Remember those old pirate movies where you couldn’t get to the treasure chest in the underwater caves until the tide rolled out; or all the fun we’ve had when Disappearing Island in New Smyrna Beach reappears at low tide? Those are some pretty good reasons to pay attention to tide times, but there are others for sure!

Tide times provide mariners with real-time vital water level and current measurements used for so many things, including construction projects such as bridge and dock building and coastal restoration endeavors – which we’ve certainly all heard quite a bit about lately. Heck, did you know that the tides can even generate electricity?

Tide times can also help with things like oil spill analysis and even tsunami predictions and they are especially helpful for boating and fishing. Tide times provide us with crucial information for safe navigation, helping make crucial determinations for cargo vessels and other ships…and with low tides creating narrowing waterways and more harrowing sandbars, watching the tide times can also be extremely beneficial in the navigation of smaller boats, keeping our intercoastal cruises and fishing pleasant and bountiful.

The tides create water movement, in turn causing marine life to move and feed. What this specifically means for fishermen is that fish are easier to catch on incoming or outgoing tides. That’s why flats fisherman love to fish the flats during the change in tides, when water (and fish) flow over at a higher rate. With all this talk about high and low tides, you may also be starting to wonder what slack tide is best for…lunch break!