Field Guide & User Manual
How to use BlueGreen Guide
A practical guide to navigating the curated launch map, search, filters, collections, cards, details, ratings, and verification notes.
Safety note:
BlueGreen Guide is a planning aid, not a safety service. Always review
official sources, current conditions, access information, and local
advisories before going.
Home screen
Map-first
Search
Filters
Launch cards
The home screen combines search, filters, curated collections, result cards, and an interactive map. The map remains the central discovery tool while the sidebar helps narrow the current list.
Curated collections
Beginner Favorites
Family Friendly
Calm Water
Harbor Paddles
Scenic Views
Collections provide a quick starting point for common needs. Selecting one filters the map and result list. Clear the collection to return to the full launch map.
Explore the map
Blue circle = water place
Green square = land place
Outline = universal
Drag to pan, zoom in and out, select markers, use Fit all places to reset the view, or show only launch points inside the current map area.
Search
Search by place, region, activity, water type, amenity, water body, tag, or descriptive text. Examples include Newport, Dana Point Harbor, beginner, rentals, scenic, or calm water.
Filters
Filter by region, skill, water activity, and maximum difficulty. Filters can be combined with search and curated collections to create a smaller planning list.
Launch cards
Activities
Amenities
Verification
Launch cards summarize skill level, water type, difficulty, popularity, best general time, activities, amenities, and verification status. These are quick planning summaries, not guarantees about current conditions.
See Understanding Launch Ratings for details about how these planning fields should be interpreted.
Launch details
Open a place detail panel to review the fuller description, general planning fields, representative photo information, source links, water-body context, and verification notes.
Understanding launch ratings
BlueGreen Guide includes several fields that help compare launch locations. These values are curated planning guidance rather than precise measurements, live conditions, or safety guarantees.
Best Time
Best Time represents the time of day generally considered most suitable for paddling based on the typical characteristics of the location. It may reflect common patterns such as calmer mornings, wind exposure, general water behavior, or the overall paddling experience.
Best Time is a general planning recommendation, not a live conditions indicator. Future versions of BlueGreen Guide will supplement this guidance with current weather, wind, tide, forecast, and environmental information. Best Time will continue to describe the location's typical or generally preferred paddling window.
Always review current weather, water conditions, access information, and official advisories before your trip.
Skill Level
Skill Level indicates the paddling experience generally recommended for using the location under typical conditions. It may consider open-water exposure, distance from shore, wave or wake exposure, launch complexity, navigation demands, and the amount of judgment normally required.
Skill Level describes the location. It does not measure an individual's ability, fitness, equipment, confidence, or preparedness.
Difficulty
Difficulty is a comparative rating that helps distinguish generally easier launch experiences from more demanding ones. It may consider launch access, expected paddling effort, exposure, boat traffic, wind sensitivity, water movement, and overall complexity.
Difficulty is not a safety rating. A lower-rated location may still become unsuitable because of changing weather, water, access, equipment, or personal circumstances.
Popularity
Popularity is a relative estimate of how recognized or commonly used a location appears to be. It may draw from public recreation information, inclusion in official or recognized guides, general local familiarity, and evidence of recreational use.
Popularity is not based on verified attendance totals, real-time crowd levels, or live visitor counts.
See also: Verification and Sources and the Phase Roadmap .
Verification and sources
Official source
Needs verification
Conditions vary
Information marked Needs Verification should be confirmed through official park, harbor, marina, city, county, or agency sources before use. Access, legal launch points, fees, parking, tides, wind, water quality, closures, and hazards may change.
Why do so many places say “Needs Verification”?
BlueGreen Guide intentionally favors transparency over assumptions. Phase 1 is a curated proof of concept, and many launch points were assembled from official agencies, maps, recognized recreation sources, and other public information. However, an official source may confirm only part of a record, and individual details may still require manual review.
Access rules, parking, fees, hours, facilities, local regulations, and other practical details can change. Rather than presenting those details as fully confirmed, BlueGreen Guide uses Needs Verification when one or more material fields have not been individually checked against a current, reliable source.
Ongoing maintenance will allow records to move toward Verified as information is reviewed and a verification date is recorded. Verification status reflects confidence in the available place information—not the quality of the launch or a guarantee that conditions are suitable.
See also: Understanding Launch Ratings and the Phase Roadmap.
Mobile use
On mobile, the interface stacks the brand header, wayfinding key, collections, filters, result summary, map, and cards. Keep the map available for geographic context, then open details and official sources before leaving.
Frequently asked questions
Is it nationwide?
Not yet. The current release is a curated proof of concept focused on selected launch points in California, Nevada, and Arizona.
Are conditions live?
Not in the current release. Future planning phases may add weather, wind, tide, water-quality, and other changing conditions as separate data layers.
Does Beginner mean safe?
No. Beginner describes the location's general planning classification under typical conditions. Conditions vary, and official sources should always be checked.
Are the photos always the actual place?
No. Current Phase 1 images may be credited representative placeholders until verified location photography is available.