Galway 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 05:00 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/Dublin local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Last spring tide on Thu 07 May (range 2.6m). Next spring tide on Wed 13 May (range 3.1m). 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.

Galway sits at the eastern end of Galway Bay, where the Corrib River enters the sea through a short, fast channel beneath the Spanish Arch. The city is the commercial and cultural capital of Connacht — university town, arts hub, and fishing port simultaneously — and the tidal system that runs through it shapes both the harbour and the river dynamics upstream. Mean spring tidal range in Galway Bay is approximately 3.6 metres above LAT; neap range around 1.8 metres. Tides are semidiurnal. The flood runs eastward into the bay from the Aran Islands, building as it funnels toward the city dock area; the ebb reverses west. High water at Galway city docks occurs roughly 35 minutes after high water at the Aran Islands due to the shoaling and narrowing of the bay. The Corrib River adds a freshwater overlay — after heavy rainfall, river outflow can delay the ebb noticeably and push the tidal limit upstream of the weir. Galway Docks operates as a commercial port and also supports the main Aran Islands ferry services — Aran Island Ferries runs from Rossaveal (30 minutes west of the city) and from the city docks directly in summer. The ferry passage across the bay to Inis Mór takes 40–90 minutes depending on departure point and sea state; conditions can deteriorate rapidly in southwest winds that have an unobstructed Atlantic fetch. Salthill, 3 kilometres west of the city centre, is the urban beach — a traditional seaside promenade with a diving board at Blackrock that generations of Galwegians have jumped from into 1–2 metres of water at high tide (considerably less at low water — the board is not accessible safely on the lower half of the tide). The promenade walk along the bay is a year-round local habit regardless of weather. For sea kayakers, Galway Bay offers a range of day trips: east toward Kinvara and the Burren coast, or west toward the Aran Islands for more committed crossings. The north shore of the bay, the Connemara coast between Galway and Clifden, is increasingly explored by touring kayakers. Open-Meteo Marine predictions here carry ±45-minute and ±0.2–0.3-metre uncertainty. Marine Institute Ireland maintains tidal gauge data at Galway city dock — a useful calibration point. UKHO chart 2096 covers Galway Bay.