Fanø 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 06:00 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/Copenhagen local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Last spring tide on Thu 07 May (range 1.4m). Next spring tide on Mon 11 May (range 1.6m). Next neap on Sun 10 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.

Fanø is a barrier island 20 minutes by ferry from Esbjerg, shaped entirely by the interplay of North Sea waves and Wadden Sea tides. The western shore faces the open North Sea with a beach that runs the full 16 km length of the island — one of the widest, flattest, and most impressive stretches of sand on any Danish coast. The eastern shore is Wadden Sea: shallow tidal channels, extensive intertidal flats, and salt marshes that drain dramatically at low water with the ~1.7 m range shared with Esbjerg. That difference between the two shores is the defining feature of any visit to Fanø — you can walk from a North Sea swell beach to kilometres of exposed tidal mudflat in 15 minutes across the island's narrow waist. The birdlife is extraordinary. During spring and autumn migration, millions of waders — dunlin, knot, sanderling, grey plover, bar-tailed godwit — use the Wadden Sea flats as a refuelling stop on intercontinental journeys. Low water on Fanø's east side during peak migration windows (late April–May, July–September) is when concentration is highest. Rindby Strand and Fanø Bad are the main beach settlements on the western shore; both are accessible from Nordby (the ferry terminal village in the northeast) via the island's road and cycle path network. High water on the western beach doesn't reduce access, but the tide line moves noticeably — plan for a wider beach experience at low water. In storm conditions, North Sea swell combined with surge can produce powerful wave run-up on the western shore; the beach is not safe for swimming when swell exceeds 1.5–2.0 m. DMI (Danmarks Meteorologiske Institut) is the authoritative source for predictions; Open-Meteo Marine supplements with modelled accuracy of ±45 minutes and ±0.2–0.3 m.