The best tidepooling stretch of the Pacific summer runs July 11–14, 2026. Monday, July 13 is the peak: six of Tidewindow's seven Pacific Northwest stations post an Exceptional (90+) daylight window on the same day, led by Seattle (NOAA station 9447130) at −3.68 ft at 10:31 AM — deepening to −3.80 ft on Tuesday, the lowest daylight tide of its year. Want a weekend instead? Puget Sound scores a flat 100 on both July 11 and 12.
If you only get outside once this summer to turn over rocks, this is the week. A single new-moon run in mid-July drops the tide further, and in more daylight, than anything else on the 2026 calendar — and for a few days it does so up and down the coast at once.
Why July 13 is the peak
Deep lows arrive in runs of four or five consecutive mornings around a new or full moon, each day's low landing roughly 50 minutes later than the last. In July 2026 that run opens quietly on Saturday the 11th and reaches full depth on Monday and Tuesday. Monday, July 13 is the day the whole Northwest bottoms out in daylight at the same time:
| Station (NOAA id) | Low (ft MLLW) | Low time | Daylight window | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Townsend (9444900) | −3.48 | 9:36 AM | 6:45 AM–1:05 PM | 90 |
| Seattle · Alki (9447130) | −3.68 | 10:31 AM | 8:00 AM–1:05 PM | 90 |
| La Push · Rialto (9442396) | −2.70 | 6:26 AM | 3:45 AM–9:15 AM | 90 |
| Garibaldi · Tillamook (9437540) | −2.08 | 6:34 AM | 4:20 AM–9:15 AM | 90 |
| Newport · South Beach (9435380) | −2.23 | 6:15 AM | 3:50 AM–9:00 AM | 90 |
| Charleston · Coos Bay (9432780) | −2.19 | 6:04 AM | 3:30 AM–8:50 AM | 90 |
| Port Orford (9431647) | −2.27 | 5:49 AM | 3:05 AM–8:40 AM | 88 |
Computed 2026-07-04 from NOAA CO-OPS predictions, MLLW.
Six stations at 90 or above, the seventh (Port Orford) one point short at 88 — a coast-wide Exceptional day is genuinely uncommon, because the same low that lands mid-morning in Puget Sound lands closer to dawn on the outer coast, where a few of the deepest minutes slip below the horizon. Notice the clock as you read down the column: the low is at 5:49 AM at Port Orford, the southernmost Oregon station, and not until 10:31 AM up at Seattle. The tide is the same event; the Sound just runs it late.
The next morning, Tuesday, July 14, is deeper still at several stations — Seattle reaches −3.80 ft at 11:20 AM and Port Orford finally joins the Exceptional band at −2.46 ft — but the low has drifted past 11 AM in the Sound and past 7 AM on the coast, trading a little depth for a later start.
Can't take a weekday? The July 11–12 weekend
The two deepest days are a Monday and a Tuesday. If your calendar only bends on weekends, Puget Sound has you covered: both Saturday and Sunday score a flat 100 there, the run's opening act before it deepens.
| Date | Station | Low (ft MLLW) | Low time | Daylight window | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Jul 11 | Port Townsend | −2.36 | 7:58 AM | 5:20 AM–11:10 AM | 100 |
| Sat, Jul 11 | Seattle · Alki | −2.29 | 8:49 AM | 6:35 AM–11:10 AM | 100 |
| Sun, Jul 12 | Port Townsend | −3.10 | 8:47 AM | 6:00 AM–12:10 PM | 100 |
| Sun, Jul 12 | Seattle · Alki | −3.16 | 9:40 AM | 7:15 AM–12:10 PM | 100 |
Computed 2026-07-04 from NOAA station 9444900 and 9447130 predictions.
Why do these score 100 when Monday's deeper −3.68 ft scores 90? The window scale rewards a low that sits squarely in comfortable daylight, and Sunday's 9:40 AM low is a gentler hour than Monday's 10:31 AM or Tuesday's 11:20 AM, when the returning tide starts eating into midday. Depth is only half the story; timing is the other half. The methodology page shows exactly how the two combine.
The Oregon coast is worth a look that Sunday too — Garibaldi scores 88, Newport 87, and Charleston 86 on July 12 — though the lows come near 5:30 AM, so you are trading a very early alarm for a very empty beach. Full ranked lists live on each state hub: Washington and Oregon.
California runs two days behind
Same moon, different result — and it is worth understanding why before you drive to Half Moon Bay expecting Puget Sound numbers. On July 12 the low at Pillar Point Harbor (station 9414131) falls at 3:56 AM and at Monterey (9413450) at 3:55 AM — both well before sunrise. The tide is low; you just cannot see it. Only the tail of each window catches daylight (about 66 minutes at Pillar Point, ending 7:05 AM), so the scores stay in the 60s no matter how deep the water pulls back.
| Date | Pillar Point low / time | Score | Monterey low / time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun, Jul 12 | −1.41 ft · 3:56 AM | 68 | −1.25 ft · 3:55 AM | 64 |
| Mon, Jul 13 | −1.72 ft · 4:45 AM | 73 | −1.58 ft · 4:43 AM | 69 |
| Tue, Jul 14 | −1.79 ft · 5:33 AM | 82 | −1.70 ft · 5:29 AM | 79 |
Computed 2026-07-04 from NOAA station 9414131 and 9413450 predictions.
The California low slides about 49 minutes later each morning, so by Tuesday the 14th it clears sunrise and Pillar Point climbs to an 82 — the state's best day of the run. Southern California lags further: at San Diego's Cabrillo (9410170) the July 13 low is at 3:34 AM, so the region does not really wake up until midweek. If you are on the California coast, July 14 is your morning; farther north, you had your pick two days earlier. This dawn-to-mid-morning drift is a Pacific-summer signature — the why-summer-lows-happen-at-dawn guide unpacks it.
How to work these windows
Use the arrive-by time, not the low time — get to the rocks about an hour before the low so you can follow the water out. For Seattle's Sunday window that means 8:40 AM, ahead of the 9:40 AM low. The National Park Service's tidepooling guidance puts it plainly: "Be at the tidepool area at least an hour before low tide so that you have plenty of time to explore safely while the water is receding," and "Return no later than an hour after the tide has begun to rise."
Footing is the real hazard, not the water level. NPS warns that reaching the intertidal zone "requires travel over sand, slippery rocks covered with algae, and pools of water with depths of a foot or more" — so wear shoes that grip when wet, watch the incoming tide, and never turn your back on the ocean.
Planning around the whole run rather than one morning? The trip picker finds the multi-day stretches and will hand you July 11–14 without being asked, and the year heatmap shows just how alone this week stands on the 2026 calendar. For the day-by-day Puget Sound picture through December, the Puget Sound low tide calendar has every window; the Oregon coast calendar does the same down south.
Four mornings, one moon. After the 14th the tide keeps ebbing before dawn all summer — but for this one long weekend, the lowest water of the year lines up with the sunrise. Set an early alarm.