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
Reef shelter does not replace the offshore-waters forecast or current charts.
Great Barrier Reef cruising moves between inner reef waters, passages and a more exposed outer coast.
Use BoM marine zones and warnings for the actual stretch; check current reef-pass, tide and chart information independently of the weather display.
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.
The reef catalogue is wider than one offshore product
BoM's low-bandwidth directory distinguishes Queensland coastal products from Great Barrier Reef Offshore Waters, with the latter entry naming Bowen to Yeppoon. That title is not coverage of the entire reef coast. Select the appropriate coastal stretch and offshore product for each leg, then obtain the current warning. A route north of that named area cannot simply reuse the same offshore bulletin without checking its limits.
- BoM low-bandwidth marine directory — Named coastal, local and high-seas products; obtain their current text and warnings.
Inner water, reef passage and outside swell require distinct evidence
Use a route table that marks every exit through the reef and return to inner waters. Keep ocean swell direction/period separate from forecast seas and the local passage-current information. Queensland stations can help with coastal weather trends, but a land wind sensor does not observe the breaking sea over a reef opening. Current charts, navigation notices and local passage guidance are separate requirements, not hidden model inputs.
- BoM Queensland coastal observations — Named coastal sites; missing sea sensors and stale observations remain explicit.
- BoM low-bandwidth marine directory
Reassess the offshore stop if return evidence weakens
Before committing to an outside-reef destination, test a delayed return through the chosen opening and the daylight needed for that plan. If the revised forecast, visibility or missing local stream information invalidates the assumptions, compare a genuinely available inner-water itinerary before departing. Reef shelter is conditional and must not be described as a universal protection from swell, wind or cyclone-related conditions.
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.