Durban 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 06:00 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 Africa/Johannesburg local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Next spring tide on Sun 17 May (range 1.9m). 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.

Durban is South Africa's third-largest city and the Indian Ocean surfing capital of the country, on the KwaZulu-Natal coast where the warm Agulhas Current keeps year-round water temperatures at 20 to 26°C. The Golden Mile — a 6-kilometre stretch of beach with piers, promenades, and shark-netted swimming areas — defines the tourist face of Durban's coast. Tidal pattern is semidiurnal with a mean spring range of about 1.8 metres. The surf culture is central to Durban's coastal identity. Cave Rock (at the Bluff, south of the harbour) is the most famous big-wave spot in South Africa — a left-hand reef break that breaks in 6 to 15 feet of solid Indian Ocean groundswell over a shallow reef. Ballito (40 km north), Umhlanga Rocks, and New Pier on the main beach are the intermediate and shortboard breaks closest to the city. The Gunston 500 surf contest, running since 1969 and now the Ballito Pro, is part of the World Surf League Championship Tour — the longest-running event on tour. The Sardine Run (June through July) is one of the great wildlife events in the Southern Hemisphere. Billions of sardines (Sardinops sagax) migrate northeast up the KwaZulu-Natal coast in a band visible from shore and aerial, pursued by sharks, dolphins, gannets, and game fish. Feeding frenzies close to the shore produce extraordinary scenes accessible to snorkellers and divers from the beaches and from boats. The sardines are scooped directly from the surf by locals using buckets during beach run events. Shark diving is available from Durban with Aliwal Shoal (50 km south) as the world-class site — one of the few places globally where oceanic blacktip sharks can be reliably encountered in large numbers without a cage. The Aliwal Shoal reef also has ragged tooth sharks (Carcharias taurus) sheltering on the reef in their hundreds from June through November. The Durban harbourfront (uShaka Marine World and Victoria Embankment) has undergone significant regeneration; uShaka Marine World contains the third-largest aquarium in the world and a waterpark. The Victoria Embankment has restaurants and the working harbour backdrop. 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 local gauge. For South African tide data, consult SANHO at hydro.navy.mil.za.