The Daylight Minus-Tide Index, 2026–27
Not all coasts are equal: over the next 12 months, the top station below gets 746 hours of walkable daylight low tide, while the bottom gets 422. This index ranks each covered site by total explorable hours — the number that actually decides how often a trip pays off.
Launch edition (12 stations, expanding) · computed 2026-07-04 · CC BY 4.0 · download CSV
| # | Station | State | Daylight window hours / yr | Daylight minus tides / yr | Deepest daylight low | Best month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | La Jolla (Scripps Pier) | CA | 746 | 137 | -1.9 ft | March 2027 |
| 2 | Monterey | CA | 733 | 149 | -1.8 ft | March 2027 |
| 3 | Pillar Point Harbor (Half Moon Bay) | CA | 699 | 142 | -1.9 ft | March 2027 |
| 4 | San Diego (Cabrillo) | CA | 678 | 132 | -2.0 ft | March 2027 |
| 5 | Port Townsend | WA | 560 | 109 | -3.6 ft | June 2027 |
| 6 | Port Orford | OR | 533 | 135 | -2.5 ft | June 2027 |
| 7 | Charleston (Coos Bay) | OR | 492 | 127 | -2.4 ft | June 2027 |
| 8 | La Push (Olympic Coast) | WA | 473 | 125 | -3.0 ft | June 2027 |
| 9 | Bar Harbor (Acadia) | ME | 471 | 121 | -1.9 ft | April 2027 |
| 10 | Newport (South Beach) | OR | 470 | 124 | -2.5 ft | June 2027 |
| 11 | Garibaldi (Tillamook Bay) | OR | 435 | 109 | -2.4 ft | June 2027 |
| 12 | Seattle (Puget Sound) | WA | 422 | 101 | -3.9 ft | June 2027 |
Method
For every station we sum the daylight overlap (sunrise–sunset, computed for the station's coordinates) of every window in which NOAA-predicted height sits below +1.0 ft MLLW, over the 365 days following the computation date. Full formulas on the methodology page. Cite as: “Tidewindow, Daylight Minus-Tide Index, computed from NOAA CO-OPS predictions.”