Charlotte Amalie 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 19:00 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/St Thomas local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Charlotte Amalie is the capital of the US Virgin Islands, a harbour city on the south coast of St. Thomas that has been one of the Caribbean's most important trading ports since the Danish West India Company established a trading post here in 1672. The natural harbour — a deep, sheltered bay surrounded by steep volcanic hills — made Charlotte Amalie attractive to the Danes as a free port, and the warehouses that once held sugar, rum, and cotton still stand on the waterfront as Havensight Mall and the Main Street shopping district. Today the same harbour accommodates 6–8 cruise ships simultaneously during peak season, delivering a daily passenger count that can equal or exceed the island's permanent population of 13,000. The tidal regime at Charlotte Amalie is microtidal: mixed semidiurnal with a spring range of approximately 0.2–0.3 m above Chart Datum — the smallest in this collection of Caribbean places. The eastern Caribbean around the USVI is among the least tidal marine environments outside the Mediterranean and Baltic. Mean high water springs reaches approximately 0.2 m above Chart Datum; mean low water springs sits near 0.0 m. The diurnal inequality is pronounced; during certain lunar phases the two daily tidal cycles are very unequal in range, and on neap periods the tidal range can drop to 0.05–0.10 m — barely distinguishable from wave set-up and atmospheric pressure variation. Sea state in the harbour is controlled by the protected geometry and the cruise ship traffic rather than tidal state. For boaters, Charlotte Amalie is a major Caribbean yachting hub. The Crown Bay marina on the western side of the harbour and the numerous anchorages in the St. Thomas south coast bays handle hundreds of boats. The 0.2–0.3 m tidal range means mooring lines and anchor scope calculations are dominated by surge from passing vessels and weather swells rather than tidal adjustment. The duty-free port status makes Charlotte Amalie a victualling and chandlery hub; provisioning a yacht here before heading to the BVI (25 km east) or the eastern Caribbean is standard practice. Navigation between St. Thomas and the neighbouring islands uses the Pillsbury Sound passages and the Sir Francis Drake Channel — water depth in these passages is ample at all tidal stages. The cruise ship infrastructure at Charlotte Amalie operates entirely independently of tidal state. The Havensight Pier complex and the Crown Bay cruise pier accommodate ships drawing 8–10 m; the harbour depths of 12–18 m in the main channel ensure clearance at any tidal phase given the 0.2–0.3 m range. The commercial activity of the harbour — water taxis, ferry services to Red Hook on St. Thomas's eastern end, and the inter-island ferries to St. John and the BVI — runs on schedule without tidal constraint. For swimmers and snorkellers, the beaches on St. Thomas's north coast — Magens Bay, 5 km over the hill from Charlotte Amalie — are the primary destination. Magens Bay is sheltered from ocean swell by the surrounding ridge and offers calm, clear water. The 0.2–0.3 m tidal range shifts the Magens Bay waterline by 5–8 m over a spring cycle — barely perceptible as a tide-driven change. The south-coast beaches near Charlotte Amalie, including the small sand strips at Morningstar and Brewers Bay west of the harbour, have similar minimal tidal variation. Water clarity is higher west of the harbour where cruise ship traffic is less concentrated. Snorkelling from the St. Thomas south coast accesses reef patches at 2–5 m depth on the rock and coral structure that extends from most headlands. At low spring water the shallowest sections of these reef patches sit 0.1–0.2 m below the surface — not a significant constraint in calm conditions, but worth noting for anyone drifting over the reef crest. The small tidal range means that unlike higher-range coastlines, there is no dramatically different low-tide reef exposure worth timing a visit around. The Danish colonial architecture of Charlotte Amalie — the Fort Christian, the Government House above the harbour, the yellow brick warehouses (Pakhusene) along the waterfront — is best photographed in early morning before the cruise ships arrive and the waterfront becomes busy. Light on the hillside above the harbour from 06:30 to 08:30 illuminates the white and yellow colonial buildings against the dark green volcanic hillside. The harbour itself at dawn, with fishing boats and the occasional arriving yacht, is the quieter version of a place that by 09:00 on a cruise day has a completely different character. All tide predictions for Charlotte Amalie come from the Open-Meteo Marine gridded model. Timing accuracy is ±45 minutes; height accuracy is ±0.3 m above Chart Datum.