Virginia Tide Charts

Q: Where do the Virginia tide predictions come from?

Every value comes from NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS). Virginia has 8 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 Virginia station has the biggest tides?

Among the stations listed here, Wachapreague has the largest published mean range at 3.99 feet, while Tangier Island has the smallest at 1.51 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 Virginia 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 Virginia?

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 8 NOAA harmonic prediction stations on the Virginia coast, live from NOAA CO-OPS.

8 NOAA stations with a tide chart page in Virginia

Station pages

Biggest mean range

3.99 ft

Source

NOAA CO-OPS

Virginia tides at a glance

NOAA harmonic stations

tide chart pages

one per NOAA harmonic station

3.99 ft

largest mean range

Wachapreague (station 8631044)

1.51 ft

smallest mean range

Tangier Island (station 8633532)

Mixed

tide types here

NOAA station classification

Virginia’s tides range from the ocean rhythm at Virginia Beach through the complicated schedules of the Chesapeake’s western rivers, where high tide at a river town can lag the ocean by many hours. The Eastern Shore’s seaside is a maze of marsh and flats that drains dramatically at low water.

Pick your coast

Virginia 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
Colonial Beach	Colonial Beach, Potomac River (8635150)	1.63 ft	Mixed
Chincoteague	CHINCOTEAGUE, USCG STATION (8630249)	1.59 ft	Mixed
Tangier Island	Tangier Island (8633532)	1.51 ft	Mixed
Wachapreague	Wachapreague (8631044)	3.99 ft	Mixed
Kiptopeke Beach	Kiptopeke (8632200)	2.6 ft	Mixed
Yorktown	Yorktown USCG Training Center (8637689)	2.27 ft	Mixed
Norfolk	Sewells Point (8638610)	2.43 ft	Mixed
Virginia Beach	Rudee Inlet (8639207)	3.29 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 Virginia coast

The seaside marshes around Chincoteague and Wachapreague are the draw: low tide exposes mudflats and oyster ground, and the moving water in the channels is when flounder and drum anglers fish. Every one of those channels runs on its own delay, which is exactly what a station page is for.

The spread inside the state is real: NOAA’s mean range runs from 1.51 feet at Tangier Island to 3.99 feet at Wachapreague. 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 Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia 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

Virginia tides FAQ

Where do the Virginia tide predictions come from?

Which Virginia station has the biggest tides?

Why is high tide at different times along the Virginia coast?

Can I use these pages for boating in Virginia?

Beyond Virginia

More coast planning

Virginia beach conditionsLive NWS rip current and surf zone forecasts for this coast, reproduced as issued.Virginia tick forecastDune grass and coastal trails are tick habitat. Worth a check before the walk in.Virginia 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