Guide
The best tide for shelling
Go out on a low tide, best of all a minus tide in daylight. Here are the next ones at each beach.
- 2 min read
- Dates for 10 beach towns
- From NOAA predictions
- Low tide uncovers the shellsWalk the wrack line, the sandbars and the troughs a falling tide leaves.
- Minus tides are bestLows below the chart zero, mostly a day or two after a new or full moon.
- Pick a daylight lowStart an hour or two before low tide and follow the water out.
The lowest low tide between sunrise and sunset in each of the next 13 weeks, in feet above mean lower low water (MLLW, the zero line). Coral bars are minus tides.
How to time it
Shells collect where the water leaves them: along the wrack line at the top of the beach, on sandbars, and in the troughs a falling tide uncovers. The lower the tide, the more of that you can walk. The best days are minus tides, when low water drops below the chart zero (mean lower low water). They come mostly around spring tides, a day or two after the new or full moon.
Lowest daylight tides, next three months
- Myrtle BeachSouth CarolinaJan 22, 1:30 PM−0.9 ftJan 23, 2:19 PM−1.1 ftJan 24, 3:05 PM−1.1 ft
- Hilton Head IslandSouth CarolinaJan 23, 2:47 PM−1.4 ftJan 24, 3:34 PM−1.4 ftJan 25, 4:19 PM−1.2 ft
- Lincoln CityOregonDec 20, 4:01 PM−0.0 ftJan 18, 3:40 PM−0.1 ftJan 19, 4:35 PM−0.6 ft
- SanibelFloridaDec 24, 7:33 AM−1.1 ftDec 25, 8:22 AM−1.1 ftJan 22, 7:20 AM−1.2 ft
- ChincoteagueVirginiaJan 23, 3:19 PM−0.4 ftJan 24, 4:04 PM−0.4 ftJan 25, 4:48 PM−0.4 ft
- Cape MayNew JerseyJan 22, 1:47 PM−1.1 ftJan 23, 2:34 PM−1.2 ftJan 24, 3:19 PM−1.2 ft
- Tybee IslandGeorgiaJan 23, 2:46 PM−1.4 ftJan 24, 3:33 PM−1.4 ftJan 25, 4:18 PM−1.2 ft
- Fernandina BeachFloridaJan 22, 2:32 PM−1.0 ftJan 23, 3:21 PM−1.1 ftJan 24, 4:08 PM−1.1 ft
- Surf CityNorth CarolinaJan 23, 2:01 PM−1.0 ftJan 24, 2:48 PM−1.0 ftJan 25, 3:34 PM−0.9 ft
- St. Augustine BeachFloridaJan 23, 2:40 PM−0.9 ftJan 24, 3:27 PM−0.9 ftJan 25, 4:16 PM−0.8 ft
The three lowest predicted low tides between sunrise and sunset in the next 92 days. A minus sign means below mean lower low water.
Good to know
- More shells wash up after a storm or a few days of onshore wind; Sanibel’s famous shelling follows winter cold fronts.
- Take empty shells only. Many states, Florida included, protect live shells (with an animal inside), and some species outright.
- Watch the clock on the way back: the tide comes in faster than it seems across flat sand.
More guides
All guides- Spring and neap tidesWhy the tides grow and shrink every two weeks with the moon, and the dates of the coming spring and neap tides at each beach town.Read the guide
- King tidesWhat king tides are, why they come in winter and summer, and the dates of the highest predicted tides of the next 12 months at each beach.Read the guide
- The best tide for fishingWhy moving water fishes better than slack tide, incoming versus outgoing, and this week’s days with the strongest tides at each beach town.Read the guide
Tides for your beach
Today’s tides, the week ahead and a printable calendar for every month, with the water temperature.