Destination Point Calculator

The Destination Point Calculator answers the classic navigation question: "if I leave this point heading in this direction for this distance, where do I end up?" Enter a start latitude/longitude, an initial compass bearing and a distance, and get the destination coordinate — plus the final bearing you'd be facing on arrival, since a great-circle path curves.

How to use it

1. Enter the latitude and longitude of your start point.
2. Enter the initial bearing (0–360°, where 0 = north, 90 = east, 180 = south, 270 = west) and the distance to travel.
3. Pick a distance unit — kilometers, miles, nautical miles or meters.
4. Read the destination coordinate, in both decimal degrees and DMS, plus the final bearing. Results update as you type; copy or download them as CSV.

The start coordinate box accepts either decimal degrees (40.7128, -74.0060) or degrees-minutes-seconds (40°42'46"N, 74 0 21.6 W). The format is detected automatically, and a N/S/E/W hemisphere letter or a leading minus sign sets the direction, so you can paste coordinates straight from Google Maps, a GPS device or a survey record.

Why does the calculator also give a final bearing?

The destination point sits on a great circle — the shortest path between two points on a sphere — and following one means continuously adjusting your heading. The initial bearing is the compass heading you set off on; the final bearing is the heading you'd be facing on arrival if you kept following that same great circle. The two match only when travelling due along the equator or a meridian; everywhere else they diverge, more so over longer distances. Knowing both is what makes a heading usable for real dead-reckoning or flight-planning work, not just a single "as the crow flies" line on a map.

Is my data private?

Yes. The entire calculation runs locally in your browser — coordinates are never uploaded to a server, so you can use it with sensitive location data with confidence.

Common uses

Plotting a waypoint along a great-circle flight or sailing route, dead-reckoning navigation when you know heading and speed but not a live GPS fix, surveying and land navigation, or projecting a search radius or patrol route from a known start point.