Montauk, NY tide times

Montauk sits at the eastern tip of Long Island, where the South Fork narrows to a drumlin headland jutting into the convergence of Block Island Sound and the Atlantic. The tidal regime here is mixed semidiurnal — two high and two low tides per day, with the two highs frequently of different heights. Mean spring range at Montauk Point runs around 1.5 metres, modest by global standards but enough to expose and submerge a significant intertidal zone on the rocky ledges below the lighthouse bluff.

Montauk Point Lighthouse, built in 1796 under orders from President George Washington, stands 37 metres above the water and marks the easternmost boundary of New York State waters. At low water spring tides, the basalt and glacial erratics below the lighthouse bluff are accessible on foot, and fishers have worked those ledges for striped bass and bluefish since before the colonial era. The current off the Point is driven partly by the tide and partly by the Long Island current — a coastal drift running west that concentrates baitfish on the tide rips east of the headland. Shore casters time sessions to the first two hours of the flood, when bass move into the shallower ledge water from the deeper Block Island Sound approach.

Montauk Harbor, inside Fort Pond Bay on the north side of the tip, is one of the most productive commercial and sport-fishing ports on the East Coast. The commercial fleet targets tuna, swordfish, and sea scallops offshore; the charter fleet runs bluefish and striped bass trips inshore. The harbor's tidal exchange is less pronounced than the open Point — the bay mouth is wide and the range inside runs close to the outer tide. Block Island is 20 kilometres northeast; the ferry from Montauk to Block Island crosses Block Island Sound in roughly an hour.

The Montauk surfing tradition is built on the south-facing ocean beaches — Ditch Plains, Kirk Park, downtown beach — where south and east swells arrive with minimal obstruction from the continental shelf. The tidal state modifies break character at Ditch Plains significantly: lower water tends to produce steeper, more critical waves over the reef sections; higher water fills in and softens the break. Surf anglers work the Montauk beaches in the early morning and evening, timing their casts to the outgoing tide when the rip at the beach ends concentrates fish.

Kayakers launching from Fort Pond Bay can paddle the north shore of the tip toward the Point on calm days, passing Shagwong Point and the rocky coves that hold schoolie stripers on the incoming tide. The full circumnavigation of the Point in open water is an advanced undertaking given the tidal races and irregular swell refraction; most paddlers stay inside the Sound.

The South Fork's Accabonac Harbor, Napeague Harbor, and Gardiner's Bay to the west offer quieter sheltered water with gentle tidal flow — suitable for beginners and families, with a distinct ecology from the exposed Point. Hither Hills State Park's freshwater ponds drain to the ocean through a narrow beach cut that migrates with storms.

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 US tide data, consult NOAA CO-OPS at tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov.