Compass Point to Bearing Calculator

How it is calculated

You pick one of the 16 compass points, written with the English letters N, NNE, NE, ENE, E, ESE, SE, SSE, S, SSW, SW, WSW, W, WNW, NW and NNW. The tool numbers them in order starting at 0 for N, so the bearing is bearing = index × 22.5°, measured clockwise from north. The opposite point is found by moving 8 places round the list: opposite index = (index + 8) mod 16, which is the same as adding 180° and wrapping past 360°. The result shows the bearing with one decimal, then the opposite point name with its own bearing. Only the 16 exact names in capitals are accepted; lowercase text, Turkish abbreviations or a free-typed bearing give no result.

Common mistakes

• Reading the bearing as an angle from east. Compass bearings count clockwise from north, so E is 90° and W is 270°, not the other way round.
• Confusing the wind direction with where the wind blows towards. A WNW wind blows from 292.5° and heads towards the opposite point, ESE, at 112.5°.
• Mixing the order of the letters. NNE (22.5°) is not ENE (67.5°); the first letter is the main direction and the last is the nearer main direction.
• Expecting a point name to be an exact heading. Each name covers a 22.5° slice, so a bearing of 300° is closest to WNW (292.5°) but is not exactly that.
• Using this for true versus magnetic north. The tool gives the ideal rose angle only; magnetic variation is not applied.