Chania 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 02:00 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/Athens local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Chania is on the northwest coast of Crete, a city built around a Venetian harbour that is the most photographed in Greece after Santorini. The harbour is a crescent of 14th-century Venetian warehouses and walls, completed by an Egyptian lighthouse on the breakwater and the white dome of the Küçük Hasan Mosque (1645). The working waterfront is now entirely restaurants and tavernas; the actual port function has moved to Souda Bay, 8 km east. Tidal range on the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean is negligible: 0.1 to 0.3 metres. The beaches west of Chania are the most praised in Crete. Stavros beach (made famous by the 1964 film Zorba the Greek), Balos lagoon (accessible by boat from Kissamos or by rough 4WD track), and the pink sand of Elafonisi (on the southwest cape of Crete) are all within 80 km and represent distinct beach types: enclosed bay, turquoise lagoon, and shallow barrier sandbar respectively. Balos's turquoise water in the enclosed lagoon is the classic image; Elafonisi's pink-tinged sand (from crushed pink coral) is the most unusual. The Samaria Gorge, 40 km south of Chania, is a 16-km gorge descent from the Omalos plateau to the Libyan Sea at Agia Roumeli, accessible only by boat from the south. The gorge hike takes 5 to 7 hours downhill; the return is by boat to Chora Sfakion and bus back to Chania. The gorge is one of the longest in Europe and passes through the White Mountains (Lefka Ori) National Park. Season runs May through October when the water level in the gorge is low enough for safe passage. Diving in the Chania region is centred on the reefs and wrecks off the northwest cape. The Gramvousa peninsula reefs have excellent visibility (20 to 25 m) and fish density. The German Dornier aircraft wreck in Almyrida Bay (15 m depth, 80 years of colonisation) is the most accessible wreck dive near Chania. Several dive centres operate from Chania harbour. Predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model. Accuracy is typically within plus or minus 45 minutes on timing and 0.2 to 0.3 metres on height — model-derived, not from a local gauge. For Greek coastal conditions, consult the Hellenic National Meteorological Service at emy.gr.