Knowing about tides on the Florida Peninsula is important to fishermen, boaters, beach goers and tourists. Florida tide charts show when to expect low tides and high tides.
In Florida, low tides and high tides vary by no more than a few feet. Tides on the Atlantic coast vary more than tides on the Gulf Coast. From high tide to low tide, the water level differs by mere inches up to as high as 5 feet, depending on the area of the state.
Gulf coast tides often vary by less than 3 feet. In some extreme cases, such as with a full-moon tide, the tides may be greater than 4 feet in some parts of the Gulf Coast. Florida's Gulf Coast runs from Pensacola down to the Everglades.
On Florida's Atlantic coast, which runs from the Jacksonville area down to Biscayne Bay, the tides can fluctuate by up to 5 feet in extreme conditions. On average, Atlantic tides vary between 2 and 4 feet from low tide to high tide.
Some websites and smartphone applications offer tidal graphs and times. When consulting these databases, take care to select the absolute closest point, as a body of water may have three or more low tide times depending on the point on the bay the database references.
