Murud, Maharashtra 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 03:30 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 Asia/Kolkata local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Next spring tide on Wed 06 May (range 2.4m). 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.

Murud is a small beach town on the Konkan coast, 165 km south of Mumbai, and it occupies a particular position in Indian coastal history. The reason is Janjira Fort — an island sea fort in the estuary mouth that has never been taken by siege, assault, or sustained military campaign. For over 300 years it resisted the Mughals, the Portuguese, the British, and the Marathas under Shivaji and his successors. The fort still stands, essentially intact, on a basalt island roughly 300 m from the Rajapuri jetty on the estuary's eastern bank. The Arabian Sea tide at Murud is semidiurnal, with a mean spring range of 2.5 m to 3.5 m. That tidal movement drives a notable current through the estuary channel between the Rajapuri jetty and the fort. On spring tides, the channel current reaches 2 to 3 knots — strong enough to affect the local fishing boats and the small wooden passenger vessels that carry visitors to the fort. Boat operators time departures to avoid the strongest phase of the flood or ebb. If you are visiting on a spring tide day, expect some delay or a rougher crossing; the boats handle it, but the journey takes longer against a 3-knot ebb. The fort walls rise directly from the sea — no beach, no intertidal platform, no landing point except the single protected entrance gate on the western face. At high water, the fort appears to float. At low water, dark basalt reefs emerge around the base of the walls, but there is still no way to walk to the fort dry-shod. Access is always by boat from the Rajapuri jetty, a 10-minute crossing in normal conditions. Boat operators congregate at the jetty from early morning and charge a fixed rate for the return trip. Inside the fort, the scale is surprising. The walls are 12 m high in places, large enough to contain open ground, ruined residential buildings, a mosque, multiple water cisterns, and — the detail that makes engineers pause — two freshwater lakes. Rainwater was channelled and retained within the fort walls during its construction, providing the garrison with drinking water independent of any outside supply. That supply security was one reason sustained sieges failed: the fort could not be starved of water. Both lakes remain today, the water still sweet despite the saltwater surrounding the island on all sides. The Janjira Fort was constructed by the Siddis of Janjira — an Abyssinian community who controlled this stretch of the Konkan coast through the 17th and 18th centuries. They repelled a major Maratha attack in 1659 when Shivaji attempted to approach by sea using camouflaged boats; the Siddis saw through the disguise and drove off the fleet. Later Maratha attempts under Shivaji's son Sambhaji and descendants of the Peshwa were similarly unsuccessful. The fort's position in 4–6 m of water at low tide and the strong tidal currents in the approach channel made any surface assault extremely difficult. A partially constructed underwater tunnel — started by the Marathas in an attempt to approach below the waterline — was abandoned before completion. Murud beach runs for several kilometres to the north and south of town. The sand is dark and volcanic, the beach wide at low tide and steep at high. Murud is quieter than Alibaug and draws fewer day-trippers; the crowd thins out considerably south of the main beach access point. Phadke Island, a smaller islet adjacent to the main Janjira Fort, is visible from the beach and accessible at the lowest spring tides by experienced boatmen, though there is nothing formal to land for. For paddlers, the estuary and creek systems south of Murud offer sheltered flatwater on the flood tide, with mangrove channels extending several kilometres inland. The tidal creek north of town is calmer and more suitable for beginners. Current in the main estuary channel should be treated with respect — a 2-knot flood tide is manageable in a kayak but will push you significantly if you cross it without adjusting your ferry angle. Anglers fishing from Murud beach target pomfret and silver biddy in the surf zone during the flood tide. The rocky reefs at the southern end of town, accessible at low water, hold snapper and travelly. Local Koli fishers launch from the beach at first light on the ebb tide and return on the flood — watching the beach from 05:30 gives a sense of how the tidal schedule shapes the working day. Tide data for Murud, Maharashtra comes from the Open-Meteo Marine API, a gridded model product. Timing accuracy is ±45 minutes, height accuracy ±0.3 m — usable for trip planning, not for navigation.