 | Yacht charter | Pacific
Sailing conditions |
The Pacific sailing regions are great yacht charter destination for beginner to experienced level sailors. A sailing license/certificate is not required for bareboat charter in Tonga, French Polynesia or Australia but you will be asked to provide a sailing resume. If you are on a skippered bareboat or cabin charter, you do not require any experience or certification to sail with a skipper.
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Location
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Sailing conditions
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Experience
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Australia
Whitsunday islands
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Sheltered by the Great Barrier Reef with slight seas and line of sight navigation. Care must be taken between certain islands as tidal races can be too strong to navigate at times.
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Beginner to intermediate
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French Polynesia
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French Polynesia offers smooth seas, and line of sight navigation. Care is needed to navigate through the reefs.
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Intermediate
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Tonga
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Tonga offers year round sailing. Navigation is line of sight from one island to the next. Care is needed to navigate through the reefs.
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Intermediate
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Wind and sea
Australia, Whitsunday Islands: Offers good sailing year round. From October to March expect prevailing light northeasterly winds 10-15mph, and calm seas. From April to September seas are slight to moderate and winds are south, southeast and east 10-20mph making some southern anchorages unsuitable. The tidal range is 2-3 meters so races can form in narrow channels.
Tonga: Offers calm seas combined with southeasterly trade winds 10-15mph, from May to September, and north easterlies 12-20mph in the summer guarantee excellent sailing. The tidal range is one meter, so tide and wind-driven currents are generally insignificant except in narrow channels where races may occur.
Tahiti and Bora Bora: Has prevailing warm trade winds that are easterly between 15-20mph throughout the year, guaranteeing nice sailing on calm seas within the lagoons and spirited sails on the open-water passages. Inside the lagoons navigation is line of sight, but care is needed for shallow reefs. The tidal range is insignificant at less than a half meter.
Mooring
Australia and Tahiti provide well-organized marinas offering berths and services ashore. There are thousands of anchorages - in order to protect the marine environment from anchors, in some areas there are mooring balls provided by the local authorities designed for different sized yachts. Sailors can tie off to the mooring ball and make payment to a local representative. In other cases, private charter companies have installed mooring balls for their charter guests.
Pacific regions operate under region A of the international navigational system - red right leaving.
For details of weather at this location read more about Pacific destinations.