Tide Charts & Tide Times for Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Hilton Head's tides are semidiurnal — two high tides and two low tides every day — and exact times shift slightly by location. The tide chart at the top of this page shows today's exact high tide and low tide, and its location menu switches between Coligny and the ocean beaches, Calibogue Sound, and the Skull, Broad and MacKay creeks.

Use the Coligny, ocean beaches & Harbourtown location, the default in the tide chart at the top of this page. It is the ocean-side station, and tides along the island's Atlantic beaches, from Coligny up through Palmetto Dunes, run within about ten minutes of it. The sound and creek locations run later: about a quarter hour for Calibogue Sound and closer to half an hour for the creeks.

Moving water brings fish in to feed, so the stretch from about two hours before high tide to an hour after is a good bet. Pick Fishing in the "Best Time to Go by Tide" section above for the next daylight window. For charter captains and marinas, see the Hilton Head fishing guide.

It depends on what you want. For a long walk or a bike ride, the ocean beaches, such as Coligny, Driessen and Folly Field, are at their widest and firmest around low tide. For exploring, go to Fish Haul Beach Park on Port Royal Sound, where sandbars and tidal pools open up at low tide and people come for shells and shark teeth.

They can be. With tides this big, a lot of water moves in and out twice a day, and a falling tide pulls water outward and south along the beaches. The currents are strongest in the sounds and inlets. Don't swim in Calibogue Sound off the island's south end, where the bottom drops off steeply and the tidal flow is strong. On the ocean beaches, swim near a lifeguard at the main beach parks, watch the posted flags and look out for rip currents.

Yes — the tide table and 30-day tide calendar on this page list every high tide and low tide for the next 30 days, and the location menu switches them between Coligny and the ocean beaches, Calibogue Sound, and the Skull, Broad and MacKay creeks.

Local tide ranges can reach 6–8 feet, dramatically revealing and concealing salt marshes, tidal creeks, and broad sandy flats between high tide and low tide.

The tide follows the moon, so each high tide and low tide comes about 50 minutes later than the day before, and the two low tides of a day are about 12 and a half hours apart. A morning low tide early in your week drifts toward midday by the end of it. The size changes with the moon too. The biggest tides, with the lowest low tides and the widest beach, come around the full moon and the new moon. At the half moons the tides are smaller. Over a year, a day's range at Coligny runs from under 5 feet to more than 9 feet.

As the tide rises, waterways deepen and come alive with dolphins, redfish, and seabirds following shifting currents; as it falls, oyster beds and spartina grass meadows emerge — the tide guides boating and fishing conditions around the island.