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Garmin Explore does not show/ interpret GPS coordinates correctly (about 2km off from the actual location)

I am having a weird problem. When inputting GPS coordinates into Garmin Explore (Web or Android), the location shown in Explore is plain wrong. Inputting the exact same coordinates n other map programs (OSM, Google Maps etc) results in the correct location

Example: Take coordinates 02°3′25.95″N, 76°22′06.17″W. These are the coordinates of a Lake in Colombia called Lago Margarital. Open Street Map shows the location correctly, Garmin Explore shows a location a few kilometres off, in a residential area.

https://www.openstreetmap.org/search?query=02%C2%B036%E2%80%B225.95%E2%80%B3N%2C%2076%C2%B022%E2%80%B206.17%E2%80%B3W#map=19/2.60721/-76.36838

Any idea how to fix this, what is going on here? Coordinates like 02°36′25.95″N, 76°22′06.17″W should be 100% unique, right?

  • You are most likely confusing coordinate formats. The coordinates you provided are in degrees-minutes-seconds format (not to mention that you lost one digit in one of your examples), while by default the Garmin Explore app expects coordinates in degrees (and fractions thereof). So for your example:

    2 degrees 36 minutes 25.95 secods equals 2.60722222 degrees.

    76 degrees 22 minutes 6.17 seconds equals 76.36833333 degrees.

    Try typing these into Garmin Explore. I tried, and it landed me right in the center of that lake.

    Coordinates like 02°36′25.95″N, 76°22′06.17″W should be 100% unique, right?

    It's very complicated. Generally polar coordinates are not unique, because you also need to specify which datum and geoid is used. In most cases it will be WGS84, so if we assume that WGS84 is used, the coordinates are unique, but depending on the source of the coordinates, another datum and geoid might be used, in which case a conversion might be required.


  • Hi

    Try this.

    Under the account section, select units, Coordinate System.

    This has five options.

    Decimal Degrees (WGS84)
    Degree Minutes Seconds (WGS84)
    Degree Minutes (WGS84)
    UTM/UPS (WGS84)
    USNG (NAD 83)

  • Thank you both. Tried playing around with the units, but that did not help. Could you be a bit more specific how I can get Garmin Explore to read the coordinates correctly that I get off Google Maps (on my phone) - without doing any complicated conversion?

    In any case, I wonder why users have to worry/ know the details about this in the first place. I would imagine that the standard workflow of most users is the following: You look up a place on Google Maps (because honestly, the search function in Garmin Explore does not work very well). Then you copy the coordinates over to Garmin Explore in order to navigate there.

    This should be a very simply thing - both Google Maps and Open Street Maps know how to interpret different location formatting. Shouldn't Garmin Explore be able to do the same?

  • Hi.

    I have just opened Google Maps clicked a location on the map and did the same on the Explore website and the results are the same for me.

    Using the Explore website, when you zoom in on the map it changes from topo, Open topo, and then Google maps.

    On the phone it shows topo active, I think this was based on the open topo system.

  • 100% having the same problem. Cut and paste a coordinate from Google Maps, get a very weird location that is 20 clicks NORTH. It's just not the same location. 

  • Let me give you another real world example. 

    Enter the following into Google Maps: 39.401089 -122.426720 or Or 39°24'03.9"N 122°25'36.2"W take your choice. 

    Enter that into Explore. Look at the map, the Garmin Explore result is way up North somewhere. 

    Note, cutting and pasting the GPS for the Eiffel Tower worked. But here: nope. 

  • Note, in your example and mine, this is true whether you enter degrees minutes seconds or a decimal location. 

  • I know, this seems so random and strange. GPS coordinates should be 100% unique - meaning if you get coordinates from - say - Google Maps and paste them into Garmin Explore, this should result in the exact same location.

    I reported this 8 months ago, and it is still the same. Honestly, I have no idea why Garmin is not able to make this work. And no, users dont need to know the technical details etc behind it. Copy-paste location data (in whatever form), and have Garmin interpret it correctly behind the scenes.

  • I saw this in a much more recent thread, https://forums.garmin.com/apps-software/mobile-apps-web/f/garmin-explore-web/335918/garmin-explore-and-google-maps-gps-don-t-match-up and replied there.  You're right, basic Garmin coordinate parsing and conversion is simply broken.  I was surprised by this thread to find out it's been broken for months.  I just use decimal lat/lon everywhere since it's simplest and works across most navigation software.  It's totally broken for Garmin, both on the website and in the Explore app.  At least it's broken in exactly the same way, so likely a common code bug, but it still needs to be fixed.

  • We are sorry searching waypoint coordinates on Explore website map are not displaying in the correct location. The search bar uses an external search engine (HERE) to find points of interest and does not directly pull up standalone coordinates that are not associated with a point of interest. When you enter the coordinates, it is searching for the nearest point of interest to that location. We are sorry for any confusion.

    To mark a waypoint at a specific location, we recommend using the waypoint tool instead of the search bar. The waypoint tool allows you to enter exact coordinates and the location will be marked correctly.

    Creating and Editing Waypoints, Routes, Tracks, and Activities on the Garmin Explore Website