Sailing areas worldwide

Eastern Mediterranean and Adriatic

Island channels, gulf winds and adjoining national forecast zones.

Start with: Mediterranean Sea sailing weather

• Aegean Sea Guide

  Match each exposed island passage to its named marine-forecast area.

• Cyclades

  Check wind acceleration in island gaps and the exposure of the arrival harbour.

• Dodecanese

  Compare Greek forecasts with Turkish coastal products near the boundary.

• Greek Ionian Sea Guide

  Separate sheltered island hops from open legs toward Italy.

• Corfu and Paxos

  Check the next channel and anchorage orientation, not only the resort forecast.

• Croatian Adriatic Guide

  Use the appropriate north, central or south Adriatic bulletin for each leg.

• Dalmatian islands

  A short island hop can still cross an exposed gap or headland.

• Turkish Aegean and Mediterranean coast Guide

  Follow the correct Turkish coastal sector and compare adjacent Greek waters.

• Montenegro and southern Adriatic

  Check coastal warnings and the forecast beyond the lee of the mountains.

• Cyprus and Levantine Sea

  Longer open-water legs need a sea-area bulletin beyond the harbour forecast.

Official starting points for current information: HNMS marine · Croatian DHMZ

Western and central Mediterranean

Island exposure, mainland approaches and crossings between forecast authorities.

Start with: Mediterranean Sea sailing weather

• Balearic Islands Guide

  Choose the coastal zone for each island side and the open-water crossing.

• Mallorca and Menorca

  Compare the exposed channel with the forecast for the intended lee anchorage.

• Ibiza and Formentera

  Check sea and swell for the inter-island leg and arrival bay.

• Corsica and French Riviera Guide

  Combine the French coastal bulletin with the wider crossing forecast.

• Gulf of Lion and Provence

  Do not infer offshore conditions from a calm marina or city forecast.

• Sardinia, Sicily and Tyrrhenian Sea Guide

  Distinguish island coasts, straits and open legs under Italian products.

• Aeolian Islands and Strait of Messina

  Treat passage weather, local currents and navigation as separate checks.

• Malta and central Mediterranean

  Crossings toward Sicily or North Africa need more than a local port forecast.

• Spanish mainland and Alboran Sea

  Track the transition from coastal sectors toward the Gibraltar approaches.

Official starting points for current information: AEMET marine · Météo-France marine

Atlantic Europe and British waters

Tidal approaches and exposed European coastal passages.

Start with: North Atlantic sailing weather

• Bay of Biscay Guide

  Combine the offshore crossing outlook with coastal approaches at both ends.

• British Isles and English Channel Guide

  Check inshore and Shipping Forecast areas plus tide against wind.

• Brittany and Atlantic France

  Identify the French coastal sector and conditions at the tidal approach.

• Galicia and northwest Spain

  Check the exposed headlands separately from the sheltered rías.

• Portuguese Atlantic coast

  Match each coastal leg and harbour approach to Portuguese marine products.

• Irish Sea

  Wind against tide and separate national coastal areas can shape a short crossing.

• Atlantic Ireland and Scotland

  Open-west-coast exposure differs from the forecast inside a sea loch or harbour.

• North Sea approaches

  Match Shipping Forecast areas with local coastal sectors and busy approaches.

Official starting points for current information: Met Office inshore · Météo-France marine · IPMA Portugal

Atlantic islands and ocean crossings

Different source sets for island stopovers and full-ocean passages.

Start with: North Atlantic sailing weather

• North Atlantic Guide

  A crossing changes METAREA and national forecast responsibility.

• Transatlantic passages Guide

  Build a route-wide weather brief and a plan for forecast updates at sea.

• Azores Guide

  Separate the offshore arrival forecast from local island and harbour conditions.

• Canary Islands Guide

  Check island lee, acceleration zones and the next offshore leg separately.

• Madeira and Porto Santo

  Atlantic approach conditions and local shelter are different forecast questions.

• Cape Verde

  A departure stopover still needs high-seas and island-approach information.

• Bermuda

  A mid-Atlantic landfall needs offshore outlook, warnings and a separate reef approach check.

Official starting points for current information: WMO/IMO METAREAs · IPMA marine

Caribbean and Bahamas

The Bahamas are geographically Atlantic; together these are major winter cruising destinations.

Start with: Caribbean Sea marine weather

• Caribbean Sea Guide

  Combine offshore zones with tropical-system warnings and local island bulletins.

• British and US Virgin Islands Guide

  Use the appropriate NWS or local zone for each inter-island leg.

• Lesser Antilles Guide

  National coastal services change as an island-hop crosses jurisdictions.

• Bahamas: Abacos and Exumas Guide

  Check the Atlantic outlook, island forecast and shallow-water navigation separately.

• Puerto Rico and Spanish Virgin Islands

  NWS San Juan coastal zones and channel exposure matter more than one town forecast.

• Turks and Caicos

  Distinguish Atlantic approach swell from conditions inside the island banks.

• Cuba and Florida Straits

  Treat the crossing, current and port approach as separate planning problems.

• Grenadines

  Short hops still need a check of channel winds and the next anchorage.

• Martinique and Guadeloupe

  Use the French marine service alongside regional tropical warnings.

• Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao

  A southern-Caribbean itinerary has its own offshore and island forecast zones.

• Belize and western Caribbean

  Match the wider offshore warning to coastal and reef-approach conditions.

Official starting points for current information: NHC marine · NWS San Juan marine

North America and Mexico

Coastal, offshore, inlet and island routes require different products.

Start with: US East Coast marine weather

• US East Coast Guide

  Locate the exact NWS coastal and offshore zones before a longer leg.

• New England

  Harbour shelter and offshore swell can diverge across a coastal passage.

• Chesapeake Bay

  Use the bay forecast and consider fetch, thunderstorms and current separately.

• Florida Atlantic coast and Keys

  Check coastal zones, inlet conditions and tropical outlooks for the actual route.

• Gulf of Mexico

  Offshore zones, coastal fronts and tropical warnings answer different questions.

• Great Lakes

  A lake-wide forecast does not describe every exposed shore or harbour entrance.

• US Pacific Coast Guide

  Separate coastal and offshore NWS zones and check harbour-bar conditions.

• California coast

  Swell direction and the next exposed headland matter alongside the coastal warning.

• Pacific Northwest and San Juan Islands

  Straits and island channels need a local zone beyond the offshore synopsis.

• British Columbia and Inside Passage

  Check each Canadian marine district and tidal passage rather than a broad coast icon.

• Sea of Cortez

  Long fetch, island channels and remote anchorages call for separate forecast checks.

Official starting points for current information: NOAA/NWS marine · Environment Canada Pacific · Mexico SEMAR marine

Baltic Sea and northern Europe

Archipelagos, narrow straits and multiple national marine services.

Start with: Baltic Sea sailing weather

• Baltic Sea Guide

  Find the named sea area and the responsible coastal service for each leg.

• Swedish archipelagos

  Open-sea numbers cannot resolve every narrow channel or lee shore.

• Finnish Archipelago Sea

  Pair the sea-area bulletin with local channel and sea-level information.

• Danish straits

  Check wind, current and the transition between Baltic and North Sea areas.

• Gulf of Finland

  Use the correct national forecast and watch visibility, sea level and ice when relevant.

• Estonian and Latvian coasts

  A cross-border Baltic leg may need two coastal bulletins and separate harbour checks.

• Skagerrak and Kattegat

  Compare named sea areas with forecasts for the coastal approach and narrow straits.

• Norwegian fjords and coast

  Conditions inside a fjord can differ materially from the exposed coastal leg.

• Barents Sea and Svalbard

  High-latitude voyages need current marine, ice and communication planning.

Official starting points for current information: SMHI sea forecast · Met Office marine

Black Sea and adjoining straits

A geographic directory only: current maritime warnings, restrictions and local authority instructions are essential.

• Black Sea

  Forecast and navigation responsibility changes across national waters; verify current notices.

• Western Black Sea

  Bulgarian and Romanian coastal legs require current local marine information.

• Turkish Black Sea coast

  Select the Turkish coastal sector rather than extending a Bosporus forecast eastward.

• Bosporus and Sea of Marmara

  Weather, currents and traffic-control rules are separate operational checks.

• Eastern Black Sea

  National coastal bulletins and current navigational restrictions must be checked for the exact route.

Official starting points for current information: WMO/IMO METAREA III · Bulgarian NIMH marine · Turkish marine forecast

Indian Ocean and African coasts

Island groups, long ocean legs and coastal authorities with different coverage.

• Seychelles Guide

  Match the island group to its marine bulletin and wider ocean outlook.

• Maldives

  Atoll shelter and the open-water leg require different checks.

• Mauritius and Réunion

  An inter-island passage needs offshore warnings as well as local island forecasts.

• Madagascar

  A long coastline and different sea areas preclude a single island-wide marine forecast.

• Mozambique Channel

  Check high-seas warnings and the forecast on both coastal approaches.

• Zanzibar and East African coast

  Island passages require the responsible coastal product and tidal information.

• South African Cape coast

  Ocean swell and the next coastal sector need separate assessment.

• Red Sea

  A long narrow passage spans multiple coastal authorities and high-seas areas.

• Arabian Sea

  Use the current issuing authority and warnings for the specific offshore sector.

Official starting points for current information: Seychelles Meteorological Authority · WMO/IMO METAREAs

Southeast and East Asia

National forecast boundaries, straits and island chains matter more than country labels.

• Thailand Andaman Sea Guide

  Find the shipping forecast for the Phuket and offshore passage sectors.

• Gulf of Thailand

  Do not reuse an Andaman forecast on the other side of the peninsula.

• Langkawi and Malaysian west coast

  Island shelter and the Malacca approach need distinct weather and navigation checks.

• Malacca and Singapore straits

  Marine conditions, currents and dense shipping are separate parts of the brief.

• Indonesia: Bali and Lombok

  Inter-island straits and coast forecasts should not be treated as one point.

• Indonesia: Raja Ampat

  Remote island passages need current local authority information and a data backup.

• Philippines

  Island-chain routes cross changing forecast areas and tropical-warning responsibilities.

• Vietnam and South China Sea coast

  Check national coastal products and offshore warnings for the exact leg.

• Japan: Ryukyu Islands

  Island passages need national marine warnings and a separate tropical-cyclone check.

Official starting points for current information: Thailand Meteorological Department · Indonesia BMKG marine · WMO/IMO METAREAs

Australia, New Zealand and Pacific islands

Coastal-water zones and remote island passages are very different sailing problems.

• Whitsundays Guide

  Choose the Queensland coastal zone and check reef navigation separately.

• Great Barrier Reef coast

  Reef shelter does not replace the offshore-waters forecast or current charts.

• East Australian coast

  Local, coastal and high-seas BoM products cover different distances offshore.

• Western Australia

  Choose the correct long coastal sector and its current wind warning.

• Tasmania and Bass Strait

  Island coasts and the strait have distinct exposure and forecast areas.

• New Zealand: Hauraki Gulf

  Sheltered gulf legs and offshore exits need different marine products.

• New Zealand: Bay of Islands

  Check the exposed Northland coast separately from an island anchorage.

• French Polynesia Guide

  Match the island group bulletin to the full inter-island passage.

• Fiji

  An island-group forecast may not describe the next exposed passage or reef approach.

• Tonga

  Remote island hops need current marine warnings and a reliable update channel.

• New Caledonia

  Lagoon conditions and outside-reef swell require separate checks.

• Hawaii

  Use the correct island coastal zone plus Pacific offshore warnings for longer legs.

Official starting points for current information: Australian BoM MarineLite · New Zealand MetService · Météo-France Polynésie · WMO/IMO METAREAs

South Atlantic and high latitudes

Long passages and remote approaches need current official warnings and specialist preparation.

• Brazilian Atlantic coast

  Choose the METAREA V and coastal product for the actual leg.

• Rio de la Plata and Uruguay

  Estuary conditions, tides and open Atlantic approaches are separate checks.

• South Atlantic crossings

  The source and warning authority changes across a multi-week route.

• Chilean fjords

  Mountain-sheltered channels and exposed Pacific exits need different information.

• Patagonia and Cape Horn

  A high-latitude passage requires specialised weather, navigation and communications planning.

• Falkland Islands

  Remote landfall planning needs offshore warnings and a separate island approach.

• Southern Ocean and Antarctica

  Only specialist expedition planning with current official sources is appropriate here.

Official starting points for current information: Brazilian Navy marine forecast · WMO/IMO METAREAs