Mohammedia, Casablanca-Settat 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 23:00 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 Africa/Casablanca local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Last spring tide on Tue 05 May (range 2.0m). Next spring tide on Mon 11 May (range 1.5m). Next neap on Fri 08 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.

Mohammedia sits on the Atlantic coast of Morocco 25 km northeast of Casablanca, a city of around 200,000 whose economy runs on two tracks: a large petroleum refinery and petrochemical complex to the south of town, and a public beach (Plage de Mohammedia) that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors from greater Casablanca on summer weekends. The two exist in proximity that surprises first-time visitors — the beach is clean, the refinery is over the hill, and the fishing harbour between them handles a mixed fleet of artisanal pirogues and semi-industrial trawlers. The semidiurnal Atlantic tide here runs a mean spring range of 2.5 to 3.5 m. The two high waters per day are unequal in height — diurnal inequality on the Moroccan Atlantic coast produces a difference of 0.2 to 0.4 m between the two highs in a given day, more pronounced at certain times of the lunar cycle. For the beach this means the afternoon high water is sometimes significantly lower than the morning one, and vice versa: the afternoon beach width can vary enough to matter for a family choosing when to arrive. Plage de Mohammedia stretches roughly 2 km in an arc north of the fishing harbour, facing west into the Atlantic. At low water on a spring tide the beach widens by 80 to 100 m from its high-water extent — a broad apron of hard sand that supports football games, beach volleyball, and the food and drinks vendors who set up at the water's edge. The beach is unsupervised except in peak summer weeks when municipality lifeguards operate. The Atlantic here runs cold by Saharan standards: surface temperatures are 16 to 18°C in winter and 19 to 21°C in August, kept cool by the Canary Current upwelling along the Moroccan coast. Pointe de Mohammedia is the low headland south of the harbour that marks the eastern (landward) edge of the navigable approach channel into port. On a flooding spring tide, the tidal set runs northeast around the point, which matters to small boat operators entering or leaving the harbour: the current pushes vessels toward the south breakwater on the flood, and toward the north side on the ebb. Local pirogue operators know to compensate with an early offside correction; unfamiliar boat handlers who don't account for the set get pushed toward the breakwater rocks. The current at the point peaks at 1.5 to 2.0 knots on spring tides. The fishing harbour itself operates on a morning rhythm tied to the tide. Artisanal pirogue fishermen typically depart before dawn on an ebbing tide — the outflow helps push small, underpowered vessels offshore faster. They return on the flood, 4 to 8 hours later depending on fishing grounds. The semi-industrial trawlers on the eastern basin have deeper draft and schedule harbour entry around 1.0 to 1.5 m over the entrance bar, which on smaller tides restricts their access to the two-hour window around high water. The fish market (souk el hout) on the harbour's west quay opens when the first boats arrive, typically between 07:00 and 09:00 on a standard working day. The Oued Nfifikh river mouth is 6 km northeast of Mohammedia. The river is intermittent — nearly dry in summer, carrying meaningful freshwater only after autumn and winter rain. After significant rainfall events, the river mouth creates a temporary plume of turbid, slightly fresher water that extends offshore and migrates southwest with the tidal current toward Mohammedia beach. When the plume reaches the beach, the water colour turns brownish-green; it clears within 12 to 24 hours as the river drops. This is a predictable pattern after heavy rain; beach visitors arriving the day after a storm should expect temporarily reduced water clarity. For photographers, the harbour is most interesting at the morning tide change — pirogues returning loaded, buyers waiting on the quay, the souk el hout opening under corrugated metal awnings. The light from the east hits the harbour basin well before 09:00 in summer. The headland at Pointe de Mohammedia provides an elevated view over the harbour approach that also catches the returning fleet from a distance. Swimming at Plage de Mohammedia is best on a light-swell day at mid-tide incoming: the water is deepening, the beach is still wide, and the wave frequency is low enough for comfortable entry. In northwest swell above 1.5 m, the beach breaks become shore-dump that makes entry and exit from the water rough on the exposed centre section. The northern end of the beach, where a rock reef provides partial shelter, handles swell better and is where experienced swimmers tend to cluster in rougher conditions. Tide data for Mohammedia, Casablanca-Settat 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.