M'diq 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 05:00 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 Thu 07 May (range 0.4m). Next spring tide on Wed 13 May (range 0.6m). Next neap on Sat 09 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.

M'diq is on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco, 30 kilometres south of Ceuta and below the Rif mountains, on the narrow coastal strip between the mountain range and the sea. The tidal range here is a different world from the Atlantic side of the Tanger-Tétouan region: mean range approximately 0.5 to 0.7 metres, compared to 1.5 metres at Tangier 55 kilometres to the west. The Strait of Gibraltar progressively attenuates the Atlantic tidal signal as it moves east; M'diq sits far enough inside the Mediterranean approach that the tide is minor, and the character of the coast shifts accordingly. With a 0.5 to 0.7 metre range on the gently graded Mediterranean beach, the tidal change is barely perceptible to a casual observer — the waterline shifts perhaps 10 to 20 metres on springs. The beach character at M'diq is consequently more constant through the day than Atlantic beaches: a wide, flat sand beach backed by the resort development of the town, sheltered from Atlantic swell by the Rif headlands and Cap Spartel to the northwest, with calm Mediterranean surface conditions for most of the year. Water temperature reaches 26 to 28°C in July and August — warmer than the Atlantic coast at the same latitude, where the Canary Current keeps summer temperatures at 20 to 22°C. The Rif mountains rise steeply behind M'diq, reaching 2 kilometres inland to ridgelines of 800 to 1,000 metres. The contrast between the flat beach promenade and the mountain backdrop defines the visual character of the town. The drive into the mountains above M'diq, through the cedar forests and Berber villages of the western Rif, is accessible within 30 minutes from the coast. M'diq has a fishing harbour at its northern end — a working fleet targeting Mediterranean species including merlan (whiting), sar (sea bream), bar (sea bass), and red mullet (rouget). The fish market at the harbour is the direct supply point for the seafood restaurants on the corniche. Mediterranean fishing on this coast does not have the same tidal dependence as Atlantic fishing: with a 0.6-metre range, the tide does not dramatically alter access to the seabed, but the tidal currents around the Ceuta peninsula and through the approaches to the Strait remain relevant for commercial fishing boats. Ceuta, the Spanish enclave, is 30 kilometres north by road — a day trip crossing the international border (carry passport; EU citizens have no-wait lanes). Tétouan, the nearest Moroccan city and the regional capital of Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceima, is 12 kilometres south. Tétouan's old medina is a UNESCO World Heritage Site — one of the best-preserved Andalusian-influenced medinas in Morocco, with whitewashed houses and a street plan that reflects the city's founding by Moorish and Jewish exiles from the 1492 Reconquista. Tide predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model. Accuracy is typically within plus or minus 45 minutes on timing and 0.2 to 0.3 metres on height. At M'diq, where the mean range is only 0.5 to 0.7 metres, the model's height uncertainty of 0.2 to 0.3 metres represents a larger proportion of the total tidal range than on the Atlantic coast — tide timing remains useful, but height predictions carry proportionally more uncertainty. For authoritative official tide data for Mediterranean Morocco, consult SHOMAR — Service Hydrographique et Océanographique de la Marine.