Clearwater Beach Tides: How to Read the Chart, Plus the Year's Best Daylight Low Tides

What is the tide at Clearwater Beach today?

This page can't show today's tide, but two NOAA pages can. Both cover the Clearwater Beach gauge, station 8726724, which NOAA has run since 1973.

• Today's predicted highs and lows: NOAA tide predictions for Clearwater Beach. Times are local (it switches between standard and daylight time for you) and heights are in feet above MLLW, explained below.
• What the water is actually doing right now: NOAA observed water levels, which plots the measured level against the prediction every six minutes.

For a sense of an ordinary day: on October 4, 2026, NOAA predicted a high of 2.98 feet at 5:32 a.m., a low of 0.40 feet at 2:06 p.m. and a high of 2.17 feet at 10:00 p.m. That's a normal fall day: the low stays well above zero, so no extra sandbar.

The next three dates worth planning around are Wednesday, October 28 (7:58 a.m., -0.46 ft), Friday, November 27 (7:48 a.m., -0.77 ft) and Saturday, December 26 (7:34 a.m., -0.99 ft, the lowest daylight low of the year). The full list is in the calendar below.

Which days have the best daylight low tides, October 2026 to September 2027?

Below is every predicted low at or below 0.0 feet MLLW that falls between sunrise and sunset at Clearwater Beach over the next 12 months. "Daylight" is tied to each date's actual sunrise and sunset rather than a clock window, since a 7:30 a.m. low is dark in January and bright in June. Heights are NOAA predictions, and real water often runs higher (see how far off predictions run).

Month by month

Every daylight low at or below 0.0 ft

All 69 lows, in date order. Lows of -0.5 feet or lower (the 18 best) are in bold. Times are local, Eastern Daylight Time until November 1, 2026 and from March 14, 2027, Eastern Standard Time in between.

Some near misses are worth knowing. The deepest low of the year, -1.33 feet, comes at 5:05 a.m. on January 21, 2027, about two hours before sunrise. Thanksgiving morning, November 26, has a -0.93 foot low at 6:55 a.m., seven minutes before sunrise. It misses the table on a technicality, and the sand will still be out at first light, a good start to Thanksgiving week at the beach. June 6, 2027 has a -0.78 foot low at 8:27 p.m., one minute after sunset. In town for the Fourth? The July 4, 2027 low is -0.78 feet at 7:27 p.m., about an hour before sunset, and our Fourth of July guide covers the rest of the evening.

The best runs follow the moon. Every daylight low at -0.5 feet or lower falls within four days of a new or full moon (U.S. Naval Observatory phase dates). Within a run, the low arrives roughly 25 minutes to an hour later each day. If your trip misses the bold dates, check the days on either side of them.

Why does Clearwater get one big low and one small one?

NOAA classifies the Clearwater Beach gauge as a mixed tide. Its tides tutorial defines that as two highs and two lows of different sizes every lunar day. A lunar day runs 24 hours and 50 minutes, so the tide shows up roughly 50 minutes later each day.

Here the mix is lopsided. In NOAA's harmonic constants for the station, the main twice-a-day lunar component (M2) has an amplitude of 0.80 feet, but the two main once-a-day components (K1 and O1) add up to almost a foot on their own (0.51 and 0.48 feet). With a strong once-a-day part, the day's two lows split into a deep one and a shallow one. Sometimes the shallow one barely happens: in the 12 months of predictions we pulled, 51 days had only one low.

Take October 5, 2026. NOAA predicts a low of 2.02 feet at 1:28 a.m. and a low of 0.43 feet at 3:05 p.m. The first is just a pause during a high-water night. The second is the real low. On any chart, find the lower of the two lows and ignore the other.

The total swing is small. NOAA's tidal datums put the mean range (average high to average low) at 1.89 feet and the great diurnal range (average higher high to average lower low) at 2.74 feet. On a beach with that little range, a low of -0.5 feet (half a foot under the average lower low) is a big day.

How do you read a NOAA tide chart for Clearwater Beach?

Most confusion comes from the zero line, negative numbers and the gap between a prediction and a measurement. Time zones, at least, are handled for you.

• Zero is not sea level. NOAA's heights are measured from Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW), the average of each day's lower low tide over the 1983-2001 datum epoch. A 0.0 foot low is an ordinary lower low.
• Negative tides are lows below that average. A -0.8 foot low is 0.8 feet lower than a typical lower low, which on this beach exposes extra sand at the waterline and on the shallow bars.
• Predictions don't include weather. NOAA's tutorial says strong offshore winds can push water away from the coast and exaggerate low tides, while onshore winds can pile water up and "virtually" eliminate them. High pressure tends to depress sea level, and low pressure tends to bring tides higher than predicted.
• Times are local. NOAA's prediction page defaults to local standard or daylight time (LST/LDT), so you don't have to convert.

The station's full scale, from NOAA's datum sheet, converted to feet above MLLW to match the chart:

NOAA lists the datum epoch as 1983-2001 and the current datums as accepted on May 13, 2020.

Why are winter's best lows in the morning and summer's at dinnertime?

Scan the calendar and the split is obvious. Every daylight low from October through February falls between 7:21 and 9:54 a.m. Every one from March through August falls between 3:58 and 8:17 p.m. The deep lower low drifts around the clock with the seasons.

Late winter has the most negative lows of all: 27 in February 2027 and 25 in March, against 15 or 16 in May, June or July. Most of them land in the dark before sunrise, though, so February gets just one in daylight, and it's barely negative (-0.03 feet). In summer the deep lows come in the evening with the sun still up, which puts 14 of July's 15 negative lows in daylight.

So there are two plans. From late fall through winter, go early: be on the sand around sunrise, and the low is usually within an hour or two. In spring and summer, plan a late-afternoon walk that runs into sunset; our tips on planning a summer evening around storms and low tide help with timing. Our sunset times by month table helps you see how much light you'll have after the low.

How far off are the predictions on a real day?

Often by more than the difference between a good low and an ordinary one. We compared NOAA's hourly predictions with the gauge's hourly measurements for October 2025 through September 2026: 8,760 hours, using NOAA verified data plus preliminary data for the most recent months, grouped by calendar month in UTC.

The water ran higher than predicted almost all year, by about half a foot on average. That's consistent with NOAA's long-term trend for this gauge, a rise of 1.72 inches per decade since 1973. The datums are pinned to the middle of the 1983-2001 epoch, and three-plus decades at that rate adds up to roughly half a foot. In practice, a predicted -0.5 foot summer evening low often behaves more like a zero.

The misses in the other direction all fall between November and March, and they're big. On November 11, 2025, NOAA predicted 0.26 feet at 11 a.m. and the gauge read -0.89 feet, more than a foot lower. On February 1, 2026, the verified six-minute reading at 6:18 a.m. was -2.46 feet, within about a tenth of a foot of the station's 1977 record low; NOAA had predicted about -1.08 feet for that hour, and at 8 a.m., after sunrise, the gauge still read -1.59 feet against a prediction of -0.16. Weather observations from St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport for both mornings show northerly winds (northwest to northeast), high pressure (about 1,023 to 1,030 millibars) and dawn temperatures in the 30s. NOAA's tutorial ties high pressure to exceptionally low tides and says wind that moves water away from the coast exaggerates them, and mornings like these are when you can expect the most sand to show.

What tide is best for shelling, wading, kayaking and fishing?

Some plans hinge on the tide and some barely care. Where a row reflects general practice rather than an official rule, it says so.

Does Clearwater Beach get king tides or tidal flooding?

"King tide" isn't a scientific term. NOAA describes it as a name people use for exceptionally high tides, which tend to come around new and full moons and when the moon is closest to Earth. At Clearwater Beach the highest predicted tides of the coming year cluster in summer: 3.60 feet at 11:47 a.m. on July 4, 2027, then 3.70 feet at 11:50 a.m. on August 2 (the year's peak), and 3.65 feet at 11:00 a.m. on August 30. The August 2 peak matches NOAA's highest astronomical tide for the station.

On paper, 3.70 feet MLLW is only about a foot above the average higher high. But the National Weather Service's impact notes for this gauge say roads on the north end of the island begin to flood at 1.0 foot above MHHW. Add the half foot the water has been running above predictions, and those late-summer midday highs are the ones to watch. How they compare with the official flood levels and the storm record:

The National Weather Service publishes its flood categories for this gauge in feet above MHHW; we added 2.74 feet (NOAA's MHHW above MLLW) to put them on the chart scale. NOAA's verified high-low record puts Helene's peak at 8.92 feet at 9:24 p.m. on September 26, 2024; the six-minute readings went higher, to 9.41 feet MLLW at 11 p.m. Storm surge is a hurricane-planning question, not a tide-table one: see our hurricane season guide, and for flood warnings follow the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay.

Frequently asked questions

When is low tide at Clearwater Beach today?

Check NOAA's prediction page for station 8726724. It lists the day's highs and lows in local time. Look for the lower of the two lows; on many days it's the only one that matters.

How big are the tides at Clearwater Beach?

Small. NOAA's datums put the average range at 1.89 feet and the average gap between the day's higher high and lower low at 2.74 feet. The highest predicted tide from October 2026 to September 2027 is 3.70 feet and the lowest is -1.33 feet.

What does a negative tide mean?

A low below Mean Lower Low Water, the chart's zero line. A -0.8 foot low is 0.8 feet lower than an average lower low, so more sand and sandbar show.

Can you walk to Caladesi Island at low tide?

Don't plan on it. We found no official source that describes a walking route from Clearwater Beach to Caladesi Island State Park, at low tide or any other time, and the ferry operator says the island's beaches are "accessible only by boat." Our Caladesi Island guide covers getting there by ferry.

Does the tide affect waves or rip currents?

Yes. The National Weather Service says the tide affects how much waves break, which drives rip currents. On beaches with smaller tidal ranges, it says rips often flow faster about an hour or two either side of low tide and may stop flowing around high tide.

Do tides at Clearwater Beach ever flood the island?

Normal tides don't reach the National Weather Service's flood stages for the gauge, but its impact notes say north-end roads start to flood at 1.0 foot above average higher high water, about 3.74 feet on the chart scale. The year's highest predicted tide is 3.70 feet, and with the water running about half a foot above predictions lately, the biggest late-summer highs could reach that line. Serious flooding comes with storms.