understanding tide tables

[man]

hey guys/gals,

usually i just drive to the beach and there are waves, but recently i guess my luck has run out. any help you guys can give me on understanding tide tables would be much appreciated. google didn't really help.
PS. no metric please.
thanks a lot.

[Otter]

An incoming tide is generally better than a falling tide.

[northswell]

You need to learn when your local breaks work and act accordingly.

[Surfing-Innovation]

Like NorthSwell says - it takes quite a few visits (good/bad/indifferent) to your local or favourite break to work out what works in what conditions and when. If the break is big, you might find different peaks for differing states of the tide, or in a bay, you might find one end works when the wind is in one direction and vice versa.

I've been surfing my 'local' break for the best part of 4 years and still wouldn't say I'm an expert in predicting it - but I'm a lot better now than I used to be........

Patience is, in this case, a virtue...............

[man]

yeah. got that. i was talking about what all the numbers and red lettering mean.

[Surfing-Innovation]

Where are you looking???

I use quite a few different forecast sites - they all look different. Tell us which one has the 'red letters' on and I'll have a look........

[sharkbait]

hey bud, this is how i understand it:-

the higher the meters (eg - 1.25) the tide is in. and reverse (0.54) is low tide.

best surf times are high tides. more travel from the breaks.

a bit of advice tho, if its a new beach, visit during low tide and check out for rocks etc.. you dont want to be pummuled.

click this-http://www.dpi.wa.gov.au/imarine/coastaldata/1328.asp

click on perth and then enter your date a voialaa!! the tide details.
not sure where you live so this link may not be useful. but you'll get the idea. i'm off on pamela at lunch time today.

all the best,

[drowningbitbybit]

best surf times are high tides. more travel from the breaks.

Noooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!
Why does everyone think that?

The best tide time is utterly dependent on the break.

[Sillysausage]

one of my local breaks doesn't break at high tide because the waters to high over the reef. the only time it does break is on incoming tides from low to mid tide, and then stops working. so really depends on the break, and the swell!

[sharkbait]

see your point. but like i said- as i understand it.
i misunderstood.

i was purely thinking of the depth high tide created. not the break.

[surferdude_scarborough]

The best tide time is utterly dependent on the break

true but if its a break that breaks all the way through the tide high tide is definately best. the less walking the better

[man]

great help! thanks

in responce to your question: i'm surfing in santa cruz/capitola, CA. here is a link to the tide table wesite i'm trying to learn how to read

http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/pr/wharf ... tides.html

[Surfing-Innovation]

Ah - OK - the table shows the state of the tide in height (in metres, I would guess) - the smaller the number, the lower the tide - with the minus numbers seeming to show a value below what is nominally considered 'low tide'

Hope that helps

[Phil]

The best tide time is utterly dependent on the break

true but if its a break that breaks all the way through the tide high tide is definately best. the less walking the better

not really look at croyde gets hollow as fleshin' at low tide

[northswell]

Its all to do with the moon and to a lesser extent the sun.

Big tides (spring tides) are created when the sun and moon are aligned in a certain position so that both their effects create a large tidal flow. This can make for a sketchy exit from a break i surf a lot as the sea will be bouncing of the cliffs on a spring tide.

Neap tides are again when the sun and the moon are in a position that evens out the tides, meaning that the tidal flow is smaller i.e there won't be as big a tidal flow.

The reason that most poeple surf on an incoming tide is that it can help push a swell through.

[chris fixxy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tide

if you are really interested, thats quite a good starting point.

[Driftingalong]

Nice site...I just watch some dude take off on a pretty sweet wave.

The numbers are in feet.
The ones in red are red because they are a negative value.
The numbers are relative to a "standard" sea level.

It would be a good idea to pay attention to the tides. Different breaks will work at different tides, and it can also depend on the size/direction of the swell as well.
So, if you're at a break that's working, try to remember what the tide and swell were like from the charts. That will help you make better informed decisions in the future.

[Old Guys Rule]

The tide chart you are looking at is in feet. A 0 is a even tide. Anything below that is a negative meaning the sea has receeded in height. ANything above that is the water level rising. With all that being said each break is different on how it breaks with different tide levels. You need to learn your breaks and see how they break at differnt levels. Once you know this you will be able to better predict the right time to surf that break. Of caurs wind conditions and wave sizes all have a factor in predicting the quality of the break also.

[surferdude_scarborough]

not really look at croyde gets hollow as fleshin' at low tide

ok so if its a break thats no different depending on time then high tide is best. you know what i mean.

neways it is entirely dependent on the break

[Banana]

I use the tide graphs from FreeTideTables.com, for example:

http://www.freetidetables.com/tmp/tgp/23d7822f.pdf

One glance tells all, and there's more info than just high and low times/heights.

We've got one break here that's good only at low, and one that's good only at high.