Bastia 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 23:00 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 UTC local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Next spring tide on Sun 17 May (range 0.3m). Last neap on Wed 13 May. Next neap on Mon 18 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.

Bastia occupies the northeast corner of Corsica, backed by the long finger of the Cap Corse peninsula and facing the Ligurian Sea toward mainland Italy. It is Corsica's second-largest city and its busiest commercial port — ferries run daily to Marseille, Nice, and Livorno, and the old port, the Vieux-Port, still hosts a working fishing fleet between the tourist sailing yachts. The tidal range at Bastia is 0.30 m on spring tides, marginally larger than the southern and western coasts due to the slight amplification of the Ligurian basin. That 30 cm is the difference between the water touching the lowest mooring ring at high water and leaving a strip of dark granite visible at low — practically irrelevant for most activities but worth knowing when launching small boats over slippery algae-covered ramps. The tramontane is the defining weather feature of this coast. The wind funnels south down the Rhône valley, crosses the Gulf of Lion, and hits Cap Corse's northern tip with force. At Bastia, tramontane events bring gusts of 50–80 km/h, white-capped seas on the Ligurian side, and a 0.3 m suppression of sea level as the wind pushes water offshore. The harbor offers protection on these days, but the coast north toward Cap Corse becomes hazardous for small craft. Diving is the primary draw for underwater-oriented visitors. The Tombant de la Corce reef drops from 10 m on the wall top to more than 35 m, with red and yellow gorgonian sea fans, grouper, and conger eels in the darker reaches. Visibility averages 15–25 m on the northern Corsican coast — cleaner water than the gulf in the south because the Ligurian Sea has fewer river inputs and less boat traffic. Several dive centres operate out of the marina. The sea floor around Cap Corse is covered in posidonia seagrass from 3 m down to the light limit at around 30–40 m. At low water — 0.30 m below mean sea level — the seagrass edges in the shallower bays are occasionally exposed to air, and the seagrass rolls (matte morta) that accumulate on beaches after storms can be collected for traditional mattress filling; this practice is now restricted. Snorkellers working the rock ledges at the entrance to the Vieux-Port can see schools of bogue, saddled bream, and occasionally octopus in the crevices between the harbour wall stones. For photographers, the Vieux-Port at dawn has the light behind you from the east, illuminating the pastel buildings of the old Genoese town stacked up the hillside. The two Genoese towers flanking the port — Tour de l'Oratoire and Tour Saint-Marc — frame the water effectively. At high water, the reflections in the still morning harbour are cleaner; at low water, the exposed dark stone below the waterline adds texture. Neither is a rule, just a consideration. Families and casual beach-goers use the sandy beaches of the Marana plain 10 km south of Bastia — a long, flat sandy coast with calmer conditions than the rocky north-facing shore near the port. The tidal range does not change beach access materially either north or south. Fishing from the breakwaters and harbour walls is popular with locals. Target species are the same as the rest of the northeast coast: bream, loup de mer, and rouget (red mullet) in the channels. The commercial fleet based in the Vieux-Port targets red coral, sea urchins, and bottom fish. Night squid fishing with a jig from the harbour walls is productive in autumn when squid move inshore. The inland mountains rise steeply immediately behind the city to over 1200 m, funnelling strong thermal winds down to the coast in the afternoon during summer. A morning launch for any coastal paddle or sailing trip is the standard approach — same principle as the rest of the island. Tidal predictions here use the Open-Meteo Marine gridded model (±45 minutes on timing, ±0.3 m on height). Not for navigation.