South Pacific

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South Pacific Cruising Guide

An online cruising guide for sailing in the South Pacific.

File:Pacificislandsmap.gif
South Pacific Islands

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

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 Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia to, more broadly, the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago.

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

File:Oceania.jpg
Oceania - Click for larger view

Navigation Charts

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 that 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 NOAA, Office of Coast Survey.
  • Admiralty charts are available from many chart retailers, and an on line catalogue can be found at Admiralty Leisure
  • For electronic charts compatible with OpenCPN see the OpenCPN chart sources page.

Weather and Winds

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 of weather information for the Pacific.

  • The 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 [email protected]. See the Weather page for more information.
  • A generalised South Pacific weather forecast from the Fiji Meterological Service may be found here or by sending an email containing send nadi.sopac to [email protected]. See the Weather page for more information.

See Weather.

Currents & Tides

Currents of the Pacific Ocean. Click for larger view

Radio Nets

Also see World Cruiser's Nets

Submit details of local radio Nets.

Countries, Ports, Anchorages, and Islands

American Samoa.png American Samoa -> See also United States
Australia Icon.png Australia
China Icon.png China
Cook Islands Icon.png Cook Islands
Easter Island
Fiji Icon.png Fiji
French Polynesia Icon.png French Polynesia -> See also France
Guam Icon.png Guam -> See also United States
Indonesia Icon.png Indonesia
Kiribati Icon.png Kiribati
Marshall Islands Icon.png Marshall Islands
Micronesia Icon.png Micronesia
Flag of Nauru.png Nauru
New Caledonia Icon.png New Caledonia -> See also France
New Zealand Icon.png New Zealand
Niue Icon.png Niue
Papua Icon.gif Papua -> See also Indonesia
Papua New Guinea Icon.png Papua New Guinea
Philippines Icon.png Philippines
Pitcairn Icon.png Pitcairn
Samoa Icon.png Samoa
Solomon Islands Icon.png Solomon Islands
Taiwan Icon.png Taiwan
Tokelau Icon.png Tokelau
Tonga Icon.png Tonga
Tuvalu Icon.png Tuvalu
United States Icon.png United States of America (USA) (Hawaii)
Vanuatu Icon.png Vanuatu
Wallis and Futuna Icon.png Wallis and Futuna
West Papua Icon.png West Papua -> See also Indonesia

See also:

Routes/Passages To/From

Popular passages & best timing, etc. (E - West & W - East)

External Links

References & Publications

Publications, Guides, etc.

Personal Notes

Personal experiences?


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SailorSmiley.gifContributors to this page

Names: Haiqu, Delatbabel


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