Auki 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 10:00 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 Pacific/Guadalcanal local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Next spring tide on Sat 16 May (range 1.5m). Last neap on Wed 13 May. Next neap on Sun 17 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.

Auki is the capital of Malaita Province — the most populous province in the Solomon Islands — occupying a sheltered bay on the north coast of Malaita island, 120 kilometres northeast of Honiara across the Malaita Passage. A government ferry runs the crossing three or four times a week; the journey takes 3–4 hours across open water that can be rough when trade winds and tidal current interact in the passage. Malaita is culturally distinctive within the Solomon Islands. The Langa Langa Lagoon, extending along the west coast south of Auki, is home to the Lau people, who over centuries constructed a series of artificial islands on the reef flat — platforms of coral rubble and stone built up from the shallow lagoon floor into habitable islands. Forty-plus artificial islands, some of them centuries old, line the 25-kilometre length of the lagoon. The traditional currency of the region — tafuliae — is made on these islands from the shells of specific marine species: the red-pink shells of the Chama and Spondylus molluscs and the white shells of the Ovula ovum (egg cowrie). Shell money production is ongoing: it is used in bride-price negotiations, compensation ceremonies, and traditional exchange networks that function alongside the modern cash economy. The tidal range at Auki is approximately 1.1 m on spring tides, mixed semidiurnal. This modest range has significant consequences for the Langa Langa Lagoon: the tidal cycle controls the water level in the lagoon and determines when the reef flat between the artificial islands is navigable. The smaller canoes and fibreglass dinghies that connect the artificial islands to the mainland can move through the lagoon at mid-tide and above; at low spring water, parts of the reef flat shoal to 0.1–0.3 m depth and require poling rather than motoring. The tide table for Auki is the essential planning tool for visiting the Langa Langa artificial islands. Access to the Langa Langa Lagoon from Auki is by boat — a 15–30 minute ride south along the coast to the lagoon entrance. Day trips from Auki visit the artificial islands, observe shell-money production, and snorkel on the fringing reef. The snorkelling is best at mid-tide and above on neap tides when current is minimal; the inter-island passages within the lagoon have tidal flow of 0.5–1.0 knots on spring tides. Sea temperature is 28–30°C year-round. Auki's own waterfront and the adjacent bay provide the main anchorage for visiting yachts, inter-island ferries, and the small-boat traffic that connects Malaita's coastal communities. The bay is sheltered from the southeast by the Auki Peninsula and from the northwest by the mainland coast; the holding ground in the bay is reported as good. Tidal range of 1.1 m means that anchor chain scope requirements are modest — standard 5:1 scope at low water gives adequate depth allowance at high tide without dragging risk in normal conditions. For anglers, the waters around Auki and the Malaita Passage support a productive reef and pelagic fishery. The passage between Malaita and the Florida Islands sees significant tidal current and is a known feeding ground for tuna, wahoo, and dogtooth tuna. Shore fishing from the Auki waterfront and the rocky headlands of the Auki Peninsula targets snapper, grouper, and trevally. The inter-island market at the Auki wharf on ferry arrival days (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) brings fish from the outer Malaita coast villages for sale. Bird watching around Auki is dominated by the coastal forest and mangrove edge species. The mangrove fringes south of town, along the coast toward the Langa Langa Lagoon, hold herons, kingfishers, and the endemic Solomon Islands species visible at any tidal stage. Malaita island's forest interior holds endemic species accessible via the road south from Auki toward Dala. For photographers, the Langa Langa artificial island community and the shell-money production process are unique subjects found nowhere else in the world. Photography of the islands from a boat at mid-tide, when the coral construction is visible above the waterline, produces the clearest images of the artificial-island structure. The Auki market at the wharf on ferry days is the most active commercial scene accessible from the town. All tide predictions for Auki come from the Open-Meteo Marine gridded model. Timing accuracy is ±45 minutes; height accuracy is ±0.3 m above Chart Datum.