What is the tidal range at Amelia Island?

About 6 to 7.4 ft, which is large for Florida. On 2026-09-10 NOAA predicted lows of 0.23 and 0.02 ft and highs of 6.95 and 7.37 ft at station 8720030. A 6 to 7.4 ft range is unusually large for Florida — the Georgia Bight funnels the tide. It is the single most useful thing to know before planning a beach walk, a sandbar trip or a kayak launch.

How many tides a day does Amelia Island get?

Two highs and two lows — a semidiurnal tide. Successive highs are about 12 hours 25 minutes apart, so each day's tides run roughly 50 minutes later than the day before.

Is low tide or high tide better at Amelia Island?

Low tide, for almost everything: wide hard sand for walking and cycling, exposed sandbars, shelling and shark teeth. High tide suits swimming at the wider accesses and is the window for launching a kayak into the creeks.

Which NOAA station covers Amelia Island tides?

Station 8720030, Fernandina Beach, FL, at 30.671356°N 81.46584°W — on the island, in the Amelia River. It publishes predictions but has no water-temperature sensor, which is why our water temperatures come from a different station.

Amelia Island Tide Chart: Today’s Highs and Lows

Key facts

Amelia Island runs a 6–7.4 ft tidal range, unusually large for Florida. Low tide gives hundreds of yards of hard sand and exposes the sandbars; high tide on a narrow access leaves very little beach.

Amelia Island runs a 6 to 7.4 ft tidal range — unusually large for Florida, and the single fact that decides most beach days here. The Georgia Bight funnels the Atlantic into a shallow, curving corner of coast, which amplifies the tide well above what the rest of the state sees.

Predictions come from NOAA CO-OPS station 8720030, Fernandina Beach, FL, which sits on the island itself. Two highs and two lows a day, roughly six hours and twelve minutes apart, each cycle running about fifty minutes later than the day before.

Today’s tides

No live prediction reached this build. We will not print a tide time we have not fetched, so today’s table is empty rather than approximate. Get today’s exact predictions from NOAA station 8720030.

What does not change: the range is 6–7.4 ft, there are two highs and two lows a day about six hours apart, and each day’s tides run roughly fifty minutes later than the day before. For a worked example, NOAA predicted lows of 0.23 and 0.02 ft and highs of 6.95 and 7.37 ft here on 2026-09-10.

What 6–7.4 ft looks like on the sand

Vertical scale exaggerated; the slope is schematic. The range is from NOAA predictions for station 8720030, Fernandina Beach, FL.

Why the range matters more than the times

On a beach this flat, seven vertical feet of water moves the waterline a very long way horizontally. The practical consequences:

Low tide is the beach you came for. Hundreds of yards of hard, flat sand — the surface people cycle on, walk dogs on and let children run on. Shelling is low-tide-only, and so is any real chance at a shark tooth.
High tide on a narrow access is barely a beach. At the accesses without much dry berm, high water reaches close to the dune and leaves a strip. If you have chairs, an umbrella and a cooler, arrive on a falling tide.
The sandbars only exist at low water. The wadeable bars off the north end and around the inlet are a low-tide feature. They are also where people get caught out by the returning flood — it comes in behind you, not at you.
Kayak launches are tide-dependent. The creek launches into Egans Creek and the back marsh want water. An hour either side of high is the usable window; at dead low you are dragging a boat across mud.
Fishing follows the current, not the height. The moving water either side of a turn is when the bait moves. Slack high and slack low are the dead hours.

Beach driving and the tide

Where beach driving is permitted, it is a low-tide activity and the ramps are the constraint. A vehicle on soft dry sand above the hard-packed band is a vehicle being towed. Rules, ramps and permits are the county's, not ours — see driving on the beach.

Rip currents

A big range means a lot of water moving through a small number of gaps in the bar system, especially on a falling tide with surf running. That is the mechanism behind most rip currents here. Swim near a guarded access when one is staffed, and if you are caught, swim parallel to the beach rather than against the pull. Lifeguard coverage on this island is seasonal and limited to specific accesses — never assume a guard is on duty.

Reading a tide table

Heights are in feet above MLLW — mean lower low water, the average of the lower of each day's two low tides. A "0.2 ft" low is therefore roughly the normal low-water mark, and a negative number is a genuinely low tide that exposes more than usual. Spring tides, around the new and full moon, run bigger at both ends; neap tides, at the quarters, are flatter.

Part of Amelia Island beaches.

Frequently asked questions

What is the tidal range at Amelia Island?: About 6 to 7.4 ft, which is large for Florida. On 2026-09-10 NOAA predicted lows of 0.23 and 0.02 ft and highs of 6.95 and 7.37 ft at station 8720030. A 6 to 7.4 ft range is unusually large for Florida — the Georgia Bight funnels the tide. It is the single most useful thing to know before planning a beach walk, a sandbar trip or a kayak launch.
How many tides a day does Amelia Island get?: Two highs and two lows — a semidiurnal tide. Successive highs are about 12 hours 25 minutes apart, so each day's tides run roughly 50 minutes later than the day before.
Is low tide or high tide better at Amelia Island?: Low tide, for almost everything: wide hard sand for walking and cycling, exposed sandbars, shelling and shark teeth. High tide suits swimming at the wider accesses and is the window for launching a kayak into the creeks.
Which NOAA station covers Amelia Island tides?: Station 8720030, Fernandina Beach, FL, at 30.671356°N 81.46584°W — on the island, in the Amelia River. It publishes predictions but has no water-temperature sensor, which is why our water temperatures come from a different station.