Chivirico 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 18:00 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/Havana local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Chivirico sits roughly 100 km west of Santiago de Cuba on one of the most dramatically compressed coastlines in the Caribbean: the Sierra Maestra drops almost directly into the sea here, with the mountain ridge rising above 1,000 m within a few kilometres of the shoreline and the road from Santiago clinging to ledges cut into the cliff face above the water. Pico Turquino, Cuba's highest peak at 1,974 m, stands roughly 30 km east along the ridge and is visible on clear days from the beach at Chivirico as a serrated summit above the lower coastal hills. The village itself is small — a few hundred residents, a base for the adjacent Villa Chivirico beach resort, and the last significant settlement before the coast road deteriorates west toward Marea del Portillo. The beach runs east of the village, roughly 800 m of dark-sand and mixed-pebble shoreline backed by coconut palms, facing south across the open Caribbean toward Jamaica 180 km away. The orientation means it receives whatever swell the Caribbean generates from the south and southeast, with no significant coastal shelter except for the headlands at each end of the beach arc. The tidal regime is mixed semidiurnal Caribbean microtidal. Mean spring range on this open south coast runs approximately 30 to 50 cm, with two unequal highs and two unequal lows each day. The diurnal inequality is typical of the mixed Caribbean pattern: one of the daily highs is consistently the larger, one of the lows consistently the deeper. On a neap tide the swing compresses toward 15 to 25 cm. The actual water level at any moment is more strongly influenced by the direction and strength of Caribbean wind and by the passage of weather systems through the Windward Passage — between Cuba and Haiti — than by the astronomical tide. The Instituto Cubano de Hidrografía (GEOCUBA) is the authoritative tidal reference for Cuban waters; predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model, accurate to approximately ±45 min and ±0.2–0.3 m. For anglers, Chivirico is known for small-boat fishing in the waters immediately offshore. The continental shelf narrows sharply on this coast — the water deepens quickly beyond the near-shore zone — and snapper, grouper, and amberjack are the main targets. Pangas and small fibra boats launch from the beach or the small harbour structure at the village; the incoming tide in the pre-dawn window is the traditional session for the bottom-fishing grounds on the shelf edge. Shore fishing from the rocky points at each end of the beach produces jack crevalle and the occasional barracuda on the incoming tide. The Carretera del Sur — the south coast road connecting Santiago to the remote western cape — runs above the beach and the clifftop for much of this section. At several points between Chivirico and the resort, the road is carved directly into the cliff face with the sea visible directly below the guard rail, giving the drive one of the most striking coastal perspectives in Cuba. Landslide risk during heavy rain events occasionally closes sections of this road; the rainy season runs May through October, with tropical disturbance activity peaking August through October. For swimming and beach use, the beach at Chivirico is generally safe in calm weather. The slope is moderate, the water deepens gradually, and the south-facing orientation means the dominant swell arrives from south and southeast. Caribbean swells from Saharan low pressure systems or the early stages of tropical development in the Atlantic can produce a heavier south swell without warning; checking the Instituto de Meteorología de Cuba's marine forecast before any open-water activity is the standard practice. Beach-walkers and photographers benefit from the Sierra Maestra backdrop — the mountain ridge visible behind the beach is a compositional element found nowhere else on the Cuban coast. Morning light from the east illuminates the mountain face before it reaches the beach; afternoon light from the west catches the water and the palm fringe. The dramatic cliffs of the coast road above the village are best photographed from the beach itself in early morning. Predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine. Accuracy is typically ±45 min and ±0.2–0.3 m. GEOCUBA harmonic predictions are the authoritative source for any navigation in these waters.