Cambridge Tide Chart

Q: What does a tide height of 0.0 ft mean at Cambridge?

Zero is not the sea floor and not the beach: it is MLLW, the long-term average of the lower of each day's low waters at this station. A prediction of 0.0 ft means the water will stand at that average lowest level. Negative predictions (minus tides) fall below it and expose ground that most days never uncover, which is why tidepoolers and clam diggers hunt for them.

Q: Does the moon change the tides at Cambridge?

Yes, it is the main driver. Around new and full moon, Cambridge gets spring tides: the month's biggest highs and lowest lows. Around the quarter moons the range shrinks (neap tides). NOAA's mean range for this station is 1.62 feet, and the actual swing breathes around that number with the lunar cycle, which is why this page shows the moon phase beside every day.

Q: Can I use this tide chart for boating or navigation?

For boating and navigation, use NOAA's official charts, tide tables and current predictions at tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov. The predictions here are for planning beach visits, fishing sessions and tidepooling. And no tide table can say whether a specific sandbar, flat or crossing is safe to walk; that depends on local conditions and is a question for whoever manages that shoreline.

Q: Where do these predictions come from?

From NOAA station 8571892, Cambridge, a harmonic tide prediction station at 38.572, -76.062. Your browser requests the predictions directly from NOAA CO-OPS (api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov) when the page loads, so the numbers are NOAA's own, not a copy we maintain. NOAA updates its prediction stations quarterly; this page follows those updates automatically because it reads the live service.

NOAA harmonic tide predictions for Cambridge (station 8571892), read live in your browser and reproduced as published, with sun and moon times computed for the station.

Reading NOAA predictions for Cambridge...

Mean tide range

1.62 ft

Tide type

Mixed

NOAA station

8571892

Cambridge tides at a glance

Live · NOAA CO-OPS predictions

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next tide

live read unavailable

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lowest daytime tide this week

derived from NOAA predictions

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minus tides in the next 7 days

lows below the MLLW datum

1.62 ft

mean range at this station

NOAA datum for station 8571892

Most of Maryland’s shoreline is Chesapeake Bay, where tides are small but arrive on wildly different schedules as the tide wave works its way up the bay and into each river. Ocean City, on the Atlantic side, runs on a bigger and simpler ocean tide.

Live, as published

Today’s tides at Cambridge

The curve and the highs and lows below are NOAA’s harmonic predictions for Cambridge, station 8571892, requested from api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov as you loaded this page and shown in station local time. Heights are feet above mean lower low water (MLLW), the zero NOAA charts use.

Reading NOAA’s harmonic predictions for station 8571892 in your browser…

The week ahead

Cambridge tide table, next 7 days

Every high and low NOAA predicts for the next seven station-local days, with sunrise, sunset and the moon phase alongside, because the three together are what decide whether a low tide is usable. Lows below the MLLW datum are flagged: those minus tides uncover ground an ordinary low never exposes.

Reading NOAA’s harmonic predictions for station 8571892 in your browser…

Times are station local. NOAA’s published disclaimer for these predictions: “These data are based upon the latest information available as of the date of your request, and may differ from the published tide tables.”

Derived from the predictions

The best tide windows at Cambridge this week

These callouts are arithmetic over the NOAA rows above, done in your browser: the lowest low that falls in daylight, any minus tides, the biggest swing and the highest water. They are planning aids for beach walks, fishing and tidepooling, not advice about whether any specific sandbar, flat or crossing is safe. On the Chesapeake the tide matters less for height than for current: light-tackle anglers fish moving water at points and channel edges. On Assateague and at Ocean City the low uncovers wide flats and the best shelling and clamming windows.

Reading NOAA’s harmonic predictions for station 8571892 in your browser…

Long exposure of surf washing over dark intertidal rocks at El Matador State Beach, California — The intertidal zone at El Matador State Beach, California. The rocky shore near Cambridge works the same way: what is under surf at high water is walkable ground at a good low. “El Matador State Beach - Tide Pools” — Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (NPS) / Connar L'Ecuyer — Public domain

Why the week has a shape

Moon phases, spring tides and king tides at Cambridge

Tides follow the moon. Around new and full moon the sun and moon pull together and Cambridge gets its biggest highs and lowest lows (spring tides); around the quarter moons the pulls partly cancel and the swing shrinks (neap tides). That is why the minus tides and the biggest ranges in the table above cluster around the same few days each month.

The National Ocean Service adds one more layer: “A King Tide is a non-scientific term people often use to describe exceptionally high tides,” which it notes typically occur “during a new or full moon and when the Moon is at its perigee,” its closest approach to Earth. When a perigean spring tide coincides with onshore weather, the highest highs can reach places the ordinary tide never touches.

King tide dates at Cambridge, October 2026 to March 2027

The highest predicted tides NOAA publishes for Cambridge (station 8571892) from October 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027. The season’s highest is 2.4 ft above MLLW on October 27, 2026 at 5:27 PM, 0.3 ft above mean higher high water (MHHW), the average of each day’s higher high tide at this station. Every predicted high this season stays within 1 ft of MHHW here.

King tide window	Peak	Predicted high	Above MHHW	Moon at the peak
Oct 1 to 4, 2026 Oct 1 8:20 PM · 2.3 ftOct 2 9:22 PM · 2.3 ftOct 3 10:34 PM · 2.2 ftOct 4 11:50 PM · 2.2 ft	Oct 1, 8:20 PM	2.3 ft above MLLW	+0.3 ft	Last Quarter
Oct 6 to 16, 2026 Oct 7 1:55 AM · 2.2 ftOct 8 3:04 PM · 2.2 ftOct 9 3:53 PM · 2.3 ftOct 10 4:38 PM · 2.3 ftOct 11 5:21 PM · 2.3 ftOct 12 6:02 PM · 2.3 ftOct 13 6:43 PM · 2.2 ft11 days in this window; the 7 nearest the peak are shown	Oct 10, 4:38 PM	2.3 ft above MLLW	+0.3 ft	New Moon
Oct 24 to 31, 2026 Oct 24 3:15 PM · 2.2 ftOct 25 3:58 PM · 2.3 ftOct 26 4:41 PM · 2.4 ftOct 27 5:27 PM · 2.4 ftOct 28 6:17 PM · 2.4 ftOct 29 7:10 PM · 2.3 ftOct 30 8:08 PM · 2.2 ft8 days in this window; the 7 nearest the peak are shown	Oct 27, 5:27 PM	2.4 ft above MLLW	+0.3 ft	Waning Gibbous

Heights are NOAA’s predicted high tides for station 8571892 in feet above mean lower low water (MLLW), station local time. Above MHHW is each peak minus NOAA’s published mean higher high water for this station, 2.0 ft above MLLW, so it says how far the tide stands above an average day’s higher high here. A window is the run of consecutive days whose highest tide sits within 0.3 ft of its peak; the shaded row is the season’s highest.

Checking the National Weather Service for active coastal flood products for NWS zone MDZ021…

NOAA’s National Ocean Service: “A King Tide is a non-scientific term people often use to describe exceptionally high tides.” On these pages the term means the highest predicted tides NOAA publishes for a station from October 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027.Source: oceanservice.noaa.gov

The heights are NOAA’s predictions of the astronomical tide. Wind, barometric pressure and river flow raise or lower the real water level on the day, and the National Weather Service’s coastal flood product for the zone is the authority on whether water is expected over land.

Every Maryland station on one page: Maryland king tides. All coasts: US king tides.

A full moon rising over calm water beyond a stone breakwater with people watching from it — A full moon rising over the water (photographed on the Brisbane River, Australia; the physics is the same everywhere). Full and new moons bring Cambridge its spring tides: the biggest highs and the lowest lows of the month. “Full Moon rising over Brisbane River-1” by Sheba_Also 43,000 photos, CC BY-SA 2.0

A city street in Miami flooded at night by tidal water during a king tide, with headlights reflecting off the water — Tidal flooding in Miami during the October 2016 king tides. Exceptionally high astronomical tides plus weather can put water where it rarely goes, which is worth knowing on any coast, including near Cambridge. “Miami tidal flooding with rain at high tide during king tides 02” — B137 — CC0

Where the numbers come from

About NOAA station 8571892, Cambridge

This page reads NOAA’s harmonic tide predictions: the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) analyzed water level records at Cambridge into harmonic constituents, and those constants generate the predictions you see here. The station sits at 38.572, -76.062; the farther a beach or creek is from that point, the more the real timing can differ, especially up estuaries and behind inlets.

NOAA classifies the tide at this station as mixed, meaning the two daily highs (and the two lows) are usually of noticeably different size, so check which low is the lower one before planning around it. The mean range here, NOAA’s published difference between mean high water and mean low water, is 1.62 feet, and the great diurnal range (mean higher high to mean lower low) is 2.04 feet. Spring tides stretch beyond those means; neap tides fall short of them.

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 in Juneau, Alaska, with NOAA ships behind it. Decades of measurements at gauges like this are what CO-OPS distills into the harmonic constants that predict the tide at Cambridge. “NOAA Tide Level Juneau 28” by Gillfoto, CC BY-SA 4.0

NOAA’s disclaimer, as published: “These data are based upon the latest information available as of the date of your request, and may differ from the published tide tables.” Predictions are for NOAA station Cambridge (8571892) and are astronomical tides only: wind, barometric pressure and river flow routinely push the real water level above or below the prediction.

Use these times for planning beach walks, fishing and tidepooling. A tide prediction is not a navigation product and must not be used to navigate a vessel or to judge whether a sandbar, causeway or inlet crossing is passable. For navigation, use official NOAA charts and products at tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov, and for whether it is safe to be somewhere on foot, ask the local authority that manages that shoreline.

Common questions

Cambridge tide chart FAQ

How do I read the Cambridge tide chart?

Each day lists the times the water reaches its highest and lowest points at NOAA station 8571892 (Cambridge), in station local time, with the predicted height in feet next to each. Heights are measured above mean lower low water (MLLW), the zero on NOAA charts, so a minus tide is water lower than an average day's lower low. The curve shows how the water moves between those points: roughly two thirds of the change happens in the middle two hours between a high and a low.

What does a tide height of 0.0 ft mean at Cambridge?

How accurate are NOAA tide predictions for Cambridge?

They are astronomical predictions from harmonic analysis of water level records at Cambridge, and for timing the rhythm of high and low they are excellent. What they cannot include is weather: sustained wind, pressure changes and river flow routinely push the observed water level above or below the prediction. NOAA's own disclaimer says the data are based on the latest information available as of the date of your request and may differ from the published tide tables.

When is the best low tide for tidepooling or clamming near Cambridge?

The useful window is roughly the hour either side of a good daytime low, and the best days are minus tides, when the predicted low falls below the MLLW datum. This page derives both from NOAA's predictions for the next 7 days and flags them in the windows section. Harvesting rules, licenses and closures are set by Maryland authorities, so check the state's shellfish and beach regulations before collecting anything.

Does the moon change the tides at Cambridge?

Can I use this tide chart for boating or navigation?

Where do these predictions come from?

Things to do

Tours & activities near Cambridge

Guided trips and experiences from local operators.

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Places to stay

Stays near Cambridge

Vacation rentals and cabins close to the water.

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Plan the rest of the day

More coast planning for Maryland

Maryland beach conditionsLive NWS rip current and surf zone forecasts, as issued. Tides say where the waterline is; the surf zone forecast says what the water is doing.All Maryland tide chartsEvery NOAA harmonic prediction station on the Maryland coast, with ranges and tide types compared.Maryland mosquito forecastDusk on the shore is prime biting time, especially near marsh. Check before an evening tide session.

Other Maryland tide charts

Tide predictions on this page are read live in your browser from NOAA CO-OPS (api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov) for station 8571892 and reproduced as published; station facts come from the CO-OPS metadata API. NOAA material is US government work in the public domain, attributed here as NOS requests. Sun times and moon phases are computed locally and verified against US Naval Observatory values to within a few minutes. All state pages: US tide charts →
Hero image: “Brewster Flats Tidal Flats on Cape Cod Bay East Brewster Massachusetts” by EgorovaSvetlana, CC BY-SA 4.0