South Pacific

{{IsPartOf|Pacific Ocean}}
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The South Pacific (sometimes synonymous with Oceania, or sometimes Oceanica) is a geographical, often geopolitical, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the South Pacific Ocean and vicinity.

====Oceania====
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceania Oceania] or Oceanica is a region centred on the islands of the tropical [[Pacific Ocean]].  Opinions of what constitutes Oceania range from its three subregions of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanesia Melanesia], [[Micronesia]], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesia Polynesia] to, more broadly, the entire insular region between [[South East Asia]] and [[South America]], including [[Australasia]] and the [[Malaysia|Malay Archipelago]].

For the purpose of this cruising guide, we will define Oceania in one of its broadest definitions, which includes:

* All of the islands of [[Micronesia]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanesia Melanesia] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesia Polynesia]
* [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]]
* [[New Guinea]] including [[Papua New Guinea]] and the [[Indonesia]]n province of [[Papua]]
* Other tropical [[Pacific Ocean]] islands such as [[Hawaii]] and [[Guam]] (although both are already included by the above definitions, as [[Guam]] is located in [[Micronesia]] and [[Hawaii]] is usually considered part of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesia Polynesia].

==Charts==
; [http://www.linz.govt.nz/hydro Land Information NZ]
: NZ 1406 -- South Pacific Ocean, Western Portion.

''See also the larger scale LINZ charts which cover much of the South Pacific''.

{{Note}}Many other chart sources are available, both electronic and paper.

* US published charts covering much of the sea area of this route are available from [http://www.charts.noaa.gov/InteractiveCatalog/nrnc.shtml NOAA], Office of Coast Survey.
* Admiralty charts are available from many chart retailers, and an on line catalogue can be found at [http://www.ukho.gov.uk/ProductsandServices/Leisure/Pages/ADMIRALTY-Leisure.aspx Admiralty Leisure]
* For electronic charts compatible with OpenCPN see the [http://opencpn.org/ocpn/chart_sources OpenCPN chart sources] page.

==Weather==
Generally speaking, the trade winds run in a band from 5S to about 25S, although this band can be smaller or larger from year to year.  The typical trade wind is a 15 knot wind from the ESE, although days of 30+ knots are not uncommon.  Winds swinging around to the north, north west, or west are also not uncommon, but these usually only last for a day or so.

Gales and other assorted weather nasties can be found in the region of the convergence zones -- the ITCZ and the SPCZ.

Much of the South Pacific is subject to cyclones during the "cyclone season", running from 1st November to 30th April each year (depending on location).  It's important to note that cyclones do not own calendars, and significant (even named) tropical storms can happen outside of this time period.

Sources for weather information:
* The [http://www.met.gov.fj/ Fiji Meteorological Service] issues daily weather bulletins for much of the South Pacific.
* These forecasst can also be retrieved as a text format file by sending an email to query@saildocs.com.  See the [[Weather]] page for more information.
* A generalised [[South Pacific]] weather forecast from the Fiji Meterological Service may be found [http://www.met.gov.fj/aifs_prods/10140.txt here] or by sending an email containing "<code>send nadi.sopac</code>" to [mailto:query@saildocs.com query@saildocs.com].

''Also see [[Weather]]''.

====Currents & Tides====
{{Green|Give information on tides & currents.}}
[[Image:Pacific_Ocean_Currents.jpg‎|thumb|350px|right|Currents of the Pacific Ocean. ''Click for larger view'']]

==Passages==
* [[Trans_Pacific_("Puddle-Jump")|Trans-Pacific ("Puddle-Jump") Passage Notes]] - East to West
* [[Trans-Pacific Passage - West to East]]
* 

==Countries, Ports, Anchorages, and Islands==
Clockwise from NW to E and SW.

{{Top}} = ''Featured Cruising Guides'', [[Image:Poe.jpg]] = ''Port of Entry'', [[Image:Island icon.png]] = Island, [[image:Marina_icon.png]] = Marina, [[Image:Harbour_icon.png]] = Harbor, [[image:Anchor_Icon.png]] = Anchorage, [[Image:Question icon.png]] = Needs data. 

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto;" 
|- bgcolor="#ABCDEF" align="center"
| '''Countries''' || '''Islands Countries<br />& Islands''' || '''Ports & Anchorages'''
|-
|id "Countries" valign="top" |
: [[Image:Philippines_Icon.png|border]] [[Philippines]]
: [[Image:New_Zealand_Icon.png|border]] [[New Zealand]]
: [[Image:Australia_Icon.png|border]] [[Australia]]
: [[Image:Papua_New_Guinea_Icon.png|border]] [[Papua New Guinea]]
: [[Image:Papua_Icon.gif|border]] [[Papua]]
: [[Image:West_Papua_Icon.png|border]] [[West Papua]]
: [[Image:Indonesia_flag.png|22px|border]] [[East Timor|Timor Leste]] [[Image:Question icon.png]]
: [[Image:Easttimorflag.png|22px|border]] [[Indonesia]]

|id "Islands" valign="top" |
: [[Image:Northern Mariana flag.png|22px|border]] [[Northern Marianas]] [[Image:Question icon.png]]
: [[Image:Guam_Icon.png|border]] [[Guam]]
: [[Image:Marshall Islands flag.png|22px|border]] [[Marshall Islands]]
: [[Image:Kiribati_Icon.png|border]] [[Kiribati]]
: [[Image:Tuvalu_Icon.png|border]] [[Tuvalu]]
: [[Image:Tokelau_Icon.png|border]] [[Tokelau]] [[Image:Question icon.png]]
: [[Image:Samoa_Icon.png|border]] [[Samoa]]
: [[Image:American_Samoa.png|border]] [[American Samoa]]
: [[Image:Wallis_and_Futuna_Icon.png|border]] [[Wallis|Wallis and Futuna]] [[Image:Question icon.png]]
: [[Image:Tonga_Icon.png|border]] [[Tonga]]
: [[Image:Niue_Icon.png|border]] [[Niue]]
: [[Image:Cook_Islands_Icon.png|border]] [[Cook Islands]]
: [[Image:French_Polynesia_Icon.png|border]] [[French Polynesia]]
: [[Image:Pitcairn_Icon.png|border]] [[Pitcairn]]
: [[Image:Chile_Icon.png|border]] [[Easter Island]]
: [[Image:New_Zealand_Icon.png|border]]  [[Chatham Islands]] [[Image:Question icon.png]]
: [[Image:Norfolk_Island_Icon.png|border]] [[Norfolk Island]]
: [[Image:Fiji_Icon.png|border]] [[Fiji]]
: [[Image:New_Caledonia_Icon.png|border]] [[New Caledonia]]
: [[Image:Vanuatu_Icon.png|border]] [[Vanuatu]]
: [[Image:Solomon_Islands_Icon.png|border]] [[Solomon Islands]]
: [[Image:Flag_of_Nauru.png|22px|x15px|border]] [[Nauru]]

|id "Ports" valign="top" |
:
|}

''See also:''
* [[Pacific Ocean]]
* [[Tasman Sea]]

==Friends==
Contact details of "Cruiser's Friends" that can be contacted for local information or assistance.
* 

==Forums==
List links to discussion threads on [[Cruising Forums|partnering forums]]. (''see link for requirements'')
* [http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/tags/south-pacific.html South Pacific topics] on Cruisers Forum.
* [http://www.cruiserlog.com/forums/f52/ Pacific and Australasia] on Cruiser Log.

==Links==
* {{wikipedia|Oceania Oceania}}
*
* 

==References==
* {{Reference|Michael Pocock/Ros Hogbin|The Pacific Crossing Guide, Second Edition|RCC Pilotage Foundation, London|0713661828}}
* {{Reference|Warwick Clay|South Pacific Anchorages 2nd edition|Imray|0852884826}}
* {{Reference|Earl R. Hinz|Landfalls of Paradise: Cruising Guide to the Pacific Islands|Latitude 20 Books|0824830377}}
* {{Reference|Jimmy Cornell|World Cruising Routes: Sixth Edition|Adlard Coles, London|007159289X}}
* {{Reference|Jimmy Cornell|World Cruising Destinations|Adlard Coles, London|0071638245}}


{{Comments}}
* [[User:Delatbabel|Delatbabel]] -- Cruised the South Pacific in 2014, notes are on the [http://sailchiarastella.blogspot.com/ blog]
* 


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{{Contributors|[[User:Haiqu|Haiqu]], [[User:Delatbabel|Delatbabel]], [[User:Istioploos|Istioploos]]}}

[[Category:Regions]]