Sidon 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 07:00 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 Asia/Beirut local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Sidon — Arabic Saida, Phoenician Sidon — is one of the oldest maritime cities in the world, a former Phoenician capital that appears in texts as early as the 14th century BCE and is mentioned in Homer's Iliad. Modern Sidon is a city of around 200,000 people, Lebanon's third-largest, and its coastline carries 3,000 years of continuous use as a harbour, a fishing port, and a coastal trading centre in a concentrated and legible form. The most visible piece of that history is the Sea Castle (Qalaat al-Bahr), a Crusader fortress built in 1228 by the Knights Hospitaller on a small islet about 80 metres offshore and connected to the mainland by a stone causeway. The castle sits directly at the entry to the old harbour — it controlled the harbour entrance for 300 years of Crusader use and was subsequently modified by Mamluks and Ottomans. Today it is one of Lebanon's most photographed coastal landmarks, and the view from the castle walls over the old city and the Mediterranean is among the finest on the Lebanese coast. The old harbour of Sidon — the northern harbour, which the Phoenicians used — is still an active fishing harbour. Wooden fishing boats operate from here year-round, targeting sea bream, mullet, snapper, and seasonal tuna. The harbour is compact and the fish market adjacent to the quay is one of the authentic maritime markets on the Lebanese coast, operating from early morning. The smell of fish, diesel, and the sea is part of the experience. For swimmers and snorkellers, the coast south of the old harbour has cleaner water than the harbour itself. The beach south of the Sea Castle — locally called the corniche beach — is a public beach used by Sidon residents, backed by the corniche walkway. Water clarity here is typically 6–10 metres visibility on calm days. Rocky sections at either end of the beach have small coral formations, sponge, and sea bream at 2–8 metres depth, accessible for snorkellers. The coast further south toward the Sidon-Tyre highway has several additional beach access points with rocky snorkelling that sees fewer visitors than the main beach. Tides along the South Lebanon coast are microtidal: spring range under 0.3 metres. The eastern Mediterranean tidal signal is attenuated to negligible levels by the enclosed basin geometry, and the pattern is mixed semidiurnal with significant diurnal inequality. Seasonal sea level variation is more significant than tidal variation — the eastern Mediterranean is typically 15–20 cm higher in October–November than in April. Wind from the west and northwest is the dominant sea-state variable; the winter westerlies can build significant swell on Sidon's open west-facing coast and make the corniche beach uncomfortable. Summer conditions are typically calm. The city itself rewards a day or two of slow exploration: the Sea Castle, the Khan al-Franj (a 17th-century caravanserai built by the Emir Fakhreddine), the covered souk, the Sidon Soap Museum (soap-making was Sidon's primary export industry for centuries), and the ancient tell beneath the modern city where Phoenician and Bronze Age layers are periodically exposed by construction works. The Roman road south toward Tyre — parts of which are still visible at Jal el-Bahr, about 15 km south — makes the drive toward Tyre historically layered. Predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine. For South Lebanon coastal forecasts, consult the Lebanese Meteorological Department at meteo.gov.lb. Travel advisories for the Sidon-Tyre area should be checked before visiting; the political situation in South Lebanon can change, and the coastal areas south of Sidon require current awareness. The Sidon soap museum is an unexpectedly interesting stop on a coastal visit. Soap production was one of Sidon's primary export industries for centuries — the Phoenicians traded olive oil soap from Sidon across the Mediterranean world, and by the medieval period Sidon soap was an export commodity shipped to markets as far as Venice. The museum occupies a historic soap-making building near the old city and demonstrates the traditional production process: olive oil, water, and lye in large vats, then cutting and aging. The connection between the coastal city's olive oil trade and its maritime history is made concrete here in a way that a standard archaeology museum does not.