Honiara 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.

Honiara is the capital of the Solomon Islands, occupying a narrow coastal plain on the north coast of Guadalcanal, pressed between the sea and the steep ridgelines that run east–west across the island's interior. The city of roughly 80,000 sits on what is arguably the most historically significant coastal stretch in the Pacific: this shoreline, the ridges above it, and the passage north of Guadalcanal — Iron Bottom Sound — were the setting for one of the most consequential military campaigns of the Second World War. The Guadalcanal Campaign of August 1942 to February 1943 was the first major Allied offensive in the Pacific theatre; its outcome was the first strategic reversal Japan suffered in the war. Iron Bottom Sound takes its name from the number of ships sunk in its waters during that campaign: over 50 vessels from both the Allied and Japanese fleets, resting in depths of 200–900 m between Guadalcanal and the Florida Islands to the north. The wrecks include destroyers, cruisers, and troop transports from both sides. The accessible wrecks begin outside the Sound proper — the Bonegi I (MV Hirokawa Maru) and Bonegi II (MV Kinugawa Maru) Japanese transport ships lie in 5–40 m depth just 10 km west of Honiara, reachable from the beach by snorkel on the shallow sections and by scuba on the deeper hull sections. The tidal regime at Honiara is mixed semidiurnal with a spring range of 1.1–1.4 m. The range is moderate — typical for an equatorial Pacific island location — and the daily tidal cycle is influenced by diurnal inequality: the two high waters in a given day can differ by 0.2–0.4 m, and the two low waters similarly. The practical effect is that the lowest tides (the lower lows of a spring cycle) occur on a predictable schedule related to the lunar and seasonal cycle. At the lowest spring tides, the reef flat fronting Honiara's Point Cruz area and the Bonegi coast is exposed sufficiently for shore access to reef features not reachable at higher water. Point Cruz Yacht Club is the social hub for the cruising-yacht community that transits Honiara between the Coral Sea and the eastern Pacific. The club marina sits inside Point Cruz, a small natural breakwater 2 km west of the central market. The marina depth is adequate for most cruising monohulls at all tidal states; the 1.2 m spring range is not a navigation hazard in the harbour basin. The marina is the departure point for dive charters, sportfishing boats, and island-hopping services to the Florida Islands, Nggela (formerly the Florida Islands), and the outer Guadalcanal coast. Sportfishing from Honiara targets the pelagic species that move through the passages between Guadalcanal and the Florida Islands: yellowfin tuna, wahoo, mahi-mahi, and the giant trevally that work the current lines off Point Cruz on the ebb. The yacht club runs regular fishing competitions; the March–October season, when southeast trade winds moderate the sea state, is the most productive period for offshore fishing. Shore fishing from the rocky sections of coast east and west of the town centre produces reef species at any tidal state; the low-water exposure of the reef flat extends the accessible reef edge by 50–100 m. For families, the Honiara waterfront and the beaches east of town at Tenaru (where the Battle of the Tenaru was fought in August 1942) provide accessible swimming. The Tenaru beach is cleaner than the town-centre waterfront and the reef flat offshore provides snorkelling at mid-tide and above. Sea temperature is 28–30°C throughout the year with minimal seasonal variation. The November–April cyclone season can produce rough conditions; the southeast trade-wind season (May–October) is the most reliable for marine activities. For photographers, the Honiara central market at dawn — one of the most photogenic open-air markets in the Pacific — is the primary non-marine subject. The coastline west of town toward Bonegi, with the Guadalcanal hills rising behind the palm-lined coast, is the classic landscape shot at golden hour. Low-water conditions at the Bonegi beach expose the shallow wreck sections of the two transport ships, giving above-water foreground interest for wide-angle reef photography. All tide predictions for Honiara come from the Open-Meteo Marine gridded model. Timing accuracy is ±45 minutes; height accuracy is ±0.3 m above Chart Datum.