Hawks Bay 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 09:00 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/Karachi local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Last spring tide on Tue 19 May (range 3.2m). Next neap on Sat 23 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.

Hawks Bay is a beach approximately 15 kilometres northwest of central Karachi, on the Arabian Sea coast between the rocky Clifton headland and the more exposed northwest shoreline. It is distinct from Sandspit Beach, which is further east along the same stretch of coast: Hawks Bay occupies its own embayment with a slightly different orientation and sand character. French Beach, immediately northwest of Hawks Bay, is a third separate beach in this coastal zone — the three are often conflated but are distinct locations with different access roads. The beach is one of the primary sea turtle nesting sites on the Pakistani coast. Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nest at Hawks Bay from June through September, with peak nesting in July and August. Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) also use the beach, though in smaller numbers than the green turtle. The nesting females come ashore at night on high tides — the beach width at high water is the relevant metric for nest site selection, as females typically crawl to the base of the upper beach berm, above the normal high-water line. WWF-Pakistan operates a sea turtle protection programme at Hawks Bay, with hatcheries on the beach during the nesting season. The hatcheries relocate nests at risk from wave wash or human disturbance to a protected enclosure where incubation can proceed without interference. Hatching occurs approximately 60 days after laying; hatchlings emerge from July through October. The programme conducts overnight nesting patrols; volunteers and organised visitors can join these patrols through WWF-Pakistan's coordination, though direct casual access to nesting beaches at night should be done only with guide accompaniment to avoid inadvertent disturbance. The Arabian Sea tidal range at Hawks Bay is approximately 1.5 to 2.0 metres on spring tides — mixed semidiurnal. At low water the beach widens 50 to 80 metres beyond the normal dry-sand area, exposing a broad, firm sand flat that is usable for walking and photography. The low-water flat is the best area to look for wading birds in the early morning: Kentish plover, sanderling, and grey plover are regular visitors on the winter migration (September through April). The southwest monsoon (June-September) that coincides with nesting season brings consistent onshore wind and occasional heavy rain. Sea conditions are rougher during this period; swimming is not recommended during the monsoon months. The northeast monsoon (October-March) brings calmer conditions, clearer water, and the best beach-walking experience. Water temperatures at Hawks Bay run 24-28°C in winter and 28-32°C in summer. The beach access road from the main Karachi coastal highway (Superhighway/M-9 access road or the coastal road from Clifton) takes approximately 30 to 45 minutes by car from central Karachi depending on traffic. There is informal parking at the beach approach. Facilities are basic — food stalls and basic seating operate on busy days. The beach is quieter than Clifton or Sandspit and the crowd is predominantly local families on weekends. For photographers, the combination of nesting turtles (with WWF guide, night), wintering wading birds (dawn, low tide), and the broad low-water flat with good Arabian Sea light before 08:00 makes Hawks Bay productive in the November-March window. The nesting patrols (June-September) are an entirely different experience — darkness, warm nights, and the sight of a large female green turtle completing her clutch above the tide line. French Beach, immediately northwest of Hawks Bay, is a separate beach with a slightly different character: rockier at the southern end, with a small rocky headland that creates a partial shelter from the dominant swell direction. The two beaches share the same tidal regime and the same turtle nesting season, but French Beach has a smaller, quieter crowd character and a few beach-side huts available for day or overnight use. For those planning multiple days on the northwest Karachi coast to cover the nesting patrol season, alternating between Hawks Bay (the main hatchery site) and French Beach (quieter, rockier, different light angles) provides variety. The northwest Karachi beaches collectively hold a significant proportion of Pakistan's remaining green turtle nesting — the beaches from Hawks Bay to Sandspit represent critical national habitat. WWF-Pakistan's hatchery programme has documented nesting success rates and hatchling emergence data continuously since the 1980s, making the site one of the longer-running turtle monitoring datasets in the northern Indian Ocean region. 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 — model-derived, not from a local gauge. The authoritative source for tidal data in Pakistan is the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), which operates sea level gauges at Karachi.