Know the hours the ocean gives back.
A few times a month, a very low tide lines up with daylight — and the coast opens up: tidepools, sandbars, sea caves, glass beaches. Tidewindow computes those exact hours for US beaches from NOAA predictions, scores them, and ranks them. No tide-table squinting.
The best window in America right now
computed 2026-10-04 · NOAA CO-OPSPillar Point Harbor (Half Moon Bay) — Oct 25, 2026 (Sun): the tide drops to -0.5 ft at 4:59 PM, giving 3h 29m of walkable daylight (2:50 PM–7:15 PM). 68 · Good
Computed tide curve · shaded band = below +1.0 ft · gold lines = sunrise/sunset · full Pillar Point Harbor (Half Moon Bay) guide →
Top windows, next 30 days
Pillar Point Harbor (Half Moon Bay)CA
68 · Good(Sun) · -0.5 ft at 4:59 PM
Walkable 2:50 PM–7:15 PM · arrive by 3:59 PM
Pillar Point Harbor (Half Moon Bay)CA
67 · Good(Mon) · -0.9 ft at 5:42 PM
Walkable 3:15 PM–8:20 PM · arrive by 4:42 PM
Pillar Point Harbor (Half Moon Bay)CA
65 · Good(Tue) · -1.2 ft at 6:29 PM
Walkable 3:55 PM–9:20 PM · arrive by 5:29 PM
La Jolla (Scripps Pier)CA
65 · Good(Sun) · -0.4 ft at 3:27 PM
Walkable 1:25 PM–5:35 PM · arrive by 2:27 PM
La Jolla (Scripps Pier)CA
65 · Good(Tue) · -0.8 ft at 4:57 PM
Walkable 2:35 PM–7:35 PM · arrive by 3:57 PM
San Diego (Cabrillo)CA
65 · Good(Sun) · -0.3 ft at 3:31 PM
Walkable 1:35 PM–5:30 PM · arrive by 2:31 PM
San Diego (Cabrillo)CA
64 · Good(Tue) · -0.8 ft at 5:00 PM
Walkable 2:45 PM–7:25 PM · arrive by 4:00 PM
La Jolla (Scripps Pier)CA
62 · Good(Mon) · -0.7 ft at 4:10 PM
Walkable 1:55 PM–6:35 PM · arrive by 3:10 PM
Know before you go
all guides →The best time to go tide pooling — which hours and which months line up daylight with deep water, and the one-hour rule for when to arrive.
How low does the tide need to be? — the familiar −0.5 ft rule is a Southern California number; we test it against NOAA data on three very different coasts.
What is a sneaker wave? — the science behind the ocean's quietest trick, and what the National Weather Service says about it.
Trip Picker — enter your vacation dates and coast; it finds the single best low-tide hour inside them, or says honestly that there isn't one.
Oregon's tide pools, compared — four stations from Garibaldi to Port Orford, and how the calendar splits at Newport.
California's tide pools, compared — four coasts side by side, including which lows fit inside Cabrillo's posted gate hours.
Computed, not written
Every window on this site is arithmetic over NOAA harmonic tide predictions intersected with the sun's actual position. The methodology is public, and the numbers regenerate every day.
Scored honestly
Depth, daylight, weekends, season — one 0–100 score. When a week is a washout, we say “skip it” and show you the next date that isn't.
Yours to keep
Any beach's next 12 months of good windows as a calendar feed or a printable year view — plus a weekly alert for your stretch of coast.
The Minus Tide Alert
One email a week: the exact hours your coast is worth the drive — computed from NOAA data, never padded. Sent every Thursday.
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