Dakar 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/Dakar local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Next spring tide on Mon 18 May (range 1.4m). Last neap on Wed 13 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.

Dakar occupies the westernmost point of mainland Africa — the Cap-Vert peninsula thrusts 35 km into the Atlantic at 14.7°N, separating the open ocean to the west from the protected bight to the north and south, and making Dakar's geography unlike any other major African city. The city is the peninsula, and the peninsula is defined by the interplay of Atlantic tides, trade wind seas, and the cold upwelling water of the Canary Current that makes the sea off Cap-Vert consistently cooler and more productive than the surrounding tropical ocean. The tidal regime at Dakar is semidiurnal with a spring range of approximately 1.8 m, driven by the full Atlantic tidal wave arriving from the southwest. Two clear highs and two lows per day, with modest diurnal inequality. The Corniche Ouest road — running along the Atlantic cliff face on the peninsula's western side — follows a shoreline where the full Atlantic tidal cycle is visible in the rock ledges and the surge channels: at spring low water, ledges exposed 1.5 m above normal high tide sit dry and accessible; at spring high water, spray reaches the road wall on any swell. The Corniche Ouest is one of West Africa's defining urban coastal drives: 8 km of clifftop road, breaking Atlantic surf 30 m below, the Almadies lighthouse at the western tip, and the open ocean to the Americas. The Port of Dakar on the peninsula's eastern (sheltered) side is one of West Africa's major freight terminals, handling container traffic for Senegal, Mali, and the Sahel interior. The port is accessible at all tide stages for deep-draft vessels — the sheltered bight east of the peninsula provides calm water independent of the Atlantic swell that batters the western face. Passenger ferry services to the islands of the Dakar bight — Gorée, and seasonal services to Casamance in the south — depart from the passenger terminal adjacent to the main port. Gorée Island, 3 km east of Dakar by ferry, is the most visited UNESCO World Heritage Site in West Africa. The island served as a slave-trade entrepôt from the 16th through the 18th century; the Maison des Esclaves (House of Slaves) with its Door of No Return, the colonial-era architecture, and the island's car-free, bougainvillea-covered streets draw visitors continuously. The 20-minute ferry crossing from the Gare Maritime runs hourly; tides have no practical effect on the crossing or the island access, as the ferry landing operates in sheltered water. At low tide, the rock shelf on Gorée's northern side exposes, and local children swim and fish from the exposed ledges. For anglers, Dakar offers some of the best shore-based fishing access in West Africa. The rocky headlands at the Almadies point (the true westernmost tip of Africa) hold large concentrations of trevally, barracuda, and various jack species on the ebb tide. Local shore anglers work these points with lures and live bait, timing the session for the first two hours of ebb when current maximises at the headland. The upwelling driven by the Canary Current keeps these waters cold and productive year-round; sea surface temperatures off Cap-Vert run 18–22°C, 3–5°C cooler than the average for the latitude. Paddlers and small-boat operators working the eastern bight have calm conditions most of the year — the peninsula completely shields this water from the Atlantic swell. The tidal flat at the Hann Bay southeast of the city centre exposes at low water on spring tides, and the mangrove fringe at the southern base of the peninsula is navigable by kayak. The western, Atlantic-facing shore is too exposed for recreational paddling except in the flat conditions of June through September. Photographers working Dakar find three distinct subjects: the Atlantic cliff face of the Corniche Ouest at sunrise, when the easterly light catches the breaking swell and the rocky shore below; the Gorée Island colonial streetscapes in the soft morning light before the ferry crowds arrive; and the working fishing beach at Soumbédioune on the Corniche Est, where pirogues are beached in tight rows and the morning fish market operates from 05:00 to 09:00. The Soumbédioune beach is best photographed on a flooding tide as the pirogues return — the scene of brightly painted wooden boats landing through gentle surf while the market buyers wait is one of the definitive images of Dakar. All tide predictions for Dakar come from the Open-Meteo Marine gridded model. Timing accuracy is ±45 minutes; height accuracy is ±0.3 m above Chart Datum.