Ksamil, Sarandë District tide times

Predictions: Open-Meteo Marine (MeteoFrance SMOC, 0.08° grid) — heights relative to MSL (not chart datum / LAT). Model-derived.

Model-derived from a global ocean grid. Useful indication; expect about ±45 minutes on average vs. a local harmonic gauge, individual stations vary widely. See /methodology for per-region detail. Not for navigation.

Conditions as of 00:00 local time. Refreshes daily.

Predictions: Open-Meteo Marine (MeteoFrance SMOC, 0.08° grid) — heights relative to MSL (not chart datum / LAT). Model-derived. · Not for navigation.

The angler tradition for major/minor fishing windows: major ≈3-hour windows around moon transit and opposition; minor ≈2-hour windows around moonrise and moonset. Times are Europe/Tirane local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Ksamil is a village at the southern end of the Albanian Riviera, 3 km north of the Greek border, where the Ionian Sea narrows toward the Corfu Channel. Four small offshore islets sit within 100-400 m of the village beach, visible from the sand — and on the lowest spring tides, the nearest islet is connected to the mainland by a sandbar shallow enough to wade across. The islets are the defining feature of the place. They're not large — the biggest is roughly 200 m across — but they're positioned such that the channels between them create a sheltered lagoon effect, and the white sandy bottom at 2-4 m depth gives the water an implausible turquoise colour. Visibility in calm conditions runs 20-25 m. Snorkelling around the islet bases reveals Posidonia seagrass beds, dense populations of date mussels on the rock faces, sea bream in the gaps between boulders, and the occasional octopus in shallower hollows. The combination of clear water, sandy bottom, and the visual anchor of the islets makes Ksamil one of the most photographed beaches in Albania — an effect amplified by the fact that Corfu is visible on the horizon to the south-southwest, its mountains rising above the Ionian water. The tidal regime is the same Ionian microtidal pattern found along this entire coast: mean range 0.2-0.4 m, mixed semi-diurnal. Two highs and two lows per day. The range is small enough that it would normally be irrelevant — except at Ksamil, the low-tide sandbar connection to the nearest islet is the event that gets people talking. The sandbar is submerged at mean sea level; it emerges only when the lower of the two daily lows coincides with spring tide conditions (near new or full moon). At that point, water over the sandbar drops to ankle depth — typically 0.05-0.15 m — for roughly 45-90 minutes. The timing varies by date and by the degree of diurnal inequality on that particular day. Tideturtle shows the predicted water level for Ksamil; look for days where the lower low water reading falls below 0.1 m above chart datum, and plan the visit for 30 minutes before that predicted low. Butrint National Park lies immediately south of Ksamil, and Butrint itself — the ancient city and UNESCO World Heritage Site — is the nearest major site at roughly 5 km by road. Ksamil serves as the primary gateway village for visitors to Butrint; the road south from Ksamil runs along the eastern shore of Butrint Lake, and the park entrance is at the Vivari Channel where a cable ferry crosses to the site. Butrint Lake is partially visible from the higher ground above the village — a flat expanse of water southeast of the beach, separated from the sea by a narrow strip of land. For families, the combination of the shallow, clear lagoon between the islets and the sandbar at low spring tide makes Ksamil one of the more compelling beach destinations in the region for children. The sandy bottom eliminates the stubbed-toe problem of pebble beaches; the visibility means kids can watch fish without masks; the sandbar crossing is an event that children remember. The caveats: the beach has become genuinely busy in July and August, water taxis to the islets run constantly and the engine noise is audible from the beach, and sunbeds now cover most of the sand in front of the main bars. For snorkellers, the islet bases hold the best biodiversity. Date mussels (Lithophaga lithophaga) colonise the rock faces to about 3 m depth, their elongated shells boring into the limestone. Sea bream school in the Posidonia margins at 3-5 m. The channel between the second and third islets, being slightly narrower, sees more tidal current than the main lagoon — small fish aggregate here on the flood tide, making it the most productive snorkelling zone when the tide is rising. For photographers, the low-tide sandbar crossing provides a rare composition in this part of the Mediterranean: a line of people wading through turquoise water toward a small wooded island, with Corfu on the horizon. The best light is morning (northeast-facing beach catches early sun) or the hour before sunset when the islets cast long shadows across the lagoon. The sandbar itself only appears in the right conditions — check the tide table and don't assume it will be there. For anglers, the rocky bases of the islets and the drop-off zone along the outer edge of the islet chain hold sea bream, grouper, and wrasse. Shore casting from the beach is productive on the eastern end where the bottom transitions from sand to rock at around 50 m range. The flooding tide concentrates fish near the islet gaps as tidal current (weak but real) pushes small baitfish through the channels. Tide data for Ksamil, Sarandë District comes from the Open-Meteo Marine API, a gridded model product. Timing accuracy is ±45 minutes, height accuracy ±0.3 m — usable for trip planning, not for navigation.