Guraidhoo, Maldives 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 03:00 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 Indian/Maldives local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Next spring tide on Wed 06 May (range 0.8m). Next neap on Sun 10 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.

Guraidhoo is the southernmost inhabited island of Kaafu Atoll (South Malé Atoll), 35 km south of Malé. With a resident population of around 1,200 and minimal tourist infrastructure relative to Maafushi 7 km to the north, Guraidhoo operates primarily as a fishing and farming community. Its position at the atoll's southern boundary gives it a distinct hydrographic character — channels between atolls produce tidal current behaviour that inner-atoll islands do not experience. The Indian Ocean tidal regime at Guraidhoo follows the same mixed semidiurnal pattern as the wider Kaafu Atoll region: two highs and two lows per day with daily inequality between cycles, and a mean spring tidal range of 0.8–1.2 m. The Maldives lie close to an Indian Ocean amphidromic point where tidal amplitude is naturally suppressed. On a typical day, one of the two high waters will be 0.2–0.3 m higher than the other; one low will be noticeably deeper than the other. The rhythm shifts across the lunar month and does not conform to a simple pattern — each day's prediction should be checked individually. The western lagoon at Guraidhoo is the site most relevant to snorkellers, divers, and casual visitors. Protected by the outer reef to the west, the lagoon has a flat inner shelf. At spring low water, the depth over the inner flat drops to 0.5–0.8 m — shallow enough to stand across the entire lagoon floor, with visibility to the bottom at all points. The sand is white and the water temperature sits between 27–30°C year-round. The visual quality of a near-empty, clear-bottomed lagoon at low spring water is striking: the blue-white of the flat extends to the reef edge, with the outer reef wall dropping away beyond it. For families with young children this is the safest swimming environment the island offers — no significant current, no depth beyond standing height on the inner flat, and warm clear water. The outer reef edge is 300 m west of the island. At high to mid-tide, snorkelling the reef edge is accessible by swimming directly from the lagoon — the depth over the outer edge runs 5–15 m and the fish life on the wall is dense. Grey reef sharks and white-tip reef sharks are regular along this edge. Turtles use the reef as a feeding and resting area. At low water, the current over the reef edge intensifies: as the lagoon level drops, water drains seaward through the outer reef channels, producing current that concentrates where the channels cut through the reef flat. Diving the outer edge at low water is for divers with experience reading reef current; drift dives along the wall are possible but require a boat pickup rather than swimming back to the lagoon. Snorkellers should avoid the outer edge at low water and stay on the inner flat. The channel between Guraidhoo and the nearest island to the south — at the boundary where Kaafu Atoll gives way to the deeper waters toward Addu Atoll, 400 km to the south — produces tidal currents of 1–2 knots at spring exchanges. This current concentration is why Guraidhoo developed as a chandlery and provisioning stop for dhoni fishing boats operating in the southern part of Kaafu Atoll. Dhoni are the traditional Maldivian wooden-hulled fishing vessels, and a working dhoni fleet still operates from Guraidhoo — one of the features that distinguishes the island from the guesthouse-heavy local islands further north in the atoll. The provisioning role created a boatbuilding and maintenance culture on the island that persists today. For photographers, the contrast between the dhoni fleet at the harbour and the outer reef scenery gives Guraidhoo more visual range than islands where tourism has homogenised the character. The working harbour in morning light — dhonis returning with the night's catch before 08:00 — alongside the reef edge at high tide with sharks visible in clear water provides subject matter across genres. Malé is 35 km north by speedboat (roughly 40 minutes) or public ferry (longer, depending on the route). Guraidhoo does not have a resort and has limited guesthouse options. Most visitors come for the diving and snorkelling or to see an atoll's southern boundary community operating at its own pace. Tide data for Guraidhoo 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.