Boating or sailing around the clear bright blue waters of the U. S. Virgin Islands is one of the greatest ways to enjoy your vacation, and now this fun family activity just got a little easier and a little safer.

There are four new state-of-the-art buoys now monitoring the sea conditions in the Caribbean between Puerto Rico and USVI as part of the Caribbean Coastal Ocean Observing System.   CariCOOS is run by the American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, as part of the goal of providing up to date and accurate marine information across the Caribbean.  These new buoys track current information about winds, waves, ocean currents, atmospheric pressure and the level of salt in the water on a real time basis.  That data helps give a picture of the atmospheric and oceanographic conditions in the area on a real-time basis.

One of the new buoys is just off the coast of Rendezvous Bay in St. John USVI.  The others are off the north coast of San Juan, a mile off the coast of Rincon, Puerto Rico, and south of Ponce, Puerto Rico.   Boaters and sailors can see the up-to-the-minute information for themselves by going online at www.caricoos.org, and checking the live information from each of these new buoys.

Aside from giving everyone excellent information to help them plan safe sailing in USVI, this kind of data is valuable in helping track patterns in global climate change.  Consider an island retreat at a St. John villa rental, and you can experience the joys of sailing on the Caribbean Sea for yourself!