Are the waves different when the tide is coming in and out?

[BaNZ]

I might just be imagining things, but I feel that the waves breaks differently. I surfed north of Woolacombe over the long weekend. Where you can only surf safely when the tide goes out. I go an hour or two before it is at it's lowest.

When the tide is going out, I feel that it is much easier to surf. It breaks further from the shore and more gentle.

Whereas when the tide is coming in, it breaks closer to the shore and also that the wave feels top heavy and throws you over. I feel like the water is getting sucked beneath my board so I have to time my popup very well.

It might also be because I'm just feeling tired after a 2 hour session so I can't popup as fast.

[drowningbitbybit]

Yes, very much so, although how much depends on where in the world you are.

In the UK, you've got a massive tidal range (up to about 8m between high and low tides), and the tide is a huge force that will make waves larger as the tide comes in and smaller as the tide goes out.

...And then once its in or out, that makes a huge difference too. At high tide, the wave will be coming into the shore over deepish water and so might be fatter, or alternatively they might not break at all and will jack up at the last moment as they hit the shore (a shoredump). At low tide, they'll tend to break further out.

...And of course, the wave going over a bank (or a reef) will work best at a certain depth, which might be high tide, low tide or somewhere in between.

So local knowledge is all.

[dtc]

Just to add to DBBs excellent summary, keep in mind that waves break when they are in water approx. 1.3 times the height of the wave. So for a wave of a given height, where and how it breaks will be greatly dependent on the tide - at lower tide it might break further out or hit a sandbar from deep water and break more quickly; whereas in high tide it may wash straight over that sand bar and not break until the shore; or might only slowly build up and crumble rather than plunge

Similarly, a larger swell will often break further out than a smaller swell, simply because 1.3 times the height of a large wave means it will break in deeper water

On the whole, low tide waves can be harder to surf if they have any size to them, as a result of coming out of deep water and hitting a sand bar that is less than 1.3x its height, meaning it forms and breaks very quickly (and hence is also steeper).

However, as DBB says, at times there are places which only break at low tide or which don't break at all at high tide. Many east coast Australian beaches, for example, are pretty poor at high tide, just shore dump (sometimes literally about 5ft from the beach you get a wave with a 6ft face)

[BaNZ]

It all makes sense now. I'm glad I asked this, you learn something new every day!

I keep going when it is high tide because the waves looks so much better for a longboard. But it is pretty deceiving as it seems to do a shoredump. I never thought the tide was causing this, just thought it was different swell.

Now I know, I need to go when the tide is going out.

[jaffa1949]

Now I know, I need to go when the tide is going out.

Maybe for Woolacombe other breaks different rules as D triple b and DTC stated .
You also need to factor in swell direction and the period of the swell.
There is also storm surge and wave pile up, the tide can be different heights alone the same beach. Add an estuary, lagoon or prominent headland mixed with wind direction, the whole mutates.
Know your beach and its lee side neighbours

[benjl]

I couldn't agree more with the above and especially so for the local knowledge part as every beach is different and will break differently under certain tide conditions. Maybe have a play around at your local at different tides and swell sizes to see what changes occur and whether it works for you or not?

For my local inparticular, it depends on the swell size and then that will determine whether I will go out in high or low tide.

High tide tends to have slightly fatter waves and less steep take offs and often a longer ride. As it goes in to the out-going tide, the waves get more and more hollow to the point of getting tubes and heavy shore dumps the more on low tide it is. Dead low tide (if swell size above 3ft) is almost unsurfable as it's just a dump.

However if the swell is tiny (1-2ft), mid-low tide is best as it jacks the wave up a bit more and gives you something more steep and powerful to surf.

Also generally the bigger the swell is, the further out it breaks so the more paddling you have to do. I usually aim for about 1hr pre high tide and 1hr post high tide at my beach for surf over 3ft but there are definitely big differences between high and low tides

[oldmansurfer]

I surf any tide but it affects the waves only less so in Hawaii. Mostly it is just the depth of the water makes the waves break more outside or more inside and depending on the swell size that makes an important difference sometimes. Sometimes however the difference between low and high tides is less than a foot.

[waikikikichan]

Great post for all the skateboarders, snow boarders and " I'm fit " beginners to read. Most sports fields / courts are not affected by the time of day. Surfing is. Try Imagining a skatepark where the concrete gets softer or firmer. And just because you " pick up quickly " other sports, knowledge of the waves takes time. The experienced surfers know the conditions and can adapt.

[billie_morini]

Yes.

[waikikikichan]

Just came back from Hawaii. Surfed Queens and Canoes. Sometimes at High tide you gotta fade to the peak, while at Low tide you gotta go for the shoulder. I would say tides also affect the back wash and double ups. That's really hard for beginners to get, but great for advance surfers.

[SurfsUp415]

Oh yes, absolutely!
I was just surfing in Saunton Sand 2 days ago, and It was my first experience with incoming tide, twice.
I surfed pretty bad on monday, couldn't catch anything, and though I am a beginner, I have been quite steading and making fast progress.
But on Monday I just felt like a total idiot, nothing happened, I ended up just standing on the board and sinking or having some lovely fat waves breaking right on my face.
That really distracted me bc I couldn't judge for what I knew anymore, the waves I was chosing were't right anymore as when the tide was going out, all I kinda knew was absolutey useles on that day.
Anyways, went back on tuesday but one hour earlier, but one hour after the tide started to come back in again... N it was a total waste of energy.
Well I just gave up, and practised some duck diving and paddling and one hour only I've had to give up.
I thought it was silly, I could stay another hour... As I tried back again, any waves Ive caught I'd get thrown out of my board in angles I've never had fallen before, no control of the board whatsorever... Guess it was windy... Onshore winds... Perhaps the wind also pushed my board out of my feet or something.
Yes it was odd and different on both days on same great conditions on4/5ft 12 secs Nd all that, but pretty windy... Yeah, no more incoming tide for me, unless it is super big and I can catch foamy waves with some power on it.

[oldmansurfer]

some places like France have 12 feet or more differences in water depth which makes some places dry beach where there was a break at high tide. The further away from the equator the bigger the tides so the greater difference it makes not to mention that in harbors or bays the outgoing tide can be extremely dangerous from the outgoing current generated by the tide dropping in the confines of a bay or narrow inlet.

[BaNZ]

I think my original question was phrased wrong. Say if the swell is consistent at 10 seconds, 4 feet and no wind. Would mid tide waves be the same as when the tide is coming in or out. I'm going to assume that the tide coming in will have more water volume despite it being at only 4 feet. Therefore it will always feel different even though it is at 4 feet. Depending on the break, I guess some might close out sooner than others.

[oldmansurfer]

Without taking into account difference in depth the outgoing tide makes a current that you have to paddle against and maybe makes the waves a little steeper but the incoming tide may make the wave a little bigger adding to the size by adding more water coming in along with the swell.