TIDES

Sal****er beach hunting is further complicated and sometimes
enhanced by tides. Tides are the constantly changing ocean water level
due to the moon's gravitational pull on the earth. The tide cycles
coincide with the rotation of the moon around the earth.

In the tide tables the average mean tide or average water level is
0.0 feet for any particular spot or area. A tide level of 1.0 is one foot
higher than the average and a level of -1.0 is one foot lower than
average. Tide cycles go from more extreme daily differences to less
extreme daily differences twice in a 30 day period. That is a bigger daily
difference or spread to a lower spread.

*Tides are affected by heavy winds. An onshore wind will enhance a
high tide, drive it higher and conversely affect a low tide. An offshore
wind will enhance a low tide and keep a high tide lower than
scheduled. Storms also produce waves which affect a tide's height
depending on if they are pushing or pulling against the direction of
the tide and their spacing. Waves with a 4-5 second interval are much
more damaging than waves with a 7-8 second interval. Storm passage
timing(strong wind and high waves) is crucial to the tide schedule and
directly affects the amount of beach damage, sand movement, and
erosion.

Large storms hundreds or thousands of miles away, produce
waves that hit the shore and also affect the local tides.

The height, direction, interval (time between waves) and time
of arrival (to coincide with a local frontal passage) are still the crucial
factors.

There are different tide schedules for different latitudes and
longitudes. You must have a tide schedule for your area or be able to
apply corrections for your area from other area schedules. These tide
schedules are published daily in the weather section of your local
newspaper. They are also published in little pamphlets available at
fishing equipment stores, dive and surf shops. They may also be
available at beaches where you have to pay to park. Just ask.

In Southern California, the minus tides (along with the higher +
tides) switch over from the AM to the PM in October. This allows
daylight hunting on the wet sand swimming areas. Much more pleasant
than having to get up at 2 or 3 AM to hunt the same areas. The fall is
my favorite time to detect. During the week everyone is at school or
work, the weather is nice, and I have easy access to the swimming
areas. The summer targets are usually still there, shallow, if no big
storms have hit yet.