Do I need an account?
You can read the guides and browse public journeys without one. Registering a bottle, reporting a find and managing your own activity require signing in.
How it works
Your Message in a Bottle connects a physical bottle to a public online record. The bottle carries the note; people add the locations and discoveries that let others follow its story.
1. Register the physical bottle
Start with a bottle supplied for this service and keep its unique number and accompanying instructions. Sign in or create an account, then register the bottle so its journey is connected to you.
If you are giving the bottle as a gift, let the recipient know whether it has already been registered. One physical bottle should keep the same number as it changes hands.
2. Write your message and record the start
Introduce yourself in a way you are comfortable sharing, describe the starting place, or ask a question. Include the website and bottle number to make reporting a discovery easier.
When the bottle starts its journey, use the toss action to record the starting location and the requested details. The public record can then show where its recorded journey began.
3. A finder adds a discovery
The finder uses the bottle number and verification details to report a find. Their location and update are linked to the existing bottle record.
The sender can then see that a discovery has been recorded. Neither the website nor the bottle can supply an exact current position between reports.
4. Continue the same story
A finder can use the retoss action when sending the same bottle onward. A later finder adds another report to that number, continuing the chain.
Some public records have only a starting point; others have a reported find or another departure. You can browse these stages in the journey directory. No discovery date or destination is guaranteed.
Your questions, answered
Is the bottle tracked by GPS?
No. The website records locations people submit when they toss, find or retoss a bottle. It does not receive continuous GPS updates from the bottle.
Can I reuse the same bottle number?
Keep the original number with the same physical bottle. Use its retoss action to continue that journey rather than starting a second record.