Local Tides
If you would like to know the time of the next high or low tide at Island Beach, or need to know what the tide will be for some day in the future, click here.
What causes the tides?
High and low tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the sun and the moon. Both of these heavenly bodies force the water to pile up, creating high tides, in the places where they exert their strongest pull on the earth. Low tide occurs because so much water is being drawn towards the areas experiencing high tides. High tide is higher and low tide is lower when the moon is new and when it is full. This is called a spring tide. This occurs because the sun and moon are working in concert. When the moon is at its waxing or waning 1/4 phase neap tides occur. Tthe moon and sun are pulling the oceans' waters in opposition to one another. The difference between high and low tide is reduced compared to the spring tide.
This is just a little bit of the science behind how tides work. There are other forces, interactions, and nuances of physical actions that create tidal variation. A lot of these details are explained at two NOAA sites. One site is less technical and is where the animated picture above was copied from. A second site is much more involved - " The tides explained." This site was the source of the picture below.
