Savannah, GA 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 00:00 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/New York local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Savannah sits on a 15-metre bluff above the south bank of the Savannah River, 29 kilometres from the Atlantic at Tybee Island. The river is tidal all the way through the city and well upstream: the tidal wave travels roughly 50 kilometres inland from the coast, and the mean tidal range at the Savannah port approaches 2.1 metres, with spring ranges reaching 2.7 metres above MLLW. That range places Savannah among the largest semidiurnal tidal environments on the US East Coast — a fact that surprised early European colonists accustomed to the smaller ranges of the mid-Atlantic and New England shores. The Savannah River generates tidal currents of 1.5 to 2.5 knots in the main navigation channel, reversing direction roughly every six hours. The Port of Savannah, operated by the Georgia Ports Authority, is one of the busiest container ports on the US East Coast; deep-draft vessels (up to 18 metres loaded) transit the river on tide-sensitive windows following the Army Corps of Engineers' ongoing deepening project. The turning basin south of the Talmadge Memorial Bridge is where container ships pivot under tug escort — timing these manoeuvres to the tidal current is the harbour pilot's primary logistical constraint. Fort Pulaski National Monument, 24 kilometres downriver at the river mouth, is a brick fortification completed in 1847 and surrounded by a tidal moat. In April 1862, Union rifled artillery at a distance of 1,600 metres breached the 1.8-metre walls in 30 hours, demonstrating that rifled cannon had made masonry fortifications obsolete — a turning point in military engineering history. The moat floods and empties with each tide, and the restored earthworks and marshes around the fort are accessible on self-guided trails at any tidal state. At low water, the mudflats along the river channel east of the fort expose extensive oyster reef — a habitat visible from the fort's sally port rampart. River Street along the Savannah waterfront runs at river level, below the bluff, on the cobblestoned ramp of the old cotton factor warehouses. High tides in the 2.5 to 2.7 m spring range can lap the lower cobblestones and occasionally overtop the curb fronting the bars and restaurants during strong onshore wind combined with a spring high. The Savannah flood history is well-documented; the city experiences minor tidal flooding a handful of times per year, increasing with sea-level rise of approximately 3.5 mm per year recorded at the Fort Pulaski NOAA gauge (station 8670870). For anglers, the outgoing tide on the lower Savannah River and the tidal creeks of Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (north bank, across the state line in South Carolina) produces consistent red drum and spotted seatrout catches as baitfish concentrate on channel edges. Flounder stack in the mud pockets at creek mouths on the incoming tide. Kayak anglers launching from the boat ramp at Houlihan Bridge (US 17) have access to roughly 50 kilometres of navigable tidal creek. Photographers targeting the tidal marsh landscape get the best light at the golden-hour low tide, when the creek banks and spartina roots reflect sunrise without the water obscuring the marsh structure. Families exploring Fort Pulaski should plan for the first two hours after low water, when mudflats are still drained and the trail around the moat is clear. Tide data on this page comes from Open-Meteo Marine, a global gridded ocean model with typical accuracy of plus or minus 45 minutes on timing and 0.2 to 0.3 metres on height. For authoritative Savannah River tidal data, NOAA CO-OPS station 8670870 (Fort Pulaski) provides calibrated harmonic predictions updated daily.