North Carolina Tide Charts

Q: Where do the North Carolina tide predictions come from?

Every value comes from NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS). North Carolina has 9 harmonic prediction stations in this directory, and each page requests the predictions from api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov in your browser when it loads, so the numbers are NOAA's own rather than a copy we maintain.

Q: Which North Carolina station has the biggest tides?

Among the stations listed here, Wilmington has the largest published mean range at 4.28 feet, while Ocracoke has the smallest at 0.81 feet. Mean range is NOAA's long-term average difference between mean high water and mean low water; spring tides swing wider than it and neap tides narrower.

Q: Why is high tide at different times along the North Carolina coast?

The tide is a long wave moving along the coast and into every bay and river, and it takes real time to travel. Two towns on the same shoreline can see high water an hour or more apart, and the delay grows up estuaries and behind inlets. That is why this page links a separate chart per NOAA station instead of pretending one table covers the whole state.

Q: Can I use these pages for boating in North Carolina?

No. These are planning pages for beach walks, fishing and tidepooling. Mariners should use official NOAA charts and products at tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov. Whether any specific flat, bar or crossing is safe on foot is a local conditions question for the authority that manages that shoreline, not something a tide table can answer.

Seven day tide tables and today's tide curve for 9 NOAA harmonic prediction stations on the North Carolina coast, live from NOAA CO-OPS.

9 NOAA stations with a tide chart page in North Carolina

Station pages

Biggest mean range

4.28 ft

Source

NOAA CO-OPS

North Carolina tides at a glance

NOAA harmonic stations

tide chart pages

one per NOAA harmonic station

4.28 ft

largest mean range

Wilmington (station 8658120)

0.81 ft

smallest mean range

Ocracoke (station 8654769)

Mixed

tide types here

NOAA station classification

North Carolina’s ocean beaches carry a steady semidiurnal tide, but Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds behind the Outer Banks are so enclosed that the lunar tide nearly disappears and wind does most of the work of moving water. The inlets between the two worlds run hard in both directions.

Pick your coast

North Carolina tide chart pages

Each page below reads NOAA’s harmonic predictions live for one station: today’s curve, a 7 day high/low table with sun and moon times, and the week’s best low tide windows. Mean range and tide type come from NOAA’s published station datums, and they are worth a glance before you pick: two towns an hour apart can live on very different tides.

Tide chart	NOAA station	Mean range	Tide type
Duck	Duck (8651370)	3.22 ft	Mixed
Oregon Inlet	Oregon Inlet Marina (8652587)	0.91 ft	Mixed
Cape Hatteras	Cape Hatteras Fishing Pier (8654400)	2.99 ft	Mixed
Ocracoke	Ocracoke, Pamlico Sound (8654769)	0.81 ft	Mixed
Beaufort	Beaufort, Duke Marine Lab (8656483)	3.11 ft	Mixed
Atlantic Beach	Atlantic Beach Triple S Pier (8656590)	3.65 ft	Mixed
Wrightsville Beach	Wrightsville Beach (8658163)	3.98 ft	Mixed
Wilmington	Wilmington (8658120)	4.28 ft	Mixed
Southport	Southport (8659084)	4.24 ft	Mixed

Mean range is NOAA’s published difference between mean high water and mean low water at each station, in feet.

Local knowledge

How tides behave on the North Carolina coast

Surf fishing on the Outer Banks is organized around tide stages, especially the falling tide at Cape Point. Shellers work the low at Ocracoke and the southern beaches, and inlet currents decide when small boats and paddlers move.

The spread inside the state is real: NOAA’s mean range runs from 0.81 feet at Ocracoke to 4.28 feet at Wilmington. Use the station nearest the shoreline you actually plan to stand on, and expect timing to drift further up rivers, estuaries and back bays.

Tide pool at low water crowded with purple and orange sea stars and green anemones — A tide pool exposed at low water. The daytime lows and minus tides flagged on each North Carolina station page are the windows when shoreline like this is reachable. “Tide pools in santa cruz” by Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 3.0

A white tide staff marked in feet standing in harbor water, with a Tide Level sign and NOAA ships docked behind it — A tide staff and NOAA ships in Juneau, Alaska. Every prediction on the North Carolina pages traces back to water level measurements like these, analyzed by NOAA CO-OPS into harmonic constants. “NOAA Tide Level Juneau 28” by Gillfoto, CC BY-SA 4.0

A person digging for clams with a long-handled tool on a wet sand flat exposed at low tide — Clam digging on a flat exposed at low water. Where North Carolina allows shellfishing, the tide table is the first tool; the state’s harvest rules and closures are the second. “Clam digging” by Martyne Reesman, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, CC BY-SA 2.0

A full moon rising over calm water beyond a stone breakwater with people watching from it — Full and new moons bring the biggest tides of the month to the North Carolina coast: spring tides, when the highs run highest and the minus tides show up. “Full Moon rising over Brisbane River-1” by Sheba_Also 43,000 photos, CC BY-SA 2.0

Common questions

North Carolina tides FAQ

Where do the North Carolina tide predictions come from?

Which North Carolina station has the biggest tides?

Why is high tide at different times along the North Carolina coast?

Can I use these pages for boating in North Carolina?

Beyond North Carolina

More coast planning

North Carolina beach conditionsLive NWS rip current and surf zone forecasts for this coast, reproduced as issued.North Carolina tick forecastDune grass and coastal trails are tick habitat. Worth a check before the walk in.North Carolina mosquito forecastMarsh coast at dusk is prime biting time. See where activity stands today.

Tide charts in other states

Station facts are from NOAA CO-OPS (tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov), US government work in the public domain, attributed as NOS requests. Tide values are read live on each station page and reproduced as published. These pages are for beach, fishing and tidepool planning, not navigation. National hub: US tide charts →
Hero image: “Brewster Flats Tidal Flats on Cape Cod Bay East Brewster Massachusetts” by EgorovaSvetlana, CC BY-SA 4.0