Tide guides

Short explanations of the numbers on a tide chart, written for people heading to the beach. Where a guide uses numbers, they are NOAA predictions for towns on this site.

How to read a tide chart

Highs, lows, heights, and why the times move later each day

King tides

The year's highest predicted tides, and when they land

Spring and neap tides

How the moon widens and narrows the tide range

What MLLW means

Why a tide can be "minus" and what zero feet is