bootitems is a free tide times site for the United States and Canada. It shows tide charts, 7-day tables, live water levels and the best hours for common activities at the coast.
Who runs it
The site is run by Usman Yahya, who builds and maintains a small group of public data websites. There is no company behind it and no newsroom. Questions and corrections go straight to him through the contact page.
Why we built it
Tide data from NOAA and the Canadian Hydrographic Service is excellent, but it is spread over many pages and tools. We wanted one fast page per station that answers the usual questions:
- When is the next high and low?
- Is the water running higher or lower than predicted right now?
- When is the best time today to fish, look for shells or launch a small boat?
- What does the week look like?
Where the data comes from
- United States: NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS). Predictions, live water levels, currents and station weather.
- Canada: the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS), Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Predictions and water levels.
Full credits and license notes are on the data sources page.
How it works
- We fetch predictions from NOAA and CHS on a schedule and store them.
- We fetch live readings from stations with a gauge and cache them for a few minutes.
- We draw the chart and tables from those numbers without changing them.
- We add our own calculations: sunrise and sunset, moon phase, spring and king tide dates, and activity windows. These are worked out in code from the station's location and the tide data.
- We show nearby stations with their distance and how much earlier or later their tides come.
Activity windows are our opinion, based on tide height, water movement, daylight and wind. They don't include swell, catch reports or local knowledge. Use them as a starting point.
Which places we cover
We only publish a page where a real tide station exists. We are opening regions in stages, starting with South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. More states and provinces follow.
How the site is paid for
The site is free and has no accounts. It is paid for by a small number of ads. Ads never appear above the page heading, and we keep them out of the way of the tide data.
Accuracy
Tide predictions are forecasts from the moon and sun. Wind, air pressure and river flow can move the real water level. Where a gauge exists, we show the measured level next to the forecast so you can see the difference.
This site is not for navigation. Read the disclaimer.