Tours and Tide information
It is important to remember that when you take a tour with Island Skiff Adventure Tours, you will see dolphins and coastal wildlife in their natural habitat. Wildlife is unpredictable, but thanks to years of experience from our qualified staff, we can track behavior year after year to get a better understanding of the amazing creatures and nature we encounter. Documenting and studying seasonal and daily occurrences help us provide the best experience for our Hilton Head dolphin tours.
One element of nature we pay attention to is our local tides. Tides are long waves that move across the oceans. While we do not travel to the open ocean on our dolphin tours, we do experience the effects of coastal tides. Unlike weather, tides are predicted years in advance. They result primarily from the earth’s gravitational pull from the moon. They are secondarily caused by the earth’s rotation of the sun, weather conditions and coastal geographical influences. A coast experiences a high tide when the wave’s highest point, the crest, reaches it. A coast experiences a low tide when the lowest point, the trough, reaches it.
The Lowcountry waters will have two high tides and two low tides nearly every day. Unlike a 24-hour solar day, a tidal day is 24 hours and 50 minutes. A tidal day is 50 minutes longer than a solar day because the moon orbits around the Earth in the same direction that the Earth rotates around its axis. It essentially takes the Earth an extra 50 minutes to keep up with the moon. A high tide will happen every 12 hours and 25 minutes. The water level can change from high to low or from low to high in 6 hours and 12.5 minutes. These tidal changes typically range between six and eight feet.
High tide and low tide schedules are known in advance. With multiple daily tour times, we can offer high tide, mid tide, or low tide tours. If you have a tidal preference or would like a different experience than your last booking, look at the high and low tide schedule before you book your dolphin tour.