Maritime World Routes & Seasons
Most yachts are not like planes who depart from one place and arrive at another place via a direct route at any time of the year. You're unlikely to find one particular yacht who leaves from one point and arrives at another destination exactly to your preference.
So to sail from Europe to South America, for example, you may need to go on 3 to 5 different yachts via different routes and it could take many months overall with several weeks in between just waiting for favourable weather patterns.
This is why on Find a Crew you can only search for boats departing from a particular place or heading to a particular destination, but not both, because most origin and destination combinations would rarely return a result.
In the table below you'll find some common world routes that are sailed during the particular seasons. There is always the exception to the rule where some yachts travel during unfavourable seasons. It's not recommended for a novice sailor to join such a yacht, because not only can it be very dangerous but also very unpleasant for many days, if not weeks, in a row.
Northern Winter / Southern Summer (December to February) |
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| Season | Departing from | Going to |
| January – March | S Africa, Cape Town | » Indian Ocean |
| " | E Brazil, All areas | » Caribbean |
| " | N Sri Lanka, Galle | » Suez, Med / S. Indian Ocean, Chagos |
| " | N USA, San Diego | » Mexico |
| January – April | N Caribbean, Beguia, Grenada | » South Pacific |
| " | N Panama | » USA, West Coast / South Pacific |
| January – May | N Caribbean, St Lucia | » South Pacific |
| January – June | N Panama | » Caribbean |
| February – April | N Costa Rica, Golfito | » South Pacific / Western Caribbean |
| " | N Western Mexico | » South Pacific |
| " | N Suez | » Mediterranean |
| February – June | N South Pacific, Hawaii | » USA, West Coast |
| March – June | N Hawaii | » South Pacific |
Northern Spring / Southern Autumn (March to May) |
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| Season | Departing from | Going to |
| April – May | S AUSTRALIA, Sydney, Brisbane | » Fiji & Tonga |
| " | N CARIBBEAN, Antigua, Virgin Isles | » USA East Coast / Europe |
| April – June | S NEW ZEALAND, All areas | » Fiji & Tonga / Australia |
| April – August | S AFRICA, Durban | » Indian Ocean |
| " | S AUSTRALIA, Cairns | » Indian Ocean |
| " | E SOUTH PACIFIC, Tahiti | » Hawaii |
| " | S SOUTH PACIFIC, Tahiti | » New Zealand |
| " | N USA, Newport | » Europe |
| " | S INDONESIA, Bali | » Indian Ocean / SE Asia |
| " | S AUSTRALIA, Darwin | » Indian Ocean / SE Asia |
| June – December | N SINGAPORE | » Thailand |
Northern Summer / Southern Winter (June to August) |
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| Season | Departing from | Going to |
| June – December | N SINGAPORE | » Thailand |
| August – September | N ENGLAND | » Mediterranean |
| September – October | S SOUTH PACIFIC, Tonga | » Indian Ocean / New Zealand |
| September – November | N ENGLAND & Channel area | » Caribbean |
| " | E SOUTH PACIFIC, Fiji | » North Pacific |
| " | S SOUTH PACIFIC, Fiji | » Indian Ocean / New Zealand |
| " | N SUEZ | » Indian Ocean |
Northern Autumn / Southern Spring (September to November) |
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| Season | Departing from | Going to |
| October – January | N CANARY ISLANDS, All | » Caribbean |
| October – November | N USA, Ft. Lauderdale / Newport | » Caribbean |
| October – December | N MEDITERRANEAN, Gibraltar | » Caribbean |
| " | N SINGAPORE | » Indian Ocean |
| November – March | S AFRICA, Durban | » Cape Town |
| December | N USA, San Diego | » Mexico |
| December – January | N SPAIN, Canaries | » Caribbean |
| December - March | E AFRICA, Cape Town | » Caribbean, Brazil |
| " | N THAILAND, Phuket | » Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Mediterranean |
| " | N USA, San Diego | » South Pacific |
Maritime world routes and travel seasons around the world, kindly reviewed for Find a Crew™ by well known and accomplished sailor and author Jimmy Cornell. For a more comprehensive guide please refer to Jimmy Cornell's best-selling books 'World Cruising Routes', 'World Cruising Handbook' and 'World Cruising Survey'.