Aqaba tide times

Aqaba is Jordan's only coastal city and its single access point to the sea. The city occupies the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, one of the two arms of the northern Red Sea divided by the Sinai Peninsula. Jordan's entire coastline is 26 km long — from the Israeli border at the north to the Saudi border at the south — and every centimetre of it is managed within the Aqaba Special Economic Zone (ASEZA). The Aqaba city commercial port, the Jordan Phosphate Minerals Company loading terminal, and the 5-star resort beach strip all operate within this narrow coastal strip.

The tidal regime in the Gulf of Aqaba is mixed semidiurnal. Spring range at Aqaba is 1.0–1.4 m; neap range narrows to 0.3–0.5 m. The Gulf is a narrow enclosed body 180 km long and 25 km wide, and its elongated shape creates tidal resonance that amplifies the range above the open Red Sea. Diurnal inequality is moderate. Northerly shamal winds, common from November through April, push water southward in the Gulf and can lower Aqaba water levels 0.2–0.4 m below the astronomical prediction during sustained events.

For the Aqaba resort beach strip — 6 km of hotels and beach clubs from the city centre south to Tala Bay — the tidal range of 1.0–1.4 m is noticeable. The beach gradient is gentle along the resort section; at spring high water the beach narrows to 10–20 m between the resort infrastructure and the waterline. At spring low water the beach widens by 20–30 m and the shallow fringing reef — present from 20–60 m offshore along most of the strip — is more exposed. Snorkelling the reef is best at high water when the shallowest sections have 0.8–1.2 m of clearance above the coral heads; at spring low water, the shallowest sections can drop to 0.2–0.4 m, making coral contact a serious risk for inattentive swimmers.

The Aqaba Marine Park, covering the southernmost 7 km of Jordan's coast from the Saudi border northward, is administered by the Royal Marine Conservation Society of Jordan (JREDS). The park's reef systems — Cedar Pride wreck (a Lebanese freighter deliberately sunk in 1985), First Bay, the Aquarium reef — are the main dive and snorkel sites. The spring tidal range of 1.0–1.4 m affects access: the reef-top fish feeding stations and the shallowest coral sections require high water for comfortable snorkel access. The Cedar Pride wreck sits in 5–25 m; it is accessible to divers at all tidal states but the shallow superstructure (3–5 m) has 1.0+ m of additional clearance at high water.

For commercial shipping at Aqaba port, the main berths are in 12–16 m at mean water. The 1.0–1.4 m spring range is a small fraction of this depth; there are no tidal restrictions for vessels using the main berths. The phosphate loading terminal is in 15–18 m. The Jordan Ayla marina for recreational vessels is in 2.5–4.0 m; vessels drawing over 2.0 m should plan entry on the flood tide.

The northerly shamal wind effect on water level is the most important non-tidal variable at Aqaba for shore activities. During a sustained 3-day shamal, water level drops 0.2–0.4 m below astronomical prediction — compounding with a spring low water to produce the lowest water levels of the year. For reef snorkelling, this combination means reef access over the shallowest sections is reduced to near zero and reef-top coral damage risk is high if swimmers do not adjust their range. Check the regional wind forecast alongside the tide prediction.

All tide predictions for Aqaba come from the Open-Meteo Marine gridded model. Timing accuracy is ±45 minutes; height accuracy is ±0.3 m above Chart Datum.