Juneau, AK 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 20:00 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/Anchorage local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Juneau sits at the junction of the Gastineau Channel and the broader Inside Passage network in Southeast Alaska, accessible only by air or water — there is no road to the outside. The city fronts the Gastineau Channel, a tidal waterway that runs roughly 30 km between the Douglas Island shoreline and the mainland. Tides here are semidiurnal with marked diurnal inequality: on a typical day the higher high water reaches around 4.9 m MLLW and the lower low drops to 0.1–0.2 m MLLW, giving a mean range of approximately 4.5 m. The tidal cycle at Juneau follows Pacific Coast semidiurnal patterns, with the two daily cycles offset by roughly 12 hours 25 minutes and the diurnal inequality shifting with the moon's declination. The Gastineau Channel narrows to approximately 300 m at the Douglas Island bridge, and this constriction produces tidal currents of 1–2 knots on spring tides, peaking roughly 2–3 hours after the high or low predicted at the Juneau gauge (Station 9452210). At the channel's south end, near the downtown waterfront, the flood current runs northeast; the ebb reverses to southwest. Kayakers and small-boat operators planning a crossing from downtown to Douglas Island should check the current direction: a spring ebb running at 1.5 knots can push a loaded kayak 150 m off line over a 200 m crossing. The intertidal zone along the Gastineau Channel exposes a gravel-and-mud shelf up to 80 m wide at mean lower low water, and this shelf concentrates humpback whale foraging activity on herring schools during flood tides from late spring through fall. Stephens Passage, the broader waterway immediately south of the Gastineau Channel entrance, is one of Southeast Alaska's most reliable humpback feeding grounds. Whale-watching tours out of Auke Bay (15 km northwest of downtown) schedule departures around the flood tide because humpbacks concentrate bait near the surface when current brings prey up from depth. The Mendenhall Glacier, 19 km from downtown, terminates approximately 200 m from Mendenhall Lake; the lake drains through Mendenhall River into Gastineau Channel. River levels at the outlet track the tidal stage roughly 2–3 hours delayed, which affects salmon holding behavior in the lower river during late July through September king and coho runs. Anglers work the Gastineau Channel intertidal for Dungeness crab at low tide — the flats between the Douglas Island bridge and Thane are accessible on foot at tides below 0.3 m MLLW. King salmon enter the Juneau-area streams beginning in late May; the best fishing in tidal water concentrates on the first two hours of an incoming tide. Sea kayakers paddling the Gastineau Channel day trip should plan to depart the downtown launch near high water and return before the ebb runs strong — a 3-hour window centered on high slack is comfortable for a round trip to Douglas Island and back. Photographers targeting low-tide intertidal life (sea stars, anemone fields, ochre sea stars in the lower zone) have a reliable 45–60 minute window around mean lower low water before the flat begins to flood. Families with children can explore the intertidal shelf safely during neap tides, when the low reaches only 0.4–0.6 m MLLW and the flat exposes gradually rather than draining quickly. TideTurtle tide predictions for Juneau are generated from Open-Meteo Marine, a free gridded global ocean model. Accuracy is typically ±45 minutes on timing and ±0.2–0.3 m on height compared to observed tides. NOAA CO-OPS is the authoritative source for Juneau tide data; the primary gauge is Juneau, AK (Station 9452210) at tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov. Use NOAA CO-OPS data for any navigation, commercial fishing, or safety-critical planning.