Nazaré 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 05:00 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 Europe/Lisbon local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Next spring tide on Sun 17 May (range 3.1m). Next neap on Fri 22 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.

Nazaré is on the central Portuguese coast, 120 kilometres north of Lisbon, and became internationally famous after Garrett McNamara surfed a then-world-record 23-metre wave here in 2011. The cause is the Nazaré Canyon — a submarine trench that starts 5 km offshore and extends 170 km into the Atlantic at depths reaching 5000 metres. The canyon channels and focuses North Atlantic groundswell, amplifying it as it enters the shallow water off the Praia do Norte. Tidal range is 2.4 metres on springs. The big-wave season is November through March, when Atlantic storms generate massive groundswell that travels thousands of kilometres to arrive at Nazaré's canyon-amplified shore. Waves of 20 to 30 metres face have been ridden here — the current world record (2022) is 26.21 metres, surfed by German surfer Sebastian Steudtner. The surfing is tow-in (jet ski assisted) due to the wave size — paddle-in surfing at Nazaré in big conditions is considered beyond safe limits. Spectators watch from the Sítio cliffs above Praia do Norte; the viewing platform there gives a direct look down at the break. The town beach (Praia da Nazaré, south-facing, sheltered by the cliff headland) is a conventional beach resort for the remainder of the year — wide sand, promenade, traditional fishing village with women in black fishing-community dress that has become a cultural presentation. The original fishing boat fleet (with the distinctive ox-plough painted bows) is fewer now but the visual identity has been maintained. Nazaré is divided into two levels: the lower town (beach and promenade) and the Sítio (the clifftop settlement, 110 metres above, connected by a funicular). The Sítio has the 8th-century chapel of Nazaré and the big-wave viewing platform on its western edge. The canyon does not make all of Nazaré's beach dangerous — the south town beach is sheltered from the canyon-amplified swell by the headland. Only Praia do Norte, on the north side of the headland, receives the full canyon effect. Visitors can swim on the town beach while watching the world's biggest waves break 2 km around the headland. Predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model, cross-referenced with Instituto Hidrográfico predictions. For the most accurate Portuguese tide predictions, consult the Instituto Hidrográfico at hidrografico.pt.