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
Lagoon conditions and outside-reef swell require separate checks.
New Caledonia cruising can alternate lagoon shelter with passages through reef openings into open ocean.
Use Météo-France New Caledonia marine warnings for the relevant waters; check the specific pass, current and swell against current chart and local information.
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.
Use the lagoon bulletin without extending it offshore
Météo-France's lagoon entry is meteo.nc/fr/marine/lagon. Obtain the current lagoon issue and the appropriate offshore bulletin for an outside-reef leg, with current special warnings kept visible. Compare the stated coverage with every exposed part of the route. The word 'lagoon' does not mean the product resolves every sheltered bay or reef pass, and a coastal model point is not the whole route.
- Météo-France New Caledonia lagoon bulletin — Lagoon product; offshore bulletin and current warnings are separate.
Separate lagoon fetch, the opening and outside swell
On a Nouméa-based plan, mark the inner-lagoon stage, any passage through the reef and the exposed continuation individually. Compare forecast direction with each section's exposure rather than assuming continuous reef protection. The local stream and entrance evidence belong to the chosen opening; they cannot be supplied by a generic tide time or offshore wave map. Retain chart, local notice and observation limitations explicitly.
Check the return through the reef under the later forecast
Compare an inner-lagoon day with an outside-reef option at both the outbound and return passage times. If the later return changes swell access, visibility or the information available for the opening, revisit the outside stop before committing. An alternate lagoon entrance requires its own assessment, not merely a shorter line on the map. Obtain updated local authority information separately from the meteorological bulletin.
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.
- France
Keep Atlantic tidal coasts separate from Mediterranean island and gulf planning.