Low tide: what is low tide, what time is low tide, when is low tide today, and when is the next low tide

How to read low tide properly

1. Look for the lower of the two. Most US coasts get two low waters a day and they are usually not the same depth. The lower low water is the one worth planning around, and on a US chart it is the one MLLW is averaged from.
2. Hunt the minus tides. A predicted height below zero means the water is expected to fall below the MLLW average. Those are the days that uncover ground you cannot normally reach, and they cluster around new and full moon.
3. Arrive before the bottom. The water is slowest around low water itself, so the useful window is roughly an hour either side. Walking out as the tide is still falling gives you the whole window rather than half of it.
4. Know your way back. The flood does not come in evenly across a flat: channels and low ground fill first and can cut off the way you walked out while the sandbar you are standing on is still dry. Pick the return route on the way out.
5. Read the range, not the number. A minus tide on a coast with a 2 ft range exposes very little. The same number where the range is 12 ft is a different day out entirely. The range is on every place page here for that reason.

Safety and the limits of a prediction

Common questions

What is a minus tide?

A predicted low water below zero feet, meaning below MLLW, the mean lower low water. Because MLLW is an average of the lower low waters, roughly half of them fall below it, so minus tides are common rather than rare. They are the best days for tide pooling and clamming because they uncover ground that is usually under water.

What time is low tide today?

It is local to your place. Find it in the index and the table gives the predicted low waters for today and the next 30 days, with the height of each and the NOAA station the prediction came from.

How long does low tide last?

Low water is an instant, not a period, but the water moves slowly either side of it, so in practice you get roughly an hour before and an hour after at close to the lowest level. On a coast with a big range that window closes faster than on one with a small range.

Is low tide the best time to go tide pooling?

Yes, and the lower the better. Aim for a minus tide, get there before the predicted time so you are walking out on a falling tide, and check the range on the place page: the same predicted height uncovers far more on a big-range coast than on a small one.

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