tide basics
What Is a Sneaker Wave? The Science Behind the Ocean's Quietest Trick
Jul 26, 2026Sneaker waves arrive after 10–20 minutes of small surf and run 150+ feet up dry beach. The NWS rules, the infragravity science, and the dawn-window link.
How to Plan a Tidepooling Trip Around Minus Tides (Complete 2026 Guide)
Jul 29, 2026The 2026 daylight minus-tide season region by region: how low is low enough, when to arrive, and why the deepest windows land on weekday mornings.
Why East Coast Tide Pooling Is Different (and When to Go)
Jul 3, 2026Semidiurnal tides on an 11 ft range make Maine tide pooling run on a different clock than SoCal. Computed 2026 lows, daylight shares, and timing.
Why Summer's Lowest Tides Happen at Dawn on the Pacific Coast
Jul 2, 2026Earth's tilt decides which of the West Coast's two unequal daily lows goes deep, and in summer it lands at dawn. The 2026 hour histogram shows the math.
What Is a Minus Tide? (And Why Only a Few Each Month Happen in Daylight)
Jul 3, 2026A minus tide is any low tide below 0.0 ft MLLW. What the datum means, why minus tides cluster around new and full moons, and how many land in daylight.
How to Read a Tide Table (and What It Won't Tell You)
Jul 27, 2026What tide-table heights above MLLW mean, why the two daily lows differ, and how one Newport, OR table row becomes a 285-minute beach window.
How Low Does the Tide Need to Be for Tide Pools? Testing the −0.5 ft Rule
Jul 2, 2026The '−0.5 ft or lower' rule for tide pools is a Southern California number. We test it against 2026 NOAA data at Seattle, La Jolla, and Bar Harbor.