San Diego tides today
The San Diego tide gauge stands at the Broadway Pier on the downtown waterfront, inside San Diego Bay, and NOAA uses it as the reference for the bay and the nearby ocean shore.
Shaded: night. Green bands: solunar periods (thick = major, thin = minor). Heights in feet above Mean Lower Low Water, the zero of NOAA charts.
San Diego, CA · Tuesday, October 13
Tide falling, 2.5 ft now
Low 5:48 PM
0.3 ft · in 3 h 7 min
| Low | 4:18 AM | 2.2 ft |
| High | 10:37 AM | 6.1 ft |
| Low | 5:48 PM | 0.3 ft |
Tide coefficient 104 (average), range 5.9 ft
Sunrise 6:51 AM · sunset 6:18 PM
Waxing crescent, 10% lit · fishing day ★★☆☆
Solunar: major 1:34 AM–3:34 AM, minor 9:26 AM–10:26 AM, major 1:59 PM–3:59 PM, minor 7:27 PM–8:27 PM
San Diego tide table, next 7 days
| Day | High tides | Low tides | Coef. | Sun | Moon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:37 AM 6.1 ft | 4:18 AM 2.2 ft · 5:48 PM 0.3 ft | 104 | 6:51 AM–6:18 PM | Waxing crescent ★★☆☆ | |
| 12:06 AM 3.8 ft · 11:01 AM 5.8 ft | 4:35 AM 2.6 ft · 6:35 PM 0.6 ft | 93 | 6:52 AM–6:17 PM | Waxing crescent ★★☆☆ | |
| 1:09 AM 3.4 ft · 11:28 AM 5.5 ft | 4:44 AM 2.9 ft · 7:33 PM 1.0 ft | 80 | 6:53 AM–6:15 PM | Waxing crescent ★★☆☆ | |
| 12:03 PM 5.0 ft | 8:53 PM 1.2 ft | 68 | 6:54 AM–6:14 PM | First quarter ★★☆☆ | |
| 1:14 PM 4.6 ft | 10:26 PM 1.2 ft | 61 | 6:54 AM–6:13 PM | First quarter ★★☆☆ | |
| 7:17 AM 3.9 ft · 3:26 PM 4.4 ft | 9:39 AM 3.8 ft · 11:29 PM 1.0 ft | 60 | 6:55 AM–6:12 PM | First quarter ★★☆☆ | |
| 6:56 AM 4.2 ft · 4:59 PM 4.5 ft | 11:33 AM 3.4 ft | 21 | 6:56 AM–6:11 PM | First quarter ★★☆☆ |
Plan around the tide at San Diego
- Tue Oct 13, 4:09 PM to 6:18 PM2 h 9 min · lowest 0.3 ft at 5:48 PM
- Wed Oct 14, 5:14 PM to 6:17 PM1 h 3 min · lowest 0.6 ft at 6:13 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 SAN DIEGO (Broadway) (NOAA 9410170). Predicted astronomical tide: wind, river flow and storms can move the real water by a foot or more. 5.6 ft is the average daily range here.
Published by Radif Partners · How the tides are computed · predictions downloaded October 13, 2026
Tide times for San Diego come from the National Ocean Service prediction for station 9410170, SAN DIEGO (Broadway). The tide here is mixed: two highs and two lows most days, but of unequal size, the two highs of a day differing by 1.7 ft on average, for an average daily range of 5.6 ft between the higher high and the lower low. Around the new and full moon the range grows to about 7.7 ft on one day in ten, and at the quarter moons it shrinks to 3.6 ft. Heights are in feet above Mean Lower Low Water, the zero of nautical charts, so a negative number is water below that zero: 219 of the 457 days from October 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027 have one, down to -2.0 ft on January 21, 2027. The highest predicted tide of that period is 7.6 ft on December 24, 2026. Clock times are Pacific Time, daylight saving time included.
A bay gauge for a city of ocean beaches
Most people who look up San Diego tides are heading for sand that faces the Pacific: Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Coronado or La Jolla. This station is none of those. It sits on the protected water of San Diego Bay, behind Point Loma and North Island, where the downtown piers and the Navy docks are. The good news is that the bay entrance is wide and deep, so the tide inside keeps almost the same rhythm as the open coast. NOAA predicts Point Loma from this gauge with high water 9 minutes earlier and heights at 92 percent, Imperial Beach with the same high-water time and heights at 93 percent, and Quivira Basin in Mission Bay 5 minutes later at 95 percent. For a beach plan, these few minutes rarely matter.
Why the downtown range runs a little larger
Water funneling into a long bay piles up slightly toward its inner reaches, so the average day here spans 5.6 ft, against 5.3 ft at the Scripps Pier in La Jolla, the true ocean reference of the county. The pattern is the Pacific one: a higher high and a lower high, a deeper low and a shallower low, with the deepest lows of winter falling in the afternoon and those of late spring and summer in the dark hours before dawn. Spring tides open the range to 7.7 ft; at the quarter moons it closes to 3.6 ft.
Reading this page for the rocky shore
San Diego's tide pools are on the open coast, on the rock benches of Point Loma and around La Jolla, not along the bay. They show their lower zones only when the water drops below the chart zero, and a swell can wash over a bench even at a good low. Take the time of the low from this page, arrive an hour before it, and keep the ocean in view: waves on this coast come in sets, and the quiet between them can be long. The negative low tide calendar lists the mornings and afternoons worth the trip.
Highest and lowest tides at San Diego, 2026 to 2027
The six highest highs and six lowest lows predicted for SAN DIEGO (Broadway) 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 |
|---|---|---|
| December 24, 2026 | 8:29 AM | 7.6 ft |
| August 1, 2027 | 9:02 PM | 7.6 ft |
| December 23, 2026 | 7:42 AM | 7.5 ft |
| July 3, 2027 | 9:10 PM | 7.5 ft |
| July 4, 2027 | 9:57 PM | 7.5 ft |
| August 2, 2027 | 9:49 PM | 7.5 ft |
| Lowest lows | Time | Height |
|---|---|---|
| January 21, 2027 | 2:51 PM | -2.0 ft |
| January 22, 2027 | 3:30 PM | -2.0 ft |
| December 24, 2026 | 3:50 PM | -1.9 ft |
| December 23, 2026 | 3:05 PM | -1.8 ft |
| January 20, 2027 | 2:11 PM | -1.7 ft |
| December 25, 2026 | 4:36 PM | -1.7 ft |
Tidal datums at station 9410170
NOAA's averages over the 1983-2001 epoch, measured from the chart zero (MLLW). Average range of the tide (MN): 4.1 ft; great diurnal range (GT): 5.7 ft.
| Datum | Meaning | Height above MLLW |
|---|---|---|
| MHHW | Mean Higher High Water | 5.7 ft |
| MHW | Mean High Water | 5.0 ft |
| MSL | Mean Sea Level | 2.9 ft |
| MLW | Mean Low Water | 0.9 ft |
| MLLW | Mean Lower Low Water (chart zero) | 0.0 ft |
Other stations nearby
- La Jolla tides: La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf), average range 5.3 ft, highest predicted tide 7.2 ft on August 1, 2027
- Newport Beach tides: Balboa Pier, Newport Beach, average range 5.3 ft, highest predicted tide 7.0 ft on December 24, 2026
- Long Beach tides: Long Beach, Terminal Island, average range 5.6 ft, highest predicted tide 7.4 ft on December 24, 2026
- Santa Monica tides: Santa Monica, Municipal Pier, average range 5.4 ft, highest predicted tide 7.3 ft on August 1, 2027
- Santa Barbara tides: Santa Barbara, average range 5.4 ft, highest predicted tide 7.2 ft on December 24, 2026
- Monterey tides: MONTEREY, MONTEREY BAY, average range 5.3 ft, highest predicted tide 7.0 ft on December 24, 2026