Bénodet 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/Paris local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Last spring tide on Thu 07 May (range 2.3m). Next spring tide on Wed 13 May (range 2.8m). 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.

Bénodet stands at the mouth of the Odet river, where one of Brittany's most scenic estuaries opens into the Bay of Biscay 20 km south of Quimper. The river narrows as it goes north — from the open sea approach at Bénodet through wooded gorges past Quimper, where the tidal influence still reaches the city centre and the cathedral sits above a stretch of river that covers and uncovers twice daily. At Bénodet the estuary is broad enough to hold a working marina and a ferry terminal while remaining narrow enough that the ebb current in the main channel runs 1.5–2 knots at mid-tide on springs. The tidal regime at Bénodet is semidiurnal with a mean range of approximately 3.2 m (Chart Datum). Spring range reaches 4.5–4.8 m; neap range drops to around 1.8–2.0 m. High water at Bénodet occurs roughly 6 hours 10 minutes after Dover standard — the tidal wave has rounded the Pointe du Raz at the tip of the Finistère peninsula and refracted into the inner Baie de la Forêt. The swell climate at the mouth is Atlantic: west and southwest swells enter on flood tide, amplified slightly by the estuary funnel on big ocean events. The beach on the west side of the estuary mouth (Plage de Trez-Melen and the Côte de Cornouaille strand) is exposed enough to surf when a 1–2 metre Atlantic swell is running; the east bank and the marina are sheltered from the southwest by the river geometry. The Odet upstream from Bénodet is one of the most-visited river routes in Brittany. Boat trips run from the Bénodet marina to Quimper (45 minutes, tide-dependent scheduling) through the wooded estuary known locally as the Odet gorges — steep hillsides of oak and beech dropping to the river, no road alongside for much of the route, the tide visible in the channel colour shift between the green river flow and the sea-green flood water. The boats run on the flood tide and return on the ebb; the schedule is printed against the tide times, not the clock. Îles de Glénan lie 16 km southwest of Bénodet, visible on a clear day from the estuary mouth as a low line of islands above the horizon. The archipelago — eight main islands and numerous rocks and drying patches — is the principal sailing school destination in Brittany. The Centre Nautique des Glénan, founded in 1947, operates from the island of Saint-Nicolas and has trained several generations of French offshore sailors. The anchorage at Île de Penfret holds 40–60 boats in summer; the holding ground is sand over rock, and the anchorage is exposed to easterly swells. Diving at the Glénan is cited as the clearest water in metropolitan France — visibility 20–25 m in calm conditions in late summer when Atlantic plankton blooms have subsided. Access to the Glénan from Bénodet is by passenger ferry (June–September, approximately 45 minutes) or by private yacht. The approach through the Glenan channels requires careful chart reading — the rocks are numerous, drying heights vary by 0.5–2.5 m above Chart Datum, and the tidal stream in the outer channels is 1–2 knots on springs. A detailed SHOM chart (1:25,000 series for the Iles de Glénan) and tide table are required for any boat passage. The ferry uses the buoyed approach channel. For kayakers, the Odet estuary from Bénodet north to Quimper is among the best river touring routes in Finistère: tidal assistance upstream on the flood, calm sheltered water, and consistent scenery. The Glénan are a serious open-water objective — 16 km offshore across a coast with limited shelter and Atlantic swell — appropriate for experienced sea kayakers with support; the ferry is the safer route for most visitors. Surfing the Cornouaille coast beaches south of Quimper — Beg-Meil, La Forêt-Fouesnant — develops in the same Atlantic westerly swell windows that make the Glénan approach uncomfortable for small craft. Tide data for Bénodet comes from the Open-Meteo Marine API (±45 min / ±0.2–0.3 m). Authoritative tidal reference is published by SHOM for Bénodet and Quimper on the Odet estuary.