Mahon 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 01:00 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 Europe/Madrid local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Mahon (Maó in Catalan) occupies the eastern end of Menorca, at the head of one of the largest natural deep-water harbours in the Mediterranean — a ría-like inlet approximately 8 kilometres long and 0.5 to 1.5 kilometres wide, formed by the same geological drowning that produced the Galician rías on the Atlantic coast but in a Mediterranean context. The British Royal Navy held Port Mahon as a strategic base from 1708 to 1802 (with French and Spanish interruptions), and the harbour's importance to 18th-century naval power was precisely its combination of deep water (18 to 25 metres in the main channel), long sheltered fetch, and position commanding the western Mediterranean. The tidal regime at Mahon is Mediterranean microtidal. The mean spring range is approximately 0.2 metres — the astronomical tide is functionally invisible to casual observation. Water level in the harbour is governed primarily by two other forces: atmospheric pressure (an anticyclone can suppress sea level by 0.15 to 0.20 metres; a deep Atlantic low tracking over Spain raises it by a similar amount) and wind-driven setup (a sustained Tramontane or Levante pushing water against the harbour's closed eastern end can add 0.2 to 0.4 metres). The harbour's enclosed geometry also produces characteristic seiching — standing oscillations of the harbour water mass in response to atmospheric pressure changes or wind forcing. The Port Mahon seiche has a dominant period of approximately 10 to 12 minutes, measurable on any sensitive tide gauge during a pressure event. This seiche — known locally as the rissaga in its more dramatic form, shared with Port Ciutadella on Menorca's west coast — can amplify weather-driven surges into destructive oscillations. The Ciutadella rissaga of 2006, triggered by a fast-moving atmospheric pressure wave, produced 4-metre harbour oscillations and caused significant vessel and infrastructure damage. Port Mahon, being longer and more open at its mouth, damps the rissaga oscillation more effectively than Ciutadella, but the harbour is not immune to surge events during deep Atlantic low pressure systems. La Mola fortress, at the harbour mouth on the northern headland, was built by the British in the 18th century and expanded by Spain in the 19th century. It operated as a military prison through the 20th century and is now a heritage site and museum open to visitors. The views from the fortress walls across the harbour mouth and the open Mediterranean to the east are the best in Menorca for understanding why the harbour mattered to imperial navies. Es Castell (Georgetown in the British period) sits on the south shore of the harbour, approximately 3 kilometres east of Mahon town, and retains a grid-street British colonial plan visible on any map. The town square is named after its original British designation, and the local cuisine shows a distinct British influence — caldereta de llagosta (Menorcan lobster stew) and gin from Mahon's distillery (Xoriguer, made from distilled wine and juniper) are the defining local products. 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. For authoritative Spanish tide data, consult Puertos del Estado (puertos.es/es/estadisticas-y-datos-del-mar).