Official NWS marine advisories in effect, today's tides and sunrise/sunset at 35 Florida inlets and passes, live from NOAA. Free, no sign-up. For the hazard index, waves on the bar and the 48-hour forecast, use the app.
No inlet matches. Try “Jupiter”, “Haulover”, “Destin” or “Boca”.
NWS advisories. Small Craft Advisory, Gale Warning, Hazardous Seas, Special Marine Warning, Tropical Storm and Hurricane watches and warnings in effect for the marine zones off each inlet, straight from the National Weather Service (api.weather.gov). A red label means an advisory or warning is in effect. When there is none, the label reads “Tap to load”: open the inlet for the tides, the sun and the NWS forecast. No advisory never means no danger.
Tides. NOAA CO-OPS high and low water predictions for the tide station at each inlet. A falling tide outside means the ebb (outgoing current) is running or about to: at Florida inlets, slack water can lag the tide by up to almost three hours, so treat the hours after high water as ebb time.
Sunrise and sunset are computed in your browser for each inlet. Crossing a bar after dark, you can no longer see the sets coming.
The app demo. Under the live data, each inlet shows what Florida Inlet Watch displays — hazard index, its reasons, ebb, waves on the bar, wind, 48-hour strip and curves — from a dated snapshot of the app: what the app computed for each inlet on that day, from that day's NWS advisories, buoys, forecast and NOAA predictions. The inlet map plays the same snapshot hour by hour: wind, waves, the current in the inlet and the level. It is past data, not current conditions, and must never be used to decide anything. Today's NWS advisories are in the live part, never mixed into the example.
The roughest water in an inlet comes when the ebb runs out against an onshore swell or wind: the current shortens and steepens the waves until they stand up and break on the bar. Haulover, Boca Raton, Jupiter, Sebastian, Boynton and Ponce de Leon are known for it on the Atlantic side; Boca Grande Pass, Johns Pass, Longboat Pass and Destin East Pass on the Gulf. Watch a few sets before you commit, keep your speed with the waves, and if in doubt, wait for the flood.
Florida Inlet Watch (iPhone and Android) computes it hour by hour: the hazard index of each inlet, waves on the bar, wind against the ebb, NOAA current predictions and live buoys, and a 48-hour forecast with an inlet map on the NOAA chart. Free: NWS advisories. Live, $2.99 a year: all 35 inlets right now. Pro, $29.99 a year with a 7-day free trial: the 48-hour forecast. Get the app.
Atlantic: St. Marys Entrance, St. Johns River (Mayport), St. Augustine Inlet, Ponce de Leon Inlet, Port Canaveral, Sebastian Inlet, Fort Pierce Inlet, St. Lucie Inlet, Jupiter Inlet, Lake Worth Inlet (Palm Beach), Boynton Inlet, Boca Raton Inlet (Boca Inlet), Hillsboro Inlet, Port Everglades, Bakers Haulover Inlet, Government Cut.
Biscayne Bay and the Keys: Caesar Creek, Channel Five, Long Key Viaduct, Moser Channel (Seven Mile Bridge), Bahia Honda Channel, Key West Main Ship Channel.
Gulf coast: Gordon Pass (Naples), Captiva Pass, Boca Grande Pass, Gasparilla Pass, Venice Inlet, New Pass, Longboat Pass, Tampa Bay Entrance, Pass-a-Grille, Johns Pass, St. Andrew Bay Entrance (Panama City), Destin East Pass, Pensacola Pass.