HesapHanem

Compass Point to Bearing Calculator

Pick a compass point to see its bearing in degrees.

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.

Worked example

Choose WNW (west-north-west). Counting from N = 0, the points in order are N, NNE, NE, ENE, E, ESE, SE, SSE, S, SSW, SW, WSW, W, WNW, so WNW is number 13. Bearing = 13 × 22.5 = 292.5°, which lies between west (270°) and north-west (315°). The opposite index is (13 + 8) mod 16 = 5, which is ESE, at 5 × 22.5 = 112.5°. As a check, 292.5 − 180 = 112.5.

Try this example →

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.

About this calculator

The 16-point compass rose divides the full 360° circle into equal 22.5° segments, starting from North (0°) through NNE, NE, ENE, East (90°), and around through South (180°) and West (270°) back to North. This calculator looks up the exact bearing in degrees for whichever named point you pick — like NE at 45° or SSW at 202.5° — and also finds its opposite point by adding 180° and wrapping around the circle (so NE's opposite is SW).

This 16-point system sits between the coarse 8-point compass (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW) and full 360° bearings, and remains standard in marine and aviation navigation, orienteering, and wind-direction reporting, where sailors and pilots read wind or heading as a named point but instruments and charts require the precise degree value for plotting a course.

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Comments (1)

  • Editorial team

    The tool goes from a name to degrees, not the other way around, but the reverse is easy by hand: divide a heading by 22.5 and round to the nearest whole number to get the point's position in the list. For example, SSW is 202.5 degrees, which is 9 times 22.5, and its opposite is NNE at 22.5. Would a degrees-to-name option be useful for you? Tell us which direction format your charts or weather apps use.

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