Bearing & Distance Calculator
Instantly calculate the initial bearing, final bearing, and distance between two geographic coordinates. Free, accurate navigation tool.
Calculate Your Route Bearing
Enter the latitude and longitude for your starting point and destination below to get instant bearing and distance metrics.
Coordinate Details
Enter coordinates to calculate navigation metrics
Navigation Results
Calculated using the Haversine formula
Compass Bearing Reference
Standard compass points and their corresponding degree measurements for quick navigation reference.
| Direction | Abbreviation | Degrees (°) | Radians |
|---|---|---|---|
| North | N | 0° / 360° | 0 |
| North-East | NE | 45° | π / 4 |
| East | E | 90° | π / 2 |
| South-East | SE | 135° | 3π / 4 |
| South | S | 180° | π |
| South-West | SW | 225° | 5π / 4 |
| West | W | 270° | 3π / 2 |
| North-West | NW | 315° | 7π / 4 |
Bearing Calculator FAQ
Everything you need to know about calculating bearings, distances, and geographic navigation.
In navigation, a bearing is the horizontal angle between the direction of an object and another object, or between it and true north. It is typically expressed in degrees from 0° to 360°, measured clockwise from true north.
Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest path between two points (a great circle route) is not a straight line on a flat map. The initial bearing is the direction you start traveling from point A, while the final bearing is the direction you are facing when you arrive at point B. They are rarely the same unless traveling directly along the equator or a meridian.
The distance is typically calculated using the Haversine formula, which determines the great-circle distance between two points on a sphere given their longitudes and latitudes. This provides a highly accurate estimate of the shortest distance over the Earth’s surface.
Compass directions divide the 360-degree circle into 16 points. For example, 0° is North (N), 45° is North-East (NE), 90° is East (E), 180° is South (S), and 270° is West (W). This provides a quick, human-readable reference for the calculated degree bearing.