Bonavista tide times

Predictions: Open-Meteo Marine (MeteoFrance SMOC, 0.08° grid) — heights relative to MSL (not chart datum / LAT). Model-derived.

Model-derived from a global ocean grid. Useful indication; expect about ±45 minutes on average vs. a local harmonic gauge, individual stations vary widely. See /methodology for per-region detail. Not for navigation.

Conditions as of 01:00 local time. Refreshes daily.

Predictions: Open-Meteo Marine (MeteoFrance SMOC, 0.08° grid) — heights relative to MSL (not chart datum / LAT). Model-derived. · Not for navigation.

The angler tradition for major/minor fishing windows: major ≈3-hour windows around moon transit and opposition; minor ≈2-hour windows around moonrise and moonset. Times are America/Halifax local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Last spring tide on Fri 15 May (range 1.3m). Next neap on Mon 18 May.

Spring tides cluster around new and full moons (biggest swings). Neap tides land on quarter moons (smallest swings). See the spring tide and neap tide glossary entries for the why.

Bonavista sits at the tip of the Bonavista Peninsula on Newfoundland's northeast coast, a long finger of land extending into the open North Atlantic. The tidal regime is semidiurnal with a mean range of approximately 1.8 metres — higher than St. John's because the peninsula's exposure and local bathymetry amplify the tidal signal modestly. Spring ranges reach around 2.2 metres. Cape Bonavista, the outermost point, is claimed as the North American landfall of John Cabot on 24 June 1497 — the date is Midsummer Day, which is why Bonavista translates from the Italian as 'O happy sight.' A replica of Cabot's vessel Matthew is moored at the Bonavista waterfront; the 1843 Cape Bonavista Lighthouse at the cape tip has been restored and is open seasonally. The shoreline at Cape Bonavista is one of the best iceberg viewing locations on the Avalon coast. The cape faces northeast directly into the Labrador Current transport corridor; icebergs drifting south from Greenland often pass close enough to the cape to be visible from the lighthouse platform without binoculars. Late April through early June is the prime window. At low water, the rock platforms at the base of the cape extend outward and the full wave-cut geometry of the headland is accessible — the rock has been polished and undercut by thousands of years of North Atlantic swell. At high water on a northeasterly ground swell, access to the lower rocks is not advisable. The town of Bonavista, 4 kilometres back from the cape, is an outport community with a history rooted in the cod fishery. The inshore cod trap fishery operated here from the 17th century until the federal moratorium in July 1992, which halted an industry that had defined the town for 400 years. The Ryan Premises National Historic Site preserves a complete merchant outfitting business from the 1800s — salt fish stores, cooperage, and retail — on the Bonavista waterfront. The town's three fishing stages at the inner harbour are still in seasonal use for crab and lobster landings. Sea Stack Trail and the coastal paths around the cape give the best shore access. The sea stacks offshore from the cape are exposed at low water; at mid to high water they become partially or fully surrounded. Humpback whales feed along the peninsula in summer on the capelin and krill pushed up by the cold Labrador Current — July through September is the reliable whale-watching window from shore. Puffins nest on rocky outcrops at nearby islands from May through August. Bonavista itself has a compact commercial street, Ryan Premises, and the seasonal interpretation programs at the lighthouse and Matthew replica. The nearest major service centre is Clarenville, 120 kilometres southwest on the Trans-Canada Highway. Tide predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model. Accuracy is typically within plus or minus 45 minutes on timing and 0.2 to 0.3 metres on height — model-derived, not from a DFO gauge at this specific location. For authoritative official Canadian predictions, consult Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) at tides.gc.ca.