How far can you see on the open ocean?

Question

How far can you see on the open ocean?

In: 45

Answer 1

Measure how far your eye is above the surface of the sea in feet. Take the square root of this number and multiply by 1.225. That’s the distance to the horizon in miles. This approximation becomes less accurate for the higher you go but is good enough in most circumstances.

Of course, if the object you’re looking at is also above the surface of the ocean, you can see it over the horizon. Use the same method as above with the height of the distant object and then add the two horizon distances.