Ok, just figured out what I was doing wrong with SeaIQ. Now I see the reviews. still can’t figure out how to use their web site.
It's good for certain things and not others. We use it more like a trip advisor than any sort of navigation tool. We use the web version only and do not integrate it with any plotter.
It is the most complete list of marinas I am aware of, so in planning trips we use it to search for marinas at both planned and possible stops. If then a marina interests us or we want more information, we go from AC to the marina's website through the link on AC. So, it's part of our trip planning. Also, if plans change, it's a quick resource for finding marinas in new locations. We do look at the reviews of marinas for any additional information they might provide. We've found them very helpful on things like "road traffic bad in north marina. Ask for south". Or for warnings like "docks under repair." For those of you concerned with marina restrooms, showers, and laundry facilities or with transportation or propane or groceries, the reviews often have information on that, just be careful to look at dates. It's a good source though if you see three recent reviews and they all complain about the filthy showers and restrooms.
We do not anchor as much as the rest of you. However, we've found it to be a useful resource for anchorages when in need. We've found it a very good resource into information on inlets and the advisability of using them and how to best use them. We've also found it useful in highlighting shoals and hazards, but as they do change a lot, wouldn't depend on it or any single source. Again, however, we don't use it as a plotter. We also, when on the east coast use Waterway Guide and Cruisers Net. In the PNW we'd use resources like Waggoner. For the loop, we found some very good Great Lake's guides online. We use other resources in different places. AC also has excellent information on bridges and locks including heights, openings, how to contact, and hours.
It was always ironic in that while I couldn't stand Jeffrey, I use and recommended Active Captain. My internal jury is still out on Garmin but I still like Active Captain. However, for us, it's a planning and "advisory tool". I say advisory because while I look at it's warnings, I don't accept them as gospel or the only hazards. We don't use it for routing, although we might just in looking ahead at locations.
Other planning tools we use are primarily online guides that have information on the towns behind the ports or marinas. For instance, the Great Lakes guides we found were excellent in helping us decide where to stop. Beyond that we go to land dweller's tools. For restaurants, we generally use Google Maps as our start. So easy to get a fairly complete view of restaurants near the marina or in the town and to get to reviews. For sightseeing, we generally start with Trip Advisor as the most complete list of sights and tourist activities. Trip Advisor also has restaurants and the comments are useful, but we've not found the ratings to be as useful as Google, primarily because they seem very price sensitive and because they don't show you the proximity of the restaurant to the marina.
Even when we had a boat with Garmin, we did not integrate Active Captain with it. For us, they're very different tools. I have no problem having a separate resource not integrated. I prefer it that way.
We have a great deal of pleasure in trip planning. Our friends and family jump in with us too. If we're planning a trip up along a coast, we love looking at all the towns along the way, seeing what is in each, then deciding which ones for this trip. That's entirely separate then from routing of that trip we will do.
As to using the website, we simply go to Maps and then on the new site, for a starting place we'll enter a city in the search. Then we will "Hide Marker Information" and remove the search term from the search box and just go from the map. We remove the search term so we're not limited in what we see. For instance, search on "Key West" and you just get those items in Key West, in a small area. Remove the search term though, and many more markers become visible. We hide the marker information, just to have a larger map. We also "Hide Filters" for the same reason. That gives us a full screen of map with all markers shown and we can go from there. For instance, from the same "Key West" search, I can now move up either coast. We will switch between "road" and "satellite" and "NOAA" view depending on what we need to see. Road gives a good quick overview and shows cities and towns and is easy to tell the area you're looking at. Satellite gives you the aerial view and appearance. Then NOAA will quickly show you the depths, channels, and traffic lanes.
We cruise in many different places and many of those for the first time. Every resource we can find to give us information on new areas, we find useful. We then learn, here's a town we want to visit, here's how to get there, here's the marina we want, here are the sights we want to see , and we even go to local events calendars to find out what is going on when we're planning on being there.