Slack Tides

[local76sparky]

I was wondering how everyone determines their times to dive? I have an app for my tides but it doesn't show projected slack tide. I can't find anything that gives me that info quickly or user friendly. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[Scuba_Noob]

I don't know where you live, but I use this site Current table for Race Passage, British Columbia for one of my dive sites (10 mile point, minus 15min). Plus dairiki has many other current tables for the Pacific Northwest. Try asking your local forum.

 

[Nemrod]

I was wondering how everyone determines their times to dive? I have an app for my tides but it doesn't show projected slack tide. I can't find anything that gives me that info quickly or user friendly. Any thoughts or suggestions?

I use tidal charts and local knowledge. Slack tide is the time when the water stops flowing into an inlet and begins to flow out. Many things can influence this including local conditions, seas/waves/wind direction, the geography of the tidal passage/inlet or water body and how confined it is, it's shape, volume and depth etc. So, the best thing to do is to observe local conditions.

Generally, with some exceptions in areas with high tidal volume/change, it is safe to dive on a waning incoming tide until you begin to feel a switch in direction. Once the tide begins to move out it will gradually and then increasingly gather speed, you want to be out by then.

Ask locals.

So, some friends of mine asked a local DM and then hired him to guide them through a dive at a popular shore dive location. To me, having dived there many times over the years and in similar areas, I knew the incoming seas were too large for a comfortable entry and that a rip would be present. I went in from the bay side, they went in from the seaward side. They got tumbled, lost some fins and weights etc. My point, they did everything right and the local apparently either did not gauge the tides correctly or did not entirely know what he was doing. So, local advice is good but please apply common sense as well.

N

 

[Hickdive]

Get a chart for where you want to dive and a tide table for the port(s) specified for the chart.

Find the tidal diamond closest to your dive site and read off when the lowest current occurs at that diamond. For example, it might be an hour after HW at the specified port.

It won't be 100% accurate because the diamonds tend to be in shipping lanes whereas you'll probably be a bit closer inshore with lots of additional factors but it will give you a good starting point.

 

[local76sparky]

I'm diving PNW. It's pretty much what I am doing. Thanks for the input, just trying to see if there was a better method or website/app that everyone used.

 

[TSandM]

I think a lot of us use dairiki. If you look at the current graphic, slack is going to be where the curve crosses the zero line. Not all dive sites have specific current stations, though, so it's important to know the corrections for the place you want to go. Northwest Shore Dives is a book with this info in it for a lot of local sites. You can also ask on nwdiveclub.com - there's always somebody there that will know your site.

 

[drdaddy]

I was wondering how everyone determines their times to dive? I have an app for my tides but it doesn't show projected slack tide. I can't find anything that gives me that info quickly or user friendly. Any thoughts or suggestions?

I am a Pacific Northwest diver - mostly in Oregon, but a couple of times a year in Washington/Hoodsport area. We use a local tide card (check on the computer beforehand, I don't know about "APPS) - Slack is the period of time around a high or low tide where the water isn't running much, but exactly how much "slack" depends on the local conditions (including rain flowing down a river or offshore storm conditions). Wherever you are going to dive you should talk with someone local and even better is to also dive with someone local.

Bay Diving - it really depends on the Bay and what you are trying to do - here are some examples.

In the Newport/South Beach/Waldport, Oregon areas - talk with South Beach Scuba.

Yaquina Bay/Newport, Oregon - I like to dive from the South Jetty and do 2 dives with the 1st dive at 1 hour before high, 2nd dive at high tide slack. I don't like low tide dives because I have to climb down on the slippery rocks. If you want a little adventure, you can dive a little earlier or later than high tide and get a drift dive - but I'd suggest you try the slack high tide first.

Alsea Crab Hole/Waldport, Oregon - Low tide slack and there is only time for 1 dive. It's a narrow channel and you don't want to get swept up the river or out to sea! Besides, you can't catch crabs if you're trying to keep yourself from being banged into rocks, or even worse is getting entangled in crab pot lines!!!

Alsea Crab Dive/a bit upriver - 2 dives, usually 1st one hour before high and 2nd on high tide. A bit of a drift in the wider bay lets you go by the crabs and pick them up on the way.

Hoodsport, Washington/Sundrock, Mike's Beach, Octopus Hole, etc. - We aren't too bothered by the tides, but some critters are more likely seen on certain tides. Talk with Hood Sport and Dive.

Open Ocean - Tide doesn't bother us much when were offshore a bit.

 

[CT-Rich]

I am an East coast diver, but I have found some good resources to help plan dives and identify potentially good new spots and they apply to anywhere in the US.

When I am planning a dive or looking for new places to explore, I like to use a variety ofresources to help figure out what I want to do or expect at a given site on aparticular day. This website is really good, it has satellite images with chartoverlays and you can also look at the tide charts for most locations:
http://wa.usharbors.com/explore

There is a lot of useful stuff that you can find on thatsite, so click around.

I also like to look at the surf forecast, that gives you agood idea of wind direction and wave height. They also can make decent predictions going out several days. This will help you with guess-timatingvisibility for a site. Big surf = poorvisibility.

Here is a sample I pulled up randomly:
http://magicseaweed.com/La-Push-Surf-Report/308/

The main sight for WA is:

http://magicseaweed.com/Washington-Surf-Forecast/14/