Oh, there's no doubt that location plays a huge role. I did not intend to infer that tidal mechanics are all you needed to know. The best advice is always and will probably always remain to be that which you get from the local seadogs in the area you plan on diving at to give you the lowdown on the tides at that location. The best is also to go out yourself, eyeball the conditions in person, talk to the divers that just walked out of the surf or got of their dive boat to find out what the conditions look like at a specific location at that time.
The world's oceans are complex systems that takes more than a little effort to even start to yield some sense in understanding the fundamental concepts. I just felt that the OP's asking about basic understanding of tides warranted an introductory summary of the concepts.
The world's oceans are complex systems that takes more than a little effort to even start to yield some sense in understanding the fundamental concepts. I just felt that the OP's asking about basic understanding of tides warranted an introductory summary of the concepts.