compatible with QuickFit bands.
Reasons to buy: The watch has weather and tidal data, good OB and GPS functions and streams boat data to your wrist.
Reasons to avoid: The full extent of capabilities is governed by the onboard technology it’s connected to and it has a premium price.
The MARQ Captain sailing watch comes packed with marine-relevant features that are ideal for the open water.
Functions include weather and tidal data for your home port, a regatta timer to pinpoint starting times, a ‘tack assist’ function to determine whether you’re on the lift or a header, a man overboard button and GPS.
If you’re searching for a top-quality Garmin watch and value luxury quality, don’t let the price tag put you off. The full extent of its capabilities is governed by the onboard technology it’s connected to. Still, possibilities include streaming boat data directly to your wrist wherever you are on the boat and controlling products from the Garmin-owned Fusion range of audio systems.
Essentially this lovely smart time piece packs all of the premium features possibly available from Garmin and encased it in a beautifully presented box, with premium quality wrist straps and a really smart watch body. If I had the money I’d buy this as a gift for my dad as I know he would love it (and he’d be able to keep track of his fitness and health monitoring too).
Garmin Instinct 2S Solar
Best budget Garmin watch for robust multi sport action
Specifications:
• Facia Size: 40mm / 45mm / 50mm
• Display: 0.9 x 0.9 inches (23 x 23 mm), monochrome
• Lens Material: Chemically strengthened glass.
• Bezel Material: Fiber-reinforced polymer with metal rear cover.
• Case Material: Fiber-reinforced polymer.
• Water Resistance: Rated to 100 meters (10 ATM), making it suitable for swimming.
• Battery Life: Up to 14 days in smartwatch mode and up to an additional week with solar models
Reasons to buy: The watch features GPS positioning on charts, barometric pressure and compass, smartphone connectivity, and an incredible amount of styles and colours. Plus, a single charge lasts 14 days.
Reasons to avoid: We’ve classed as a budget option, but it might also been a bit pricey still for those on a tight budget.
Back in February 2022, Garmin’s all-round time piece which is known as their ‘outdoors watch’ was released. Since then, Instinct 2 has continued to be a top choice for sailors across the world thanks to features like GPS positioning on charts, barometric pressure and a compass.
It has smartphone connectivity, receives emails and texts, and can control music via a phone. This watch also has an inbuilt thermometer, heart rate monitor, and is available in no fewer than 20 different styles and colours.
If you’re a racing sailor, pay close attention to the multiple start sequence options.
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Garmin Quatix 6 Multisport Marine Smartwatch
Specifications:
• Facia sizes: Size: 47mm / 51mm
• Display: 1.3-inch sunlight-readable color display.
• Battery Life: Up to 14 days in smartwatch mode and up to 36 hours in GPS mode.
• Health and Fitness Tracking: Advanced health monitoring, heart rate monitoring, Pulse Ox, sleep tracking, and body battery.
• Navigation: Marine features including GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo support, barometer, altimeter, and compass.
• Sports Modes: Preloaded with various sports profiles including rowing, paddleboarding, and swimming.
• Smartphone Integration: Smart notifications, Garmin Pay for contactless payments, and compatibility with both Android and iOS devices.
• Marine Features: Boat data, sail racing assistance, anchor alarm, fishing calendar, tides, and more.
• Water Resistance: Up to 100 meters.
Reasons to buy: The watch suits a multitude of water activities, it’s highly customisable, creates an incredible amount of data available on your wrist and a single charge lasts 14 days.
Reasons to avoid: The high level of functionality is not for anyone who finds it challenging to navigate technology.
Superceded by the Quatix 7, this watch model is still available and can be found offered at some great bargain deal prices if you shop around.
Tried and tested at length, the Garmin Quatix 6 Multisport Marine Smartwatch has what it takes to be the best Garmin watch for yachting or sailing. Along with its very comprehensive design, it stands out with functions for every type of pastime on the water, including diving. The Quatix 5,6 and 7 are all brilliant pieces of wearable tech and you’ll no doubt be happy with any of them.
Garmin is well known for superior boating instruments. This watch has squeezed all the data of a ten-inch chartplotter into a 1.3-inch round sailing watch. The Bluetooth functionality connects you to a Garmin chartplotter using the free Garmin Connect app.
Some of our other favourite features include that it’s waterproof to 100 metres, sunlight readable and has a night light mode. The watch has a soft synthetic wristband, available in various colours and can be switched between analogue and digital.
What makes this Garmin stand out from other watches is that a single charge will last 14 days with normal use and there is a solar-powered version for continuous self-charging (available at twice the price). I alternate between using a Quatix 6 and Quatix 7, both are very very good smart watches with a focus on marine activities.
Garmin Fenix 7
Specifications:
• Display: 1.4-inch sunlight-readable display.
• Battery Life: Up to 12 days in smartwatch mode.
• Health and Fitness Tracking: Comprehensive heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, Pulse Ox, and built-in GPS.
• Sports Modes: Over 120 preloaded sports profiles.
• Mapping: Full-color, preloaded topographic maps.
• Music Playback: Store and play music directly from the watch.
• Smartphone Integration: Smart notifications and Garmin Pay.
• Water Resistance: Up to 100 meters.
• Compatibility: Works with both Android and iOS devices.
Reasons to Buy:
Extensive Sports Tracking with a large selection of sports modes.
Topographic Maps: Navigate with detailed maps
Offline Music Storage: Store and listen to music without needing your phone.
Reasons to Avoid:
The premium features come at a premium cost.
It might be overwhelming for those not needing advanced features.
The Garmin Fenix 7 is an absolute beast of a smartwatch, catering to adventurers, athletes, and those who demand the very best in terms of features, durability, and performance. If you’re willing to invest, it’s a top-tier choice.
The Garmin Fenix 7 is a premium multisport GPS smartwatch that sets the bar high with its rugged build and a plethora of advanced features. Designed for outdoor enthusiasts and fitness fanatics, this smartwatch is a true powerhouse, though it comes at a premium price. Though it isn’t marketed as a sailing watch, it will do the job almost as a well as the Quatix 7 but handle other sports really well too. So if you are into your fitness you might consider this over the Quatix models.
Garmin Venu Sq
Specifications:
• Display: 1.3-inch, 240×240 pixels, color touchscreen.
• Battery Life: Up to 6 days in smartwatch mode.
• Health Tracking: Heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, SpO2, and built-in GPS.
• Sports Modes: Over 20 preloaded sports apps.
• Music Playback: Control music on your phone or store music on the watch.
• Smartphone Integration: Smart notifications and Garmin Pay.
• Water Resistance: Up to 50 meters.
• Compatibility: Works with both Android and iOS devices.
Reasons to Buy:
Comprehensive health and fitness tracking, including heart rate, sleep, and SpO2 monitoring.
Up to 6 days of battery life
Waterproof: Suitable for swimming and other water activities.
Reasons to Avoid:
Onboard music storage is quite limited.
Some may prefer a more traditional round watch design.
The Garmin Venu SQ is a solid choice for those looking for a well-rounded smartwatch with an emphasis on fitness tracking and affordability. I really loved this watch when it came in to me for testing. It has elements of the aesthetic of the apple watch but with the Garmin functionality and far superior battery life.
It doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles of the fancy watches I’ve listed in this guide to Garmin watches but it is a worthy watch to consider. It will see you right down the gym, out and about doing regular sporting activity and it can even store a small amount of music in the watch so you don’t need to have your phone with you to play music through bluetooth headphones.
It has a day to day style that is discrete and I like the sutomisable style of the venu series of watches. You can also get this with a round facia so if square isn’t your thing, not to worry, you’ll find a round one in a variety of styles to suit your personal taste.
The Garmin Venu SQ is a feature-packed smartwatch that strikes a balance between fitness and style. With a sleek, square design and a 1.3-inch color touchscreen display, it’s a fashionable accessory that doesn’t compromise on functionality.
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Garmin Vivoactive 4S
Specifications:
• Display: 1.1-inch (27.9 mm) diameter, sunlight-visible, memory-in-pixel (MIP) display.
• Screen: Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
• Rated to 5 ATM waterproofing (50 meters), suitable for swimming.
• Up to 7 days battery life in smartwatch mode and up to 5 hours in GPS and music mode.
• Bluetooth, ANT+ for compatibility with various sensors.
• Wrist-based heart rate monitor.
• Stress Tracking: Monitors your stress levels throughout the day.
• Tracks your sleep patterns and provides sleep quality insights.
• Includes profiles for running, cycling, swimming, yoga, strength training, and more.
• Features animated, on-screen workouts for various activities.
• Receive notifications from your smartphone, including calls, texts, and app alerts.
• Supports contactless payments
Reasons to Buy:
Fits a smaller wrist, lots of features to suit almost all users requirements, good for swimmers
Reasons to Avoid:
The tracking option on the Garmin Vivoactive 4S is limited because it requires bluetooth and cellular connectivity, it may take some time to learn how to use it
The Garmin Vivoactive 4 and 4S is a smart watch that gives a whole host of features for tracking and logging health, fitness and sporting activities and comes in a lifestyle compatible case. You can wear this watch every day as a regular watch and it won’t look out of place in most day to day activities, from work and an office to the gym or swimming outdoors.
The companion app, which works for all of the watches in this buyers guide gives access to a whole host of metrics and information. You can also download different screen options to your smart watch from the app too. The straps are compatible with the Garmin quick release strap system so you can swap those out and change them according to your activity or outfit.
Ali from Practical Boat Owner magazine tested this watch at length and had some great results with it.
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Garmin Epix
Specifications:
• Display: A 1.3-inch, sunlight-readable color touchscreen with a resolution of 260 x 260 pixels.
• Battery Life: Up to 14 days in smartwatch mode and up to 24 hours in GPS mode.
• Health and Fitness Tracking: Comprehensive health monitoring, including heart rate, sleep tracking, Pulse Ox, and a Body Battery feature.
• Navigation: Preloaded topographic maps, turn-by-turn navigation, and a barometric altimeter.
• Sports Modes: It offers over 41,000 preloaded golf courses, skiing maps, and a variety of other sports profiles.
• Music Playback: Store and play music directly from the watch or stream from music services.
• Smartphone Integration: Smart notifications, Garmin Pay for contactless payments, and compatibility with both Android and iOS devices.
• Water Resistance: Up to 100 meters.
Reasons to Buy:
preloaded topographic maps and turn-by-turn navigation
Offers comprehensive health tracking, sleep analysis, and body battery insights, helping you maintain your well-being.
Store and play music directly from the watch, eliminating the need for a smartphone during workouts or hikes.
Reasons to Avoid:
It’s on the higher end of the price spectrum, making it an investment.
Its array of features might overwhelm those looking for a simpler, everyday smartwatch.
If you’re confused about the differences between the top Garmin watches, Quatix, Fenix and Epix… then you’re not alone. I’ve compared the top three watches side by side to get a better understanding of what kind of person they are designed for.
Essentially the Fenix and Epix are virtually the same watch but with slightly different screen options. The Epix has a red screen option for better night vision preservation and the fenix 7 has memory in pixel screen meaning you have the option of an always on display without killing the battery. Both have the same sports tracking and health and fitness features. The Quatix is very much geared towards the pure boating person with its dedicated man overboard button and marine first focus on onboard features.
If you see a great deal on either the Fenix 7 or Epix, then know you are getting pretty much the same watch with very tiny, subtle differences in the screen.
FAQ: Do I Need My Phone for My Watch to Acquire GPS?
No, all of the above Garmin watches have built in GPS. They do not require the internet to work, nor a phone. They can work independently, tracking your activities or personal metrics. They store this information onbaord until you upload to a suitable other deivce.
For best results you should sync your watch to a smart phone from time to time. Especially if you want to download your activities to other apps such as Strava.