St. John's, NL 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 01:00 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 America/Halifax local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Next spring tide on Thu 07 May (range 0.7m). Next neap on Sat 09 May.

Spring tides cluster around new and full moons (biggest swings). Neap tides land on quarter moons (smallest swings). See the spring tide and neap tide glossary entries for the why.

St. John's Harbour sits behind one of the most dramatic natural entrances on the North American east coast. The Narrows is a 200-metre-wide channel cut between Signal Hill — 99 metres of quartzite headland on the north — and the South Side Hills on the south, compressing the full tidal exchange of the harbour into a passage narrow enough to shout across. Once inside, the harbour opens into a sheltered basin 1.5 kilometres long by 500 metres wide, used continuously as a port of call since the 16th century. The tidal regime at St. John's is semidiurnal. Mean range is approximately 1.3 metres above MLLW (mean lower low water); spring range reaches around 1.6 metres. These numbers are the baseline — North Atlantic cyclones tracking up the coast can add storm surge that lifts water levels by 0.5 to 1.0 metre above predicted heights. The Narrows compounds the effect: a raised sea state outside pushes water through the constriction faster and higher than the tide tables alone would suggest. Mariners and kayakers transiting the Narrows time their passage to avoid the worst of the ebb, which runs at 1 to 2 knots on springs and stronger on storm-driven ebbs. Signal Hill dominates the north side of the Narrows and the skyline above the city. Cabot Tower at the summit marks the spot where Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless signal on 12 December 1901 — the letter S, transmitted from Poldhu, Cornwall, 3,500 kilometres away. The tower stands at 99 metres above sea level; the view from the tower platform covers the full arc of Conception Bay to the west, Iceberg Alley to the east, and the entrance to the Narrows directly below. In March through June, icebergs drifting south on the Labrador Current are visible from Signal Hill — some grounding in shallow water in the approach to St. John's. Cape Spear is 10 kilometres south of the harbour entrance, the easternmost land point of North America (47.5232°N, 52.6191°W). Two lighthouses stand there — the active tower from 1955 and the restored original from 1836. At low water, the rock platforms at the base of the cape are accessible on foot from the parking area; at high water on a ground swell, wave wash can reach the lower path. The coastal walk between Cuckold's Cove (near the Narrows south side) and Cape Spear along the East Coast Trail is approximately 12 kilometres return. The downtown waterfront — Water Street — follows the north shore of the harbour, built at the edge of the historic port area. George Street and Duckworth Street above it carry the bar and restaurant density. The social life of St. John's is concentrated here; the city has one of the highest pub densities per capita in North America. Jiggs' dinner (salt beef, cabbage, turnip, potatoes, pease pudding), toutons (fried bread dough with molasses), and fish and brewis (salt cod with hardtack biscuit) are the canonical local foods. Iceberg season on the Avalon Peninsula runs March through July. The Iceberg Finder app (produced by the Canadian Ice Service) tracks real-time iceberg positions; the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, 25 kilometres south of St. John's, is the best shore-based vantage point during peak season. Puffin and seabird colonies at Witless Bay are accessible by boat tour from Bay Bulls from May through August. Tide predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model. Accuracy is typically within plus or minus 45 minutes on timing and 0.2 to 0.3 metres on height — model-derived, not from the DFO St. John's gauge. For authoritative official Canadian predictions, consult Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) at tides.gc.ca — the Canadian Tidal Prediction Service publishes verified predictions for St. John's Harbour.