Routes & Schedule

Blue Planet Odyssey Route Map- Click to enlarge
Blue Planet Odyssey Route Map
Click to enlarge and download high-res map

The following routes and schedules are provisional and only meant as general guidelines. The starting dates and individual ports (where not specified) will be announced as soon as they are confirmed. Places and dates in square brackets are either provisional, may not be visited or denote a suggested detour.

Because of safety concerns, logistical or political considerations, some countries or stopover ports on the proposed route may have to be avoided and the route and schedule amended accordingly. The decision has now been made not to sail through the North Indian Ocean in view of current political uncertainty and instability in that whole region. The route will be amended to reach the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Cape of Good Hope. The organisers will endeavour to keep such changes to the minimum and give reasonable amount of notice of any changes.

The Blue Planet Odyssey is sailing around the world along two main routes:

  • Southern route
    This is the main route of the Blue Planet Odyssey, sailing through the Panama Canal and into the South Pacific and SE Asia before returning to the Caribbean.
  • Northern route
    This is a more challenging route which includes the Northwest Passage (in both the 2014 and 2015 starts) and a winter crossing of the North Pacific.

Alternative routes and detours

There will be several alternative routes or detours along this main route of the Blue Planet Odyssey. Some will call at endangered islands that are off the main route and because of their location can only accommodate a small number of boats and visitors, while other detours will give participants the option of visiting more remote destinations.

Amendments

In consultation with the Blue Planet Odyssey participants, the 2015-16 route has been amended in order to allow longer in Vanuatu, Australia and Indonesia. The schedule can be found below. 

Pursuit Legs

Some of the legs either starting from a port or anchorage with limited capacity, or finishing in such a location, will be run as a pursuit, with the boats starting on their own and not in a group.

Cruise

In all attractive cruising grounds along the route, participants will be able to explore the area on their own.

Rendez-vous ports

At the end of a cruising leg the fleet will meet at a designated port and will continue together to the next destination.

Southern Route

Atlantic Ocean (2014-15)

Start Leg
12 July 2014 London* – Lanzarote (Canary Islands)
16 November 2014 Lanzarote* Martinique
(sailed as part of the Atlantic Odyssey)
January – March 2015 Key West*/Martinique* – Montego Bay (Jamaica) – Porvenir (San Blas Islands) – San Blas cruising leg – – Shelter Bay Marina (Panama) – Transit Panama Canal

* Primary starting locations

Pacific Ocean (2015)

Start Leg
Feb- March 2015 Pursuit to Baquerizo Moreno (Galapagos) – Baquerizo Moreno stopover – Transit Baquerizo Moreno-Puerto Ayora
10 March Puerto Ayora – Atuona (Hiva Oa island, Marquesas)
25 March – 1 May Cruise Marquesas and Tuamotu Islands
4 May Papeete (Tahiti) rendezvous
9-23 May Cruise Society Islands (Moorea – Huahine – Raiatea – Tahaa – Bora Bora)
24 May Bora Bora rendez-vous
27 May Bora Bora to Vava’u (Tonga)
  [Bora Bora – Maupiti and Suwarrow (Cook Islands), if sailing conditions permit, before continuing on to Vava’u]
18 June Vava’u rendezvous
18 June to 17 July Cruise Vava’u
10 July Vava’u – Funafuti (Tuvalu)
  [some yachts may stopover in Apia, Western Samoa, Pago Pago, American Samoa and Tokelau en route to Tuvalu]
27 July – 2 August Cruise Tuvalu
(Funafuti – Nanumea)
3 August Nanumea to Sola (Vanuatu)
8 to 24 August Cruise Northern Vanuatu
25 August Santo (Vanuatu) – Mackay (Australia)
3 – 28 September in Mackay (leave boat to visit other parts of Australia)
  Mackay – Thursday Island [pursuit]

Cruise Great Barrier Reef

  Thursday Island (Torres Strait) – Tual (Indonesia)  [pursuit]

* Primary starting locations
[ ] optional alternative route

 

Indian Ocean (2015-16)

Dates Leg
14 October Tual (Indonesia) rendezvous
15 October – 30 November 2015 Cruise Indonesia
(Tual – Bau Bau – Selayar – Komodo – Medana Bay, Lombok – Kumai – Manggar, Belitung)
1 December Nongsa Marina, Bintan Island (Indonesia) rendezvous
December 2015 to March 2016 Cruise SE Asia
28 March 2016 Sabang (Pulau We) rendezvous
Cruise Western Sumatra

The safety issue in the North Indian Ocean continues to be a matter of concern and the organisers wish to ensure the safety of the Blue Planet Odyssey fleet. Therefore a decision has been made not to sail through the north Indian Ocean in view of current political uncertainty and instability in that whole region.

South Indian Ocean & South Atlantic Ocean (2016-17)

Dates Leg
19 May 2016 Padang (West Sumatra, Indonesia) – Cocos Keeling pursuit
1 June 2016 Cocos Keeling – Rodrigues pursuit
15 June 2016 Rodrigues – Port Louis (Mauritius) pursuit 
Port Louis layover
30 August 2016 Mauritius – St Pierre (La Réunion) pursuit
5 September 2016 La Réunion – Durban (South Africa)
20 Sept. – 4 Nov. 2016 Durban  – Cape Town (South Africa)
Cruise South Africa
5 November 2016 Cape Town (South Africa) – St Helena
20 November 2016 St Helena – Fernando de Noronha (Brazil) optional stop 
Cruise NE Brazil
18 December 2016 Marina Jacaré (Cabedelo, Brazil) rendezvous
3 January 2017 Jacaré – Bridgetown (Barbados)

Northern Route

The Northern route is described here.

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