Cape Cod Tide Chart

TO: Everyone Looking for a Cape Cod Tide Chart

Here's a link to the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association's online charts for Cape Cod:

I make a few copies in April, covering each month of our boating and fishing season. (April-November)

Then I stick one copy on our fridge and one copy in each fishing bag. That way, we always have one handy whether we're on land or on the water.

TO: Everyone Else Who Needs a Tide Chart

As I mentioned on our Cape Cod Beaches page, Cape Cod Bay tides are amazing. When the tide goes out, it really goes out!

Water disappears quickly, leaving miles and miles of sandflats and tide pools.

Water also returns quickly when the tide turns back to incoming.

Unfortunately, every couple years we hear of someone who walked out too far on the flats - and couldn't make it back to dry land quickly enough when the tide started to come in.

If you have any thoughts of exploring the sandflats, a Cape Cod tide chart is an absolute must.

Before you walk out on the flats - know when the tide will turn to incoming, and get yourself back to shore well before that time!

[FYI: Tides aren't quite as dramatic on Nantucket Sound or the Atlantic Ocean, but the same care should be taken on those beaches, too.]

Why do boaters need tide charts? Because ...

1. Boats can't float on sand.
2. Rocks hide.
3. Trucks sink.

That's why I'm mind-boggled when people run their boat aground on a sandbar, then they say: "Where did that come from? It wasn't there an hour ago."

Actually, the sand bar was there an hour ago. Just deeper.

When the tide goes out, the sandbar gets closer to the surface -

and closer to the bottom of your boat.

Oops! Time to pay the nice tow boat captain!

Shoulda checked that Cape Cod tides chart ...



Which brings me to #2: Rocks Hide.

Same principle as #1, just in reverse.

Here on the Cape, we have some very sneaky rocks. Particularly in the semi-shallow waters of Nantucket Sound and Cape Cod Bay.

Usually they hide just deep enough that you can't see them, but shallow enough that your boat can smack them.

Oops! Time to pay that nice tow boat captain again. And the boat repair man, too.

Shoulda checked that Cape Cod tide chart ...

And last but not least: Trucks Sink!

This universal truth is especially important to remember if you plan to use a boat ramp on any Cape Cod tidal waters.

Our boat ramps can be kind of funky, to say the least.
The ramp we use most often has a gentle slope to it, so we can launch and retrieve our boat just fine from low tide to about half tide.

If the tide's in more than halfway, forget it.

Other ramps are good from high tide to about half-tide. If the tide's any lower than half, forget it.

Oh ... and some of those "high tide ramps" have big drop-offs at the end. So if you try to launch when the tide's too low, you might find out what I mean by "trucks sink".

Oops! Time to pay for a new vehicle!

Shoulda checked that Cape Cod tide chart ...