Cruisers heading to the Caribbean for the 2025/2026 season are being advised to stay alert on the water with GPS jamming incidents and recent solar storms likely to have an effect on navigation and communication tools and instruments.

Published 2 days ago

Read the latest reports on GPS jamming and recent solar activity from Noonsite’s information-sharing partners at the Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA), published by Caribbean Compass.

Maritime Situation Report:

Joan Conover from the SSCA reports that independent monitoring sources and maritime operators have confirmed multiple episodes of GPS and GNSS interference across the Southern Caribbean between October 29 and November 7, 2025. The interference has been concentrated near Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, and the eastern Caribbean waters close to the Colombian coast.

Mariners reported multiple GPS disruptions across the Southern Caribbean in late October and early November 2025, with advisories encouraging crews to lean on traditional navigation and report anything unusual. Read the full report below.

• GNSS Interference in the South Caribbean

GPS Jamming:

In late October 2025, several cruisers in the Southern Caribbean reported sudden GPS losses and erratic positions. For some, chartplotters froze; for others, boats appeared to jump a half‑mile sideways. At the same time, satellites, Starlink links and HF radios kept working normally. That mix of symptoms is the giveaway—true GPS jamming behaves differently from a simple ground‑station outage.

Jamming vs Ground‑Station Outage

These are two distinct failure modes. A jammer blocks or corrupts the radio signal itself. A ground‑station outage interrupts the network that maintains precision timing and corrections. Both can confuse navigators, but the fingerprints differ.

Useful guidance on recognizing jamming versus outages or solar effects, Cross-check positions, verify with bearings and radar and keep a good log,  read the following report:

• How to Identify GPS Jamming

Solar Storms and the Sea:

Recent elevated solar activity created minor GPS instability in the tropics, a timely reminder that space weather can nudge navigation off course.

Joan Conover from the SSCA, writing in Caribbean Compass said mariners across the Pacific and Caribbean may notice position jumps, weak locks, or increased GPS error, especially in the equatorial zones. The reason lies in the ionosphere—a dynamic shell of charged particles between Earth and space. When solar storms agitate this layer, it becomes irregular, bending and scattering GPS signals before they reach your receiver. The result: degraded accuracy or temporary loss of position.  Read Joan’s full report:

• Solar Storms and the Sea – When GPS Goes Adrift

Visit NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center and the 3-Day Forecast page for the latest ionospheric and geomagnetic conditions.

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Related Links:

• Caribbean Compass Magazine
• NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
• NOAA Three Day Forecast page

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