The Oregon coast gets 198 daylight minus tides across its four NOAA reference stations from July through December 2026; 117 land in July and August. The deepest is −2.52 ft at Newport (NOAA station 9435380) on Wednesday, July 15, at a 7:50 AM low. If one trip is all you can manage, aim for July 13–16: all four stations score Exceptional on the same run.
How were these numbers computed?
NOAA harmonic predictions for each station, crossed with the sun's computed position there, then scored 0–100 for depth and daylight overlap; formulas on the methodology page. Counts are per station: one calendar day can appear up to four times.
| Month (2026) | Garibaldi | Newport | Charleston | Port Orford | All four |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July | 17 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 66 |
| August | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 51 |
| September | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 18 |
| October | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 17 |
| November | 3 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 22 |
| December | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 24 |
| Jul–Dec | 42 | 50 | 52 | 54 | 198 |
Daylight minus tides per station, computed 2026-07-03 from NOAA station 9437540, 9435380, 9432780, and 9431647 predictions.
What does each month look like?
Each table shows the month's highest-scoring daylight window per station; day-by-day grids are linked as we go.
July 2026: the main event
| Station | Best day | Low (ft MLLW) | Low time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garibaldi | Mon Jul 13 | −2.08 | 6:34 AM | 90 |
| Newport | Mon Jul 13 | −2.23 | 6:15 AM | 90 |
| Charleston | Mon Jul 13 | −2.19 | 6:04 AM | 90 |
| Port Orford | Tue Jul 14 | −2.46 | 6:37 AM | 90 |
Computed 2026-07-03 from NOAA stations 9437540, 9435380, 9432780, 9431647.
All four are Exceptional, and July 13 is only the front edge; the deepest water comes on the 14th and 15th (see the ten deepest Exceptional windows below). Day grids: Garibaldi, Newport, Charleston, Port Orford.
August 2026: one Wednesday carries the month
| Station | Best day | Low (ft MLLW) | Low time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garibaldi | Wed Aug 12 | −1.77 | 7:04 AM | 85 |
| Newport | Wed Aug 12 | −1.91 | 6:46 AM | 88 |
| Charleston | Wed Aug 12 | −1.72 | 6:35 AM | 81 |
| Port Orford | Wed Aug 12 | −1.74 | 6:19 AM | 80 |
Computed 2026-07-03 from NOAA stations 9437540, 9435380, 9432780, 9431647.
All four sit in the Great band. August has more lows under +1.0 ft than July at every station (30 to 33, versus 24 apiece), yet fewer daylight minus tides: 51 against July's 66. The lows aren't going away; they're sliding out of daylight. August grids: Garibaldi, Newport, Charleston, Port Orford.
September 2026: the fade
| Station | Best day | Low (ft MLLW) | Low time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garibaldi | Fri Sep 11 | −0.50 | 7:18 AM | 55 |
| Newport | Fri Sep 11 | −0.57 | 6:58 AM | 52 |
| Charleston | Fri Sep 11 | −0.28 | 6:47 AM | 43 |
| Port Orford | Sun Sep 27 | +0.02 | 7:11 PM | 41 |
Computed 2026-07-03 from NOAA stations 9437540, 9435380, 9432780, 9431647.
Everything is Fair now, and the region-wide count collapses from 51 to 18. Port Orford's best-scoring window is not even a minus tide at +0.02 ft; it makes the table as the station's best.
October 2026: one Sunday evening
| Station | Best day | Low (ft MLLW) | Low time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garibaldi | Sun Oct 25 | −0.71 | 7:02 PM | 48 |
| Newport | Sun Oct 25 | −0.79 | 6:37 PM | 56 |
| Charleston | Sun Oct 25 | −0.59 | 6:27 PM | 54 |
| Port Orford | Sun Oct 25 | −0.51 | 6:11 PM | 56 |
Computed 2026-07-03 from NOAA stations 9437540, 9435380, 9432780, 9431647.
Still Fair, and the whole month funnels into one Sunday; the lows have also flipped to evening, where they stay through December.
November 2026: depth returns before daylight does
| Station | Best day | Low (ft MLLW) | Low time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garibaldi | Mon Nov 23 | −1.25 | 5:43 PM | 47 |
| Newport | Tue Nov 24 | −1.86 | 6:04 PM | 59 |
| Charleston | Tue Nov 24 | −1.75 | 5:54 PM | 60 |
| Port Orford | Tue Nov 24 | −1.83 | 5:38 PM | 67 |
Computed 2026-07-03 from NOAA stations 9437540, 9435380, 9432780, 9431647.
Depth is back below −1.7 ft south of Garibaldi, and Charleston (60) and Port Orford (67) reach Good, but sunset caps the usable minutes.
December 2026: deep, dark, and short
| Station | Best day | Low (ft MLLW) | Low time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garibaldi | Tue Dec 22 | −1.35 | 5:26 PM | 51 |
| Newport | Wed Dec 23 | −1.91 | 5:53 PM | 61 |
| Charleston | Wed Dec 23 | −1.90 | 5:42 PM | 65 |
| Port Orford | Wed Dec 23 | −2.07 | 5:26 PM | 72 |
Computed 2026-07-03 from NOAA stations 9437540, 9435380, 9432780, 9431647.
Port Orford's 72 (Good) on December 23 is the best score on the coast after August. Christmas Eve is deeper still, −2.21 ft at Port Orford and −2.05 ft at Charleston, but those windows overlap daylight for only 69 and 36 minutes. Winter gives the depth back, not the light.
What are the ten deepest Exceptional windows?
Thirteen windows score 90 (Exceptional) between July and December 2026, every one on July 13–16. The ten deepest of those thirteen:
| Date (2026) | Station | Low (ft) | Low time | Arrive by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed Jul 15 | Newport | −2.52 | 7:50 AM | 6:50 AM |
| Tue Jul 14 | Newport | −2.52 | 7:04 AM | 6:04 AM |
| Tue Jul 14 | Port Orford | −2.46 | 6:37 AM | 5:37 AM |
| Tue Jul 14 | Charleston | −2.40 | 6:53 AM | 5:53 AM |
| Wed Jul 15 | Port Orford | −2.38 | 7:23 AM | 6:23 AM |
| Wed Jul 15 | Garibaldi | −2.35 | 8:09 AM | 7:09 AM |
| Tue Jul 14 | Garibaldi | −2.35 | 7:23 AM | 6:23 AM |
| Wed Jul 15 | Charleston | −2.33 | 7:38 AM | 6:38 AM |
| Mon Jul 13 | Newport | −2.23 | 6:15 AM | 5:15 AM |
| Thu Jul 16 | Newport | −2.23 | 8:33 AM | 7:33 AM |
Computed 2026-07-03 from NOAA stations 9437540, 9435380, 9432780, 9431647.
First and second place are the same beach two mornings apart, separated by five thousandths of a foot (−2.522 versus −2.517). The longest daylight overlap, 295 minutes, shows up twice: Garibaldi July 15 and Newport July 16. One deeper window misses the table on score, not depth: Port Orford on Monday, July 13 bottoms at −2.265 ft, below rows 9 and 10, but its 5:49 AM low overlaps only 168 minutes of daylight and scores 88 (Great), just under the Exceptional line.
Which windows fall on a weekend?
Not the good ones: July 13–16 runs Monday through Thursday. A midweek day off earns you 1.7 vertical feet over the deepest weekend window.
If weekends are what you have, circle Sunday, October 25: best-of-month at all four stations at once, with evening lows from −0.51 ft (Port Orford, 6:11 PM) to −0.79 ft (Newport, 6:37 PM). Port Orford adds Sunday, September 27, which misses minus-tide status by a fraction at +0.02 ft. Those are the only weekend days flagged among the best-of-month windows. The Trip Picker does this juggling when your dates are fixed.
Which station should you watch?
- Newport (South Beach), station 9435380: depth champion, with both −2.52 ft windows, four of the ten deepest Exceptional windows, and 50 daylight minus tides.
- Port Orford, station 9431647: volume and winter leader at 54, including 8 in November and 9 in December.
- Charleston (Coos Bay), station 9432780: a close second at 52, with 7 still alive in December.
- Garibaldi (Tillamook Bay), station 9437540: front-loaded, with 30 of its 42 in July and August and just 2 in October.
December's counts step south like odd numbers: Garibaldi 3, Newport 5, Charleston 7, Port Orford 9. If your trip is winter-flexible, drive south; all four stations are indexed under Oregon beaches.
One safety note
This guidance is Oregon State Parks', not ours: "Always keep one eye on the ocean so you won't be caught off guard if a bigger wave surges up the beach." Sneaker waves are unpredictable, powerful, and can knock adults off their feet. Know when the tide is coming in, especially when exploring tidepools or secluded beaches, since an incoming tide can quickly leave you stranded away from shore. Every window above lists an arrive-by time an hour before the low, so you work a falling tide.
The Tide Window Finder turns any date here into an arrive-by plan, and the Year Heatmap shows all of 2026 at a glance. The July 13–16 band is hard to miss.