Gulf Shores tides today
The Gulf Shores station is on the Intracoastal Waterway that cuts across the town behind the beach, not on the surf itself, a detail worth knowing before you use its times.
Shaded: night. Green bands: solunar periods (thick = major, thin = minor). Heights in feet above Mean Lower Low Water, the zero of NOAA charts.
Gulf Shores, AL · Tuesday, October 13
Tide rising, 0.7 ft now
High 12:43 AM
1.7 ft · in 8 h 2 min
| Low | 12:39 PM | 0.3 ft |
Sunrise 6:52 AM · sunset 6:22 PM
Waxing crescent, 10% lit · fishing day ★★☆☆
Solunar: major 1:32 AM–3:32 AM, minor 9:17 AM–10:17 AM, major 1:57 PM–3:57 PM, minor 7:33 PM–8:33 PM
Gulf Shores tide table, next 7 days
| Day | High tides | Low tides | Coef. | Sun | Moon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:39 PM 0.3 ft | 6:52 AM–6:22 PM | Waxing crescent ★★☆☆ | |||
| 12:43 AM 1.7 ft | 1:37 PM 0.3 ft | 118 | 6:52 AM–6:21 PM | Waxing crescent ★★☆☆ | |
| 1:36 AM 1.7 ft | 2:36 PM 0.3 ft | 115 | 6:53 AM–6:20 PM | Waxing crescent ★★☆☆ | |
| 2:36 AM 1.6 ft | 3:34 PM 0.3 ft | 110 | 6:54 AM–6:18 PM | First quarter ★★☆☆ | |
| 3:36 AM 1.6 ft | 4:28 PM 0.3 ft | 109 | 6:54 AM–6:17 PM | First quarter ★★☆☆ | |
| 4:34 AM 1.6 ft | 5:13 PM 0.3 ft | 105 | 6:55 AM–6:16 PM | First quarter ★★☆☆ | |
| 5:29 AM 1.5 ft | 5:45 PM 0.4 ft | 97 | 6:56 AM–6:15 PM | First quarter ★★☆☆ |
Plan around the tide at Gulf Shores
- Tue Oct 13, 4:41 PM to 6:22 PM1 h 41 min · lowest 0.3 ft at 12:42 PM
- Wed Oct 14, 6:52 AM to 6:21 PM11 h 29 min · lowest 0.3 ft at 1:37 PM
- Thu Oct 15, 7:04 AM to 6:20 PM11 h 16 min · lowest 0.3 ft at 2:53 PM
- Fri Oct 16, 8:04 AM to 6:18 PM10 h 14 min · lowest 0.3 ft at 3:54 PM
- Sat Oct 17, 9:09 AM to 6:17 PM9 h 8 min · lowest 0.3 ft at 4:28 PM
- Sun Oct 18, 10:09 AM to 6:16 PM8 h 7 min · lowest 0.3 ft at 5:03 PM
- Mon Oct 19, 11:00 AM to 6:15 PM7 h 15 min · lowest 0.4 ft at 5:45 PM
A falling tide uncovers sand bars and tide pools first; plan to be back before the water rises past the level you chose. Not for navigation.
Station Gulf Shores, ICWW (NOAA 8731439). Predicted astronomical tide: wind, river flow and storms can move the real water by a foot or more. 1.2 ft is the average daily range here.
Published by Radif Partners · How the tides are computed · predictions downloaded October 13, 2026
Tide times for Gulf Shores come from the National Ocean Service prediction for station 8731439, Gulf Shores, ICWW. The tide here is mostly diurnal: on 89% of days there is a single high and a single low, and the water rises or falls for hours at a time with an average daily range of only 1.2 ft. Around the new and full moon the range grows to about 1.7 ft on one day in ten, and at the quarter moons it shrinks to 0.4 ft. Heights are in feet above Mean Lower Low Water, the zero of nautical charts, so a negative number is water below that zero: 198 of the 457 days from October 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027 have one, down to -0.8 ft on January 21, 2027. The highest predicted tide of that period is 1.8 ft on October 2, 2026. Clock times are Central Time, daylight saving time included.
A canal gauge for a beach town
1.2 ft is the average daily movement at the Gulf Shores waterway gauge, and on 89% of days it comes as one long rise and one long fall. The station sits on the Intracoastal Waterway, the dredged channel that runs east and west a short way inland from the beach and links Mobile Bay with Perdido Bay. Boaters launching into the canal or the bays get a direct reading. Beachgoers get a close approximation: NOAA keeps a separate station at the Gulf State Park Pier, two and a half miles southeast, which is the one that actually faces the open Gulf.
Bon Secour, Wolf Bay and the passes
West of town, the Bon Secour River runs into the bay of the same name. NOAA builds its prediction from Mobile State Dock, the reference far up Mobile Bay, giving the river high water 73 minutes earlier than Mobile and heights 7 percent larger. That early timing shows how long the tide takes to work its way up the main bay to the city. To the east, Wolf Bay and Alabama Point, where Perdido Pass opens to the Gulf, have their own gauges.
When water rises without the moon
A canal and a set of shallow bays respond quickly to weather. Several days of southerly wind push the Gulf in and lift the waterway well above the table, which is why the highest prediction here, 1.8 ft on October 2, 2026, is a modest figure next to what storms bring. The opposite comes with winter northers that can leave docks high and ramps shallow. Treat the chart above as the astronomical part of the story, then look at the wind; the boat ramp planner helps with the first half, and Dauphin Island shows the tide at the mouth of Mobile Bay.
Highest and lowest tides at Gulf Shores, 2026 to 2027
The six highest highs and six lowest lows predicted for Gulf Shores, ICWW between October 1, 2026 and December 31, 2027, one per day. The high-water dates are the king tides of this station; the low-water dates are the best days to see the flats, bars and tide pools.
| Highest highs | Time | Height |
|---|---|---|
| October 2, 2026 | 3:26 AM | 1.8 ft |
| October 3, 2026 | 4:35 AM | 1.8 ft |
| October 29, 2026 | 12:59 AM | 1.8 ft |
| October 30, 2026 | 2:10 AM | 1.8 ft |
| October 4, 2026 | 5:44 AM | 1.8 ft |
| October 1, 2026 | 2:18 AM | 1.7 ft |
| Lowest lows | Time | Height |
|---|---|---|
| January 21, 2027 | 9:33 AM | -0.8 ft |
| January 20, 2027 | 8:42 AM | -0.8 ft |
| January 22, 2027 | 10:20 AM | -0.7 ft |
| December 24, 2026 | 10:38 AM | -0.7 ft |
| January 19, 2027 | 7:48 AM | -0.7 ft |
| December 25, 2026 | 11:30 AM | -0.7 ft |
Tidal datums at station 8731439
NOAA's averages over the 1983-2001 epoch, measured from the chart zero (MLLW). Average range of the tide (MN): 1.1 ft; great diurnal range (GT): 1.2 ft.
| Datum | Meaning | Height above MLLW |
|---|---|---|
| MHHW | Mean Higher High Water | 1.2 ft |
| MHW | Mean High Water | 1.2 ft |
| MSL | Mean Sea Level | 0.6 ft |
| MLW | Mean Low Water | 0.1 ft |
| MLLW | Mean Lower Low Water (chart zero) | 0.0 ft |
Other stations nearby
- Dauphin Island tides: DAUPHIN ISLAND, average range 1.3 ft, highest predicted tide 2.0 ft on October 30, 2026