By Bill Woodroffe – Updated: June 2026
Note: Caribbean shortwave weather nets for Summer/Fall 2026 are at the bottom of the page, below web links.
Caribbean Weather Websites
ABCs Weather
Antigua And Barbuda Meteorological Services
Barbados Weather Satellite
Curaçao Met Department
Grenada Meteorological Services: Grenada Carriacou & Petite Martinique
Martinique Weather Radar (French)
Meteorological Office of Saint Vincent
Saint Lucia Meteorological Services
St. Maarten Meteorological Department
Trinidad & Tobago Weather Radar
US National Weather Service (for USVI and Puerto Rico)
USVI Weather Service
General Weather Websites
Mike’s Weather Page
WINDFinder
https://www.windyty.com (shows wind speed and direction for 14 days in about three-hour increments)
Ventusky (same look as Windytv, but different)
ON Board ON Line
PassageWeather
Weather Underground
Weather Conversions
Commercial Marine Weather Service Websites
Buoyweather
Chris Parker’s Marine Weather Center (listen free on daily SSB nets or subscribe for daily e-mails)
Atlantic severe storm prediction
Hurricane Information Websites
Caribbean Hurricane Network
US National Hurricane Center
Atlantic Hurricane Tracking Chart
NHC Marine Weather Discussion
NHC Offshore Reports
NOAA Climate Discussion: www.climate.gov/news-features
NHC Marine Graphicast: www.nhc.noaa.gov/marine/graphicast.php?basin=at#contentw.nws.noaa
The map at earth.nullschool.net is an interactive pilot chart, showing current conditions around the world. When you open the page, you see the entire globe, and then you can zoom in to see smaller regions. Click on ‘Earth’ in the lower left to get a menu. You can choose to see the world’s current wind or current patterns, or ocean waves, all with animation.”
Caribbean Shortwave Weather Nets: Winter 2024
Updated: November 2024
Sailors rely on good weather information every day. With today’s communication technology there are multiple ways to gather it. One of the more traditional and reliable ways, worldwide, is via High Frequency (HF) single-sideband radio (SSB). The below station list supplies weather in plain language.
TIMES: Atlantic Standard Time (AST) = -4 hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Eastern Standard Time (EST) = -5 hours from UTC. Central Standard Time (CST) = -6 hours from UTC. AST does not change to Daylight Time. AST covers Eastern Caribbean; EST covers US East Coast, Bahamas, Colombia, Panama; CST covers West of Florida, Western Caribbean.
EMERGENCIES: In case of maritime emergency, there is a 24/7 (24-hour) Maritime Mobile Net (Emergency, Weather, and Cruiser Assistance) at 14300 kHz Upper Sideband (USB)/HAM. Anyone, licensed or not, may legally operate on any radio frequency (HAM or Marine) in the event of life-threatening or distressing situations.
Chris Parker of Marine Weather Center (MWXC) in Florida always listens for emergency traffic at the very beginning of his weather net on 4045, 8137 and 12350 kHz USB. Stations listed as HAM can be monitored but a HAM license is needed to broadcast (except in emergencies
SPECIAL STORM NETS:
When there are active tropical systems in the Atlantic, Marine Weather Center (MWXC) runs a net at 2300 UTC /1900 AST on 8.137 kHz USB.
Tropical storm or hurricane activity information can be found continuously on the Hurricane Watch Net on 14325 kHz USB Ham and 3950 kHz LSB Ham.
| UTC/AST | Station and Description | Freq | Mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0515/0115 | USCG High Seas/Hurricane Forecast | NOTE 1 | USB |
| 0930/0530 | USCG Offshore/Hurricane Forecast | NOTE 1 | USB |
| 1000/0600 | Daily Caribbean Weather | 6215 | USB |
| 1030/0630 | Caribbean Emergency & Weather HAM | 3815/7162 | LSB |
| 1000/0600 | MWXC (C. Parker) East Carib | 4045, 8137 | USB |
| 1030/0630 | MWXC (C. Parker) Bahamas | 4045, 8137 | USB |
| 1115/0715 | USCG High Seas/Hurricane Forecast | NOTE 1 | USB |
| 1220/0820 | Bahamas Weather | 3696, 7096 | LSB |
| 1130/0730 | MWXC US EC, W Atlantic | 8137, 12350 | USB |
| 1530/1130 | USCG High Seas/Hurricane Forecast | NOTE 1 | USB |
| 1200/0800 | Coconut Telegraph, Eastern Caribbean | 4048, 8170 | USB |
| 1230/0830 | Cruzheimers Net | 8152 | USB |
| 1245/0845 | Waterway Cruising Club HAM | 7268 | LSB |
| 1230/0830 | MWXC (C. Parker) E Caribbean | 8137, 12350 | USB |
| 1300/0900 | MWXC (C. Parker) W Caribbean | 8137, 12350 | USB |
| 1305/0905 | MWXC (C. Parker) EC Atl traffic | 8137, 12350 | USB |
| 1330/0930 | Panama Connection Net | 8107, 8167 | USB |
| 1400/1000 | Northwest Caribbean Net | 6209 | USB |
| 1715/1315 | USCG High Seas Forecast | NOTE 1 | USB |
| 2100/1700 | Doo-Dah Net, Bahamas, US EC | 8152 | USB |
| 2130/1730 | USCG Offshore/Hurricane Forecast | NOTE 1 | USB |
| 2200/1800 | MWXC (C. Parker) All areas NOTE 3 | 8137, 12350 | USB |
| 2230/1830 | Caribbean Weather | 3815 | LSB |
| 2315/1915 | USCG High Seas/Hurricane Forecast | NOTE 1 | USB |
| 2235/1835 | Caribbean Emergency & Weather HAM | 3815, 7162 | LSB |
| 2300/1900 | Trans-Atlantic Cruisers (SSCA) NOTE 2 | 12350/6227 | USB |
| 0330/2330 | USCG Offshore/Hurricane Forecast | NOTE 1 | USB |
SPECIAL STORM NETS: When there are active tropical systems in the Atlantic, Marine Weather Center (MWXC) runs a net at 2300 UTC /1900 AST on 8.137 kHz USB. Also, tropical storm or hurricane activity information can be found continuously on the Hurricane Watch Net on 14325 kHz USB Ham and 3950 kHz LSB Ham.
Note 1: USCG broadcast NOAA forecasts from: NMN Chesapeake, 4426, 6501, 8764, 13089, 17314 and NMG New Orleans, 4316, 8502, 12788. Monitor all frequencies as not all frequencies are always used.
www.weather.gov/marine/uscg_broadcasts
Note 2: The Trans-Atlantic Cruisers Net is only live during migration periods when boats are coming or going between Europe and North America. That net is always on 12.350 kHz at 1230 hrs UTC. KPK as net controller will be assisted by stations WCY, KNC and KJM.
Note 3: Please hail Marine Weather Center 15 minutes before the net so that Parker knows where to aim his antenna to reach you. This net is geared primarily to offshore Atlantic and Pacific passage makers. For schedule updates see www.mwxc.com
General weather
Windy – World Wide Winds, Currents, Waves, Swell www.windy.com
NOAA Ocean Prediction Center Atlantic Basin ocean.weather.gov/Atl_tab.php
NOAA Surface Tropical synopsis ocean.weather.gov/UA/Atl_Tropics.gif
Mike’s Weather Page spaghettimodels.com/default.htm
Buoy Weather www.buoyweather.com/#4.69/15.14/-61.86/SWELL
Storms and hurricanes
NOAA National Hurricane Center www.nhc.noaa.gov/
NOAA Storm Outlook cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/ghaz/gth_full_TConly_ATL.png
Google’s AI storm lab deepmind.google.com/science/weatherlab
Colorado U hurricane seasonal hurricane projection tropical.colostate.edu/forecasting.html
NOAA annual hurricane verification reports www.nhc.noaa.gov/verification/verify3.shtml
General information
NOAA weather model descriptions www.nhc.noaa.gov/modelsummary.shtml
Caribbean Beach Weather beach-weather.com/Caribbean/
Swell Forecast www.swellinfo.com/surf-forecast
A more complete schedule of HF radio nets is available at:
www.docksideradio.com/east_coast.htm
www.qsl.net/j69ds/ham-info-projects/caribbean-nets.html
Selected Cruisers VHF Nets (local time)
With the wide use of Cell/Sat (StarLink) phone service a notable drop in the use of VHF by cruisers is noted. Despite the fact that VHF communication is free, many cruisers rely on phone apps (Whatsapp, TXT, messenger, NFL, Sea People and other apps.) All those serve a purpose but are limited to their own users. Since everyone has a VHF (and should be monitored 24/7) you can use your VHF DSC feature for convenient and private real-time communication with other cruisers.
By convention, cruisers use VHF 68 as a hailing channel, except in the French Islands of St. Maarten, Guadeloupe, Martinique (use VHF 8). After contact, move to a working channel for your traffic. VHF 16 is always an emergency channel and can be used to hail the Coast Guard and commercial traffic. Always be mindful of others on the channel; they may have priority.
Local VHF nets are run mostly by volunteers and are subject to the availability of volunteers and may or may not operate at all times as indicated below.
Nassau, Bahamas, 0715 VHF 14
Luperón, 0900 VHF 72
St. Martin/Maarten 0730 VHF 10 Monday-Saturday
English Harbour, Antigua 0900 VHF 06 daily
Jolly Harbour, Antigua Monday-Sat 0800 VHF 74
Le Marin/St. Anne, Martinique 0830 VHF 08 Monday and Friday
Rodney Bay, St. Lucia 0830 VHF 68 Monday-Friday
Bequia, St. V & Grenadines 0800 VHF 68 Monday-Saturday
Grenada 0730 VHF 66 (International) Monday-Saturday
Note: If the 66 repeater is unavailable, listen on the alternate Ch. 69 for this net.
Chaguaramas, Trinidad 0800 VHF 68 daily
Curaçao 0745 VHF 72 Monday-Saturday
A more complete schedule of cruising nets is available at:
https://www.docksideradio.com/east_coast.htm
https://www.qsl.net/j69ds/ham-info-projects/caribbean-nets.html
Bill Woodroffe holds a BS degree in meteorology from the State University New York Maritime College, sailed as a deck officer in the US Merchant Marine, and now sails with his wife aboard their 47-foot ketch SV Kalunamoo throughout the islands of the Eastern Caribbean. He can be reached at whwsailboat@gmail.com.
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