Takoradi 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 04:00 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 Africa/Accra local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Last spring tide on Tue 19 May (range 1.4m). Next neap on Sat 23 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.

Takoradi is Ghana's main western port — a working industrial city that the discovery of offshore oil in the late 2000s transformed from a mid-size harbour town into the logistics backbone of the Jubilee, TEN, and Sankofa Gye Nyame oil fields. The city has grown fast around that infrastructure, and the coastal character that Takoradi once had — a compact fishing harbour, some colonial buildings, the natural shelter of the headland — has been complicated by a petroleum services sector that now dominates the foreshore east of the commercial port. None of which is a reason not to come here. Takoradi is the hub for the entire Western Ghana coast: the road connections, the accommodation range, the markets, and the fuel-and-food supply chains that support the surf and dive operations at Busua, Dixcove, and Cape Three Points all run through this city. Understanding what Takoradi is — a busy port and industrial town, not a beach resort — sets expectations correctly and makes the actually good bits easier to find. The waterfront itself divides into the commercial port, which handles the oil-field supply vessels and freight, and the artisanal fishing harbour, which is a genuinely remarkable operation. The fishing canoe fleet — entirely hand-powered wooden boats, many of them 12 to 15 metres long, painted in bright colours with Akan proverbs and football club insignia along the hull — launches before dawn most mornings and returns around mid-morning with catch from the overnight sets. The fish market running alongside the harbour from about 5 am is one of the most active in Ghana: snapper, grouper, yellowfin tuna, barracuda, and occasional dorado come in alongside the everyday reef species. The contrast between the artisanal canoes in the foreground and the jack-up rigs visible offshore on the horizon is one of those specifically Takoradi things. Sekondi, immediately east of Takoradi and officially its twin city, has an older and more settled character. The colonial-era railway station — the western terminus of the original Gold Coast Railway built in the 1900s — is still partially operational. Fort Orange, a Dutch fort from the 1600s, stands near the Sekondi waterfront and is in better condition than most of the coastal forts in Ghana. Sekondi beach, east of the harbour entrance, is where the outgoing tide exposes a broad sand flat that becomes the working territory of wading birds — whimbrel, sandpiper, egret — and of women collecting shellfish from the exposed rock pools. The tidal regime at Takoradi is semi-diurnal with spring ranges of 0.8 to 1.2 metres. The semi-enclosed harbour attenuates wave energy considerably inside the port walls. The open beaches east and west of the port see the direct Gulf of Guinea swell and have rips and shore break that should be treated with care. Tide predictions from Open-Meteo Marine carry ±45 min / ±0.3 m accuracy. For offshore fishing, boat charters targeting wahoo, dorado, and yellowfin tuna over the outer banks are available from the commercial harbour; the October–January cooler-water season is typically the most productive. For surf and beach, the drive west to Busua (40 km, 40 minutes) is the standard move. For divers, Cape Three Points to the southwest has the deepest and most intact reef structures on this section of coast. Accommodation in Takoradi ranges from basic guesthouses near the lorry park to comfortable business hotels used by oil-industry contractors; the latter are significantly more comfortable for the money than anything available at the surf camps. The twin-city is also the place to arrange Cape Three Points boat charters — the southernmost tip of Ghana, about 90 km southwest, has the deepest nearshore reef structures in the Western Region and is the most consistent location for offshore pelagic fishing on the Gold Coast.