Frederiksted, St. Croix 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/St Thomas local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Frederiksted is St. Croix's second town, on the island's west coast facing the Caribbean Sea. Where Christiansted on the north coast is compact, colonial, and commercially active, Frederiksted is slower, wider, and more architecturally intact — blocks of Victorian gingerbread buildings surviving in better condition than almost anywhere else in the Caribbean. The town was twice destroyed by fire, in 1826 and again in 1878 during the Fireburn labour uprising, and rebuilt both times in the late 19th-century Danish-Caribbean vernacular style that defines the streetscape today. The tidal regime at Frederiksted is Caribbean microtidal: spring range 0.3 to 0.5 metres, mixed semidiurnal. The west coast of St. Croix faces the Caribbean Sea and is sheltered from the northeast Atlantic trade swell by the island's land mass; conditions here are consistently calmer than the Christiansted or Buck Island shores. The main water-level variation drivers are Caribbean weather systems and the diurnal heating pattern that generates afternoon sea breeze — not the astronomical tide. Frederiksted Pier is the town's most distinctive aquatic asset. The pier extends 300 m into the Caribbean and the pilings, submerged for decades, have been colonised by a dense community of invertebrates: orange cup coral, Christmas tree worms, flamingo tongue snails, and extensive sponge gardens. At night, the pier dive reveals creatures absent during daylight: seahorses anchoring to the pilings, frogfish motionless on encrusted surfaces, flying gurnard walking on modified fins across the sandy bottom in 5 to 8 m of water. The night dive here has been rated among the best in the Caribbean for macro subject density. The pier dive is accessible to intermediate divers and above. The depth under the pier ranges from 5 to 12 m; the bottom is sandy with minimal current. Entry is off the pier ladder or by giant stride from the edge. Visibility is best at night when pelagic plankton that reduces daytime visibility retreats — on a calm night, 15 to 20 m visibility is typical. The slack near the predicted low water, when current reversal is minimal, gives the calmest conditions for the drift back to the ladder. For daytime activities, the beach south of the pier at Sandy Point is St. Croix's westernmost beach and the widest stretch of sand on the island. It is also a leatherback sea turtle nesting beach — the largest turtle nesting on the island's outer coast. The beach is co-managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service; seasonal access restrictions apply from March through June when turtles are nesting and rangers are stationed at the site. Outside nesting season, Sandy Point is a broad, exposed beach that receives Caribbean swell on weather-affected days but is generally calm in the prevailing trades. Anglers fishing the west coast of St. Croix target large pelagics from charter boats in the deep water beyond the shelf edge. The shelf drops to several thousand metres less than 10 km west of Frederiksted. Inshore, the pier structure itself concentrates snapper and jack; fishing from the pier requires a permit from the VI Department of Planning and Natural Resources. Shore casting from the beach south of the pier in the hour before and after the predicted low tide brings the bottom structure within casting range. Salt River Bay National Historic Park lies 8 km north of Frederiksted along the north coast road — a separate visit but worth noting as a Columbus landing site with the only known ceremonial ball court associated with the pre-Columbian Arawak people north of the equator. The bay is also a good kayaking destination for a calm morning. Photographers come to Frederiksted primarily for the Victorian architecture and the pier macro subjects. The golden hour before sunset on the west coast is direct and clean — the pier silhouettes against the orange sky in the final 30 minutes of light. For underwater macro work, artificial lighting is mandatory; natural light at pier depth even midday is insufficient for the subject distances involved. Predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a global gridded ocean model. Accuracy is ±45 minutes on timing and ±0.2 to 0.3 metres on height. For the pier dive, current from the predicted tide change is one of several variables; factor in local charter operator knowledge of the specific conditions on the day.