Favorite Weather Apps For Sailing: Discover The Best Features
Not using weather apps for sailing is basically crossing your fingers and hoping Poseidon’s in a good mood. And that’s not a great strategy when your home floats and your dog’s sleeping under the nav table.
After 4+ years living full-time aboard our 45-foot sailboat Pelagia, and over 7,000 nautical miles across the Gulf Stream, Caribbean, and the Bahamas, we’ve tested more than our fair share of marine weather tools. Some were okay at best, and some were lifesavers. A few have become part of our daily sail planning routine.
Here’s a breakdown of the best sailing weather apps we actually use, what each one’s good for, and when to open them up before you pull up the anchor.
1. PredictWind (Our #1 Pick – We Actually Pay for It)
- PredictWind Plan: Standard Plan
- PredictWind Cost: $99/3 months or $249/year
PredictWind is the app we rely on most when doing our sail route planning. We’ve used this offshore sailing forecast for everything from Caribbean hops to our 874 nm passage from St. Martin to Bermuda.
The Standard Plan gives us routing and departure tools that have proven more than worth the price—especially when weather windows are tight or questionable, and when we are planning overnight sails.
Why we love it
- Accurate weather routing based on our boat’s profile
- Departure planning helps us pick the safest window
- Includes multiple forecast models (PWG, PWE, ECMWF, GFS, etc.)
If you want to learn more about all of the features of PredictWind, here is an in-depth PredictWind review about all of the features we use on a regular basis.
2. Marine Weather Center (Chris Parker)
- Plan we use: Daily Regional Email Forecasts
- Price: $219/year
Chris Parker’s forecasts are like having a weather mentor in your pocket. His regional forecasts and live briefings have helped us confidently plan tricky passages, like when we crossed the Gulf Stream and crossed the Mona Passage.
We also used his custom email service providing us vessel-specific weather forecasts and routing advice on our trip from St. Marteen to Bermuda.
Pro Tip: Marine Weather Center is widely used among sailors in the Bahamas and Caribbean and is one of the top subscriptions we use when sailing.
Why We Love It
- Personalized forecasts with routing suggestions
- Live Zoom briefings 6 days a week
- Helpful for understanding “why” the weather is doing what it’s doing
3. SailFlow
- Plan we use: Free Plan
- Price: $0
SailFlow is a free sailing weather app we use for checking real-time wind conditions. We use it most often when we’re already underway or anchored and want to know what’s happening around us right now, not what is forecasted. For a free app, it’s incredibly helpful.
Why We Love It
- Live wind readings from weather stations around the world
- Great for seeing what the weather is doing in your location and your next destination
- I like to compare the live wind readings and SailFlow forecasts to the outputs from other apps
4. Storm Radar (the Weather Channel)
- Plan we use: Free Plan
- Price: $0
We primarily use Storm Radar when we’re sailing the ICW along the east coast of the United States or even sailing offshore along the east coast to keep an eye on fast-moving thunderstorms. It’s great for real-time radar and lightning detection, especially during afternoon squalls.
Note: Storm Radar does not work well in the Caribbean, but we have found that PredictWind’s Rain Radar works wonderfully down here.
Why We Love It
- Real-time radar with easy-to-read animations
- Shows lightning strikes and approaching storm cells
- Local marine alerts like small craft advisories
5. Mike’s Weather Page
- Plan we use: Free
- Price: $0
This is one of our first stops during hurricane season. Mike pulls together a ton of data from various models and agencies and lays it out in a way that’s actually useful. His commentary is helpful too, especially when you’re trying to make sense of conflicting model tracks.
Why We Love It
- All major model spaghetti plots in one place
- Good breakdowns of developing storms
- Updated frequently
6. NOAA Tides & Currents
- No Plan: Free
- Price: $0
NOAA Tides and Currents is our #1 resource for tides, especially along the ICW along the east coast of the United States. We use it for planning our passages under 65-ft bridges (Pelagia’s mast is 63 feet and it can get a bit tight!), and timing inlet transits when coming or going offshore.
Pro Tip: We specifically use the Pungo River tide station to help us navigate under the Wilkerson Bridge in North Carolina as this bridge is only 64 feet tall!
Why We Love It
- Reliable tide and current predictions
- Station-specific data for more accurate planning
- You can forecast out predicted tide levels well into the future
7. Marv’s Weather Page
- No Plan: Free
- Price: $0
Marv’s Weather is one of those hidden gems that most people don’t know about unless they’ve done some serious offshore sailing or storm prep. We found it especially helpful when crossing the Gulf Stream and sailing the Windward Islands. It gives a clear, tabular layout of GRIB forecast data without the clutter or overload of some other tools.
Why We Love It
- Simple 3-hour increment forecast tables
- Great at showing wind gusts, direction, and wave height
- Especially useful for offshore passages or pre-departure planning
8. Mr. Weatherman (Brian Shields)
- No Plan: Free
- Price: $0
Brian Shield, aka Mr. Weatherman, delivers some of the most cruiser-relevant weather briefings on YouTube. He focuses on the Caribbean, Gulf and Atlantic regions, with clear, no-nonsense updates on tropical development, sea conditions, and timing.
While living on a sailboat in the Caribbean, especially during hurricane season, we never miss a video.
Why We Love It
- Daily video updates during active weather or hurricane season
- Caribbean-focused, with special attention to the Windwards and Leewards
- Clear, easy-to-understand explanations with visual model breakdowns
Watch Brian’s latest updates on YouTube
What We Actually Use on a Passage
Weather can make or break a passage — and after 7,000+ nautical miles, these are the tools we actually trust when it’s time to pull up the anchor.
If you’re planning a trip this season, try PredictWind and sail smarter. It’s hands-down the best sailing weather forecast app we’ve used.
Want more salty tips from life aboard Pelagia? Join the Jolly Mango Newsletter for honest cruising advice — no fluff, just real tools, real routes, and maybe a few stories about dodging squalls.
Got a weather app you swear by or a wild squall story? Message me on Facebook or Instagram — I’d love to hear it.
