Herzliya, Tel Aviv District tide times

Herzliya sits on the eastern Mediterranean coast roughly 15 km north of central Tel Aviv, where the urban sprawl of the Dan metropolitan area meets open shoreline. The city runs two distinct coastal personalities in parallel: a commercial marina district built for wealthy boat owners and international tech workers, and a long public beach backed by low dunes and apartment towers that serves everyone else.

The eastern Mediterranean tidal regime is one of the smallest in the world. Mean tidal range at Herzliya runs 0.1–0.3 m — mixed semidiurnal, meaning two high waters and two low waters per day with unequal heights. In practice, the astronomical tide is almost undetectable against the background of meteorological sea-level variation driven by the Etesian winds and passing low-pressure systems. Winter storm surges can temporarily raise sea level by 0.3–0.5 m above mean, which matters at Herzliya because the beach gradient is gentle: even a modest sea-level rise pushes water significantly further up the sand.

Herzliya Marina is the dominant coastal infrastructure. Completed in the 1990s and expanded since, the marina holds around 750 berths and is the largest pleasure-craft facility on the Israeli Mediterranean coast. The harbour entrance runs roughly north-south; the breakwaters create a calm interior regardless of the prevailing northwest sea. Diving and snorkelling trip operators depart from the marina's commercial quay, along with dolphin-watching vessels that run targeted excursions when common bottlenose dolphins are working the shelf edge 5–10 km offshore.

The dive sites along this stretch of coast are not reef systems — the eastern Mediterranean substrate is predominantly sandy with isolated rocky outcrops — but the archaeology makes up the difference. Byzantine and Crusader-era anchors, ceramic amphorae, and iron cannon lie in 8–15 m of water on the sandy seafloor between the marina and Apollonia to the north. Visibility averages 10–20 m in summer; winter plankton blooms and post-storm turbidity can drop this to 3–5 m. The Israel Antiquities Authority requires dive permits for sites within designated archaeological zones; check with the marina operators before diving independently.

Apolonia National Park occupies a coastal cliff 2 km north of the marina. The site preserves the remains of Roman Arsuf, a fortified town that passed through Byzantine, Arab, Crusader, and Mamluk hands before being abandoned in the thirteenth century. The cliff here is Kurkar — an aeolian calcarenite formed from cemented coastal dunes during lower sea-level stands — and it erodes actively. At low water, the wave-cut platform at the base of the Apollonia cliff is partially accessible from the beach; you can walk northward from the main Herzliya beach at spring low conditions and reach the platform below the ruins. The archaeology underfoot on that platform is incidental and unexcavated: pottery sherds and worked stone are visible in the rock face. Do not remove anything; the site is protected.

Beach erosion at Herzliya is a documented, ongoing problem. Studies of the Israeli Mediterranean shoreline show the Herzliya beach receding at roughly 1–2 m per decade in the most exposed sections. The cause is a combination of reduced sediment supply from coastal engineering upstream (jetties and marina structures that interrupt longshore drift), sea-level rise at the eastern Mediterranean rate of approximately 3 mm/year, and increasing storm frequency in winter. The municipality has periodically nourished the beach with dredged sand from the marina approach channel, which provides temporary relief but not a permanent solution.

Winter at Herzliya — December through February — brings northwest swells generated by cold fronts crossing the central Mediterranean. Significant wave heights of 2–3 m are common in exposed conditions; peaks of 4–5 m occur in major storm events. These conditions are relevant to anglers who fish the breakwaters and rocky sections north of the marina: fishing from the Apollonia cliff base is extremely dangerous in winter swell and is prohibited at the national park during high-surf advisories. The same swell period concentrates sand in nearshore bars, which shift significantly between seasons. Sandbar position in summer (determined by the relatively calm sea) differs substantially from winter configuration.

Family beach use concentrates on the central Herzliya beach between the marina breakwater and the city's northern residential area. Lifeguard service runs from April through October. The beach gradient is gentle — suitable for young children — and the microtidal regime means parents do not need to track tidal state for basic safety planning. That said, afternoon sea breezes from the northwest routinely build 0.5–1.0 m chop by 14:00, which makes the water rougher for small swimmers than the morning calm would suggest.

The Yarkon river mouth lies 8 km south of Herzliya at the northern edge of Tel Aviv. The Yarkon is the main freshwater outflow to the Israeli Mediterranean coast; its discharge plume affects turbidity and salinity along the Herzliya shoreline after significant rain events. Following heavy winter rainfall, a band of discoloured, lower-salinity water can extend 5–8 km offshore from the river mouth, reaching the Herzliya beach zone within 24–48 hours depending on current direction.

For photographers, the Apollonia cliff at dawn is the shot: Kurkar columns and wall stubs catching low-angle light against the flat Mediterranean. Sunset from the marina breakwater points southwest over open water without obstruction.

Tide data for Herzliya, Tel Aviv District 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.