This is a pre-passage source and decision desk, not a current forecast or clearance to depart. The map is centred approximately on the area, not on your route or a forecast-zone boundary.
Coastal, reef, island and offshore products are not interchangeable. Compare the official warning with swell direction, local tide and exposed arrival before relying on any model-based route.
1. Primary sources
Open current bulletins and warnings for every sea area on the route. These links are starting points, not a promise that each covers the whole location; if unsure, identify the issuer through WMO–IMO.
2. Route and local effects
An island-group forecast may not describe the next exposed passage or reef approach.
Fiji passages mix reefs, open island channels and national marine forecast areas.
Use Fiji Met Service warnings and the relevant marine bulletin; check tropical-cyclone alerts where applicable and verify reef-pass information independently.
How to use this source set
Start with the warning, then the marine text for the exact named area. If the route crosses a zone boundary, obtain both bulletins. Note issue and valid times, wind units and the meaning of wave height. Where a link opens an agency portal, navigate to its current marine product; a homepage is not itself a forecast.
Compare with an exposed station or buoy if available. Check its position and observation time: a sheltered station does not overturn a warning for an open channel. If a bulletin is missing or stale, identify the issuing service via WMO–IMO and defer the decision until current information is available.
Before-passage check
- Mark departure, exposed legs, arrival and feasible diversions; find the responsible named marine areas for each.
- Check warnings, issue and valid times; assess conditions when you expect to reach each leg, not only at departure.
- Compare wind and gusts, waves and swell, visibility, thunderstorms and local effects; do not infer a strait from a sheltered harbour.
- Compare recent observations where available, noting their time and exposure; a mismatch calls for another check.
- Set the next bulletin check, a reassessment trigger, an alternative and a backup communication channel.
Model map — optional
Windy is a third-party model display, not the issuer of official warnings. Choose a layer and check its valid hour and model run. Nothing loads until you click.
Without JavaScript, open the map separately.
If connectivity fails
Before departure, save the current official text bulletin and warning with issue time. Arrange another way to receive updates, such as an appropriate coastal broadcast, NAVTEX or satellite channel. A saved map cannot replace new warnings.
How to choose weather tools · All sailing areas
Scope: Source list assembled 25 September 2026; check its freshness and coverage before use. This public area guide is not a current personalised forecast, navigational notice service or safety verdict. Personalised forecasts with AI and experts are in closed testing; public booking is not open. The skipper makes the decision.
Fiji national waters and regional cyclone products have different roles
Use Fiji Meteorological Service's local marine information and current warnings for the itinerary, with the South West Pacific bulletin as wider context where its coordinates apply. RSMC Nadi's regional cyclone role does not make every regional product a local harbour forecast. Keep local warnings, cyclone information and numerical forecast layers separate; model imagery is not an additional independent warning authority.
- Fiji Meteorological Service — Local products, cyclone centre and named-port tide links; regional responsibility is not local port clearance.
- Fiji South West Pacific marine bulletin — Broader regional marine text; check coordinates, issue and validity.
Denarau tide information is not every island pass
The official service links tide predictions for named ports including Port Denarau, Lautoka and Suva. Use the reference actually applicable to the trip and retain its time and height datum. Do not transfer those tide times directly to a Mamanuca/Yasawa reef opening or equate them with slack current. For each reef-dependent stop, obtain current charts and competent local passage information in addition to weather.
An island-chain return may be the limiting leg
For a western-islands itinerary, test the return to base after slower progress and a change in wind or swell direction. The outward passage's comfort does not establish the return, and a quiet lagoon observation does not validate the opening to the next island. If a local warning or missing reef-entry evidence changes the assumptions, revisit the stop sequence before extending farther along the chain.
Editorial review of this material: 27 September 2026. This date concerns the page content; check current forecast issue times and validity at the original sources.