Understanding NOAA Tide Stations

Every tide, current, and water level shown in Simple Tides traces back to a specific NOAA station. Knowing what kind of station you're looking at helps you judge how to use its data.

What is a NOAA CO-OPS station?

NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) operates a national network of sensors and reference stations along the U.S. coastline and Great Lakes. Some stations have been continuously recording water levels for decades; others are newer or narrower in scope.

Station types

Simple Tides shows stations across several categories:

• Tide predictions — harmonic predictions of future high and low tides, calculated from historical patterns rather than live sensors.
• Water levels — real, currently measured water height from a physical gauge.
• Current predictions — predicted water current speed and direction, most relevant to boaters and divers.
• Currents — real-time measured current data where available.
• Met (meteorological) — wind, air temperature, and other weather sensors co-located with a tide or water level station.
• Water levels and met — combined stations that report both water level and weather data.

Predictions vs. real-time readings

A pure prediction station is generally accurate for normal conditions but won't reflect a sudden storm surge or unusual runoff the way a live water-level gauge will. Where both exist near you, the live gauge is the better source during unusual weather; the prediction station is often the better source for planning several days out.

How Simple Tides picks your stations

Simple Tides shows every station inside your selected radius (5–50 miles) on the map, centered on your location or search. You can widen or narrow the radius at any time and switch between stations to compare their charts directly — see our guide to reading the chart.

When a station shows no data

Not every station reports tide predictions. Some are current-only, weather-only, or temporarily offline. If a station has no usable tide chart, Simple Tides will say so directly and you can pick a nearby one instead.

Next: see how station and tide data feed the Smart Bite Score, or read about solunar theory.