Savannes 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 00:00 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 America/St Lucia local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Savannes Bay is a sheltered coastal lagoon on the Atlantic-facing southeast coast of Saint Lucia, designated as a RAMSAR Convention Wetland of International Importance — the most significant and intact mangrove system remaining in Saint Lucia. The bay is enclosed by a narrow sand bar on the seaward side that separates the calm lagoon waters from the Atlantic; the entrance channel at the southern end of the bar allows tidal exchange that drives the ecological productivity of the system. Spring tidal range at the bay entrance is approximately 0.4 metres — small enough that the tidal flush is gentle rather than dramatic, but sufficient to renew the water chemistry in the inner lagoon on each tidal cycle. The mangrove forest around the lagoon margin is primarily red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle), with black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) in the higher inter-tidal zones and white mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa) at the upper margins. The root systems — both the aerial prop roots of red mangrove and the pneumatophores of black mangrove that project from the mud — provide nursery habitat for juvenile fish, shrimp, and crab that later recruit to the offshore reef. The ecological connection between this mangrove system and the nearshore fisheries productivity of the Vieux Fort coast is well established. Seagrass beds grow in the shallow lagoon floor — turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum) and manatee grass (Syringodium filiforme) — and these beds are feeding habitat for hawksbill turtles that are regularly seen in the lagoon. Green turtles also use the seagrass. Kayaking into the mangrove channels at Savannes Bay is the most rewarding way to experience the system. The channels twist through the mangrove at water level, and the experience from a kayak — surrounded by root arches, with egrets and herons at eye level, frigate birds soaring above — is qualitatively different from any land-based approach. The tidal timing matters: entering the channels on a rising tide ensures sufficient depth throughout the paddle; going in on a falling tide risks getting grounded in the inner sections where depth drops below 0.3 metres at low water. Operators in Vieux Fort run guided kayak tours into Savannes Bay; the tour duration is typically 2 to 3 hours including the paddle, a guide explanation of the mangrove ecology, and time in the seagrass area looking for turtles. Kingfishers, herons (great blue, tricoloured, yellow-crowned night-heron), and snowy egrets are reliable year-round. Frigatebirds roost in the mangrove canopy. Migratory shorebirds use the mudflats at the lagoon margins in September and October — semi-palmated sandpiper, least sandpiper, and short-billed dowitcher pass through in numbers. 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 Saint Lucia National Trust manages the RAMSAR site; the Saint Lucia Meteorological Service provides regional data.