Falmouth 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 22:00 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 UTC local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Falmouth sits roughly 35 km east of Montego Bay on the north Jamaica coast, on a sheltered harbour formed by a reef-enclosed bay at the mouth of the Martha Brae river. The town was laid out in 1769 and was, by the early 19th century, the wealthiest town in Jamaica — the commercial centre of the sugar-plantation economy in Trelawny Parish. The Georgian town plan and its original buildings survive in unusually complete form, making Falmouth the best-preserved Georgian town in the Caribbean and one of the most intact examples of late 18th-century British colonial urban planning anywhere in the hemisphere. The courthouse, the Water Square, the Anglican Church of St Peter, the Phoenix Foundry, and the grid of Georgian houses are all within walking distance of the waterfront. The tidal regime at Falmouth is mixed semidiurnal microtidal, consistent with the NW Jamaica pattern: mean spring range of approximately 20 to 35 cm. Two unequal highs and two unequal lows each day, but the differences are small enough that the harbour level appears essentially constant across the tidal cycle to a casual observer. The bay is tightly reef-enclosed, which further dampens whatever small tidal signal the open coast receives. Small-craft access to the harbour is comfortable on any tide state. JMet (Meteorological Service of Jamaica) is the national tidal and weather reference; predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model, accurate to approximately ±45 min and ±0.2–0.3 m — which, at this range, can approach or exceed the total astronomical signal. Falmouth's harbour has been redeveloped as a cruise ship facility; the Falmouth Cruise Port, completed in 2011, was purpose-built to accommodate the largest cruise ships afloat and is one of the few cruise facilities in the Caribbean capable of handling Oasis-class ships at the pier. On cruise-ship days the population of the small town (roughly 8,000 permanent residents) effectively doubles or triples for a few hours. The Georgian town centre is a 10-minute walk from the cruise pier; most of the historic buildings are accessible on foot. The Luminous Lagoon (Glistening Waters) is located roughly 2 km west of Falmouth town, at the mouth of the Rock River and the Ferry River estuary on the western edge of the harbour bay. The lagoon glows vivid blue-green when the water is disturbed at night — the bioluminescence is produced by Pyrodinium bahamense, a marine dinoflagellate that emits light when physically agitated. The density of the dinoflagellate population in the Luminous Lagoon is among the highest ever recorded for a marine environment; the glow is bright enough to read by close to the boat and to photograph with moderate exposure settings. The lagoon is best visited on moonless nights (around new moon) when there is no competing ambient light; on nights with a full moon the bioluminescence is still present but less visually distinct against the lunar illumination of the water surface. The tide state does not meaningfully affect the bioluminescence — it is a function of dinoflagellate population density and water temperature, not tidal mixing. Boat tours depart from the Glistening Waters Marina. For shore anglers, the Martha Brae river mouth and the lagoon edges hold tarpon on the flooding tide, particularly in the early evening as light levels drop. The tarpon run into the lagoon on the incoming tide and hold near the surface in the brackish estuary mix. Anglers targeting tarpon from the Glistening Waters dock and the river mouth area use live mullet and bait-cast presentations. For paddlers, the Luminous Lagoon and the Martha Brae River above the lagoon offer flat-water kayaking in the calm, brackish estuary environment. The river is navigable by kayak for several kilometres above the tidal limit, winding through a mix of agricultural land and riverine vegetation. A kayak tour at dusk that transitions into the bioluminescent lagoon at night is an established activity offered by several operators at Glistening Waters Marina. For history walkers, the Georgian town is best experienced in the early morning before the cruise-ship visitor influx. The courthouse (1815) on Water Square, the oldest cast-iron water wheel in the western hemisphere at the Falmouth market site, and the Albert George Market buildings from the 1800s are all accessible on foot. Predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model. Accuracy is typically ±45 min and ±0.2–0.3 m. JMet is the authoritative Jamaican tidal and weather reference.