As super low tides continue this season on the Oregon coast, those in search of low tide adventures will need to prepare accordingly – first and foremost by checking the tide tables before heading out there.
Tide tables are charts that tell you what time each day’s low and high tides will occur for a given location. For the uninitiated, they might be difficult to find and even trickier to read.
Tyler Kranz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland, said whether it’s the super low tides of summer or the storm surges of winter, knowing how high the water will be and when, is crucial to staying safe on the Oregon coast.
“If someone’s going to go to the beach, they should be aware of when high and low tide is, and especially if we’re expecting tides that are much larger than normal,” Kranz said. “If they know where to look it’s easy to find that information, I guess the problem is some people don’t know where to look.”
A tide table card from 1992 was handed out at the Inn at Otter Crest on the central Oregon coast. The information is outdated, but the format remains the same.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian
WHERE CAN I FIND TIDE TABLES?
You can usually find tide tables at hotels and businesses in towns along the coast. Occasionally they are posted at beach access points as well. Local visitor centers are always a good bet.
The safer bet, of course, is accessing tide tables online in advance. There are several reliable sources online, but the tidal predictions created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, are among the best.
Government officials have been producing tide tables for more than 150 years, according to NOAA, as well as more detailed tide charts for select locations. The agency’s tide predications are always published online, though they’re a little tricky to get to.
A screenshot from the online tide predictions made by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
HOW DO I FIND THE NOAA TIDE TABLES ONLINE?
First, head to tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov and click on Oregon. From there, use the map to find the reporting station closest to where you will be on the coast. Stations tend to be established at river mouths and bays, and you probably won’t find one exactly where you’ll be, so take the predictions with a grain of salt, knowing they will vary slightly from place to place.
Once you select a station, click on “more data” and then “tide predictions.” That will bring you to a chart showing the height of the tide over the course of two days. Beneath the graph, change the “from” and “to” boxes to the dates you’ll be out on the coast, then click “plot daily” on the right side of the page.
For a printable graph as well as proper tide table that might be easier to read, hit “printer view” on the top right-hand side.
A cropped tide table for the north Oregon coast shows the high and low tides for each day in July, August and September, 2021.
HOW DO I READ A TIDE TABLE?
Whether you’re looking at the NOAA graph or tide tables from a local restaurant, you’ll need to know how to read the information.
Typical tide tables will show dates down the left-hand side, with several times listed for each date and the height of the tide at that particular time. These represent the high and low tides for a given day, often marked with an H or L accordingly (some tide tables list “high water” and “low water” separately).
Most coastal locations on Earth have two low tides and two high tides per day – so technically there is a low, lower, high and higher tide you need to look for. The lower daily tide is the one you want for any tide pooling or other low tide adventures, and you want to see a number that’s as low as possible.
For most low tide excursions, you’ll want what’s called a “minus tide” – a low tide that falls below the mean low water line at that point on the coast. A minus tide is indicated on a tide table by a minus sign in front of the number.
Ed Saunders, who lives near Banks, makes his way along the rocks during an extremely low tide at Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach.Jamie Francis/The Oregonian
HOW LOW SHOULD LOW TIDE BE?
Going out during a low minus tide is generally the safest bet if you’re going to be exploring the intertidal zones. Super low tides (the lowest of the year) typically surpass minus two feet and in some places they approach minus three feet.
It’s hard to say exactly how low the tide needs to be to explore a given area, due to the drastic differences in sections of the coastline. Kranz said if people really want to be safe, they should go out a day in advance to see how low tide behaves on a particular stretch of coast.
“If they truly, truly want to be safe, they need to observe it with their own eyes before they go out,” Kranz said.
Another good rule of thumb is to arrive as the tide is going out and walk out with it, since arriving exactly at low tide means the water will be rising as you start your adventure. And make sure you don’t dawdle in a dangerous area: knowing the tides is one thing, but keeping track of the time can be a whole other challenge.
--Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB