Can you snorkel in Buck Island today?

Conditions look marginal right now — no clearly safe snorkeling window is forecast in Buck Island over the next 72 hours. Check the hourly table for the calmest period.

What is the best time of day to snorkel in Buck Island?

Snorkel during daylight, ideally in the morning before the wind picks up, and around high slack tide when water is clearest and currents are weakest. SnorkelForecast scores every daylight hour in Buck Island so you can pick the calmest window.

What is the best tide for snorkeling?

High slack tide — within about an hour of the high-tide peak when currents are weakest — is the safest, clearest window. Strong low tides, strong tidal flow near channels or headlands, and large tidal-range days reduce score.

Buck Island Snorkel Report Today

US Virgin Islands · Updated Tue 04:14 (AST) · Source: Snapshot

The skinny

Marginal Report Tue 14:34

Buck Island looks marginal today. The least-bad daylight window is around Tue 16:00, but waves is limiting the forecast.

Score: 4.6/10

Best time: Tue 16:00

Main risk: Waves

No useful morning window is showing yet.

Best afternoon signal: Tue 16:00 (Fair). Peak afternoon wind is about 4.6 m/s.

Email me when it is good

Sunrise

05:53

Sunset

18:56

Water

29.0°C

Max air

28.1°C

Sky

Clear

4% cloud

No safe window in the next 72 hours

Use the best-available section for the least-bad times.

3-day planner Best available Show data

3-day planner

Tuesday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Wednesday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Thursday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Best available hours

Tue 20:00 — Fair (0.46) · still limited by waves, tide/current
Tue 21:00 — Fair (0.44) · still limited by waves, tide/current
Tue 19:00 — Fair (0.43) · still limited by waves, tide/current

Why this verdict

Main blockers across the next 72 hours:

Waves (57 hours)
Tide/current (57 hours)
Wind (37 hours)

Jellyfish drift risk

Drift estimate from wind, swell, current and warm water.

Low · 34/100

Low drift risk now.

warm water supports seasonal jellyfish activity; surface drift/current is noticeable; local shoreline exposure is not mapped yet.

Sightings override the model: if you see small purple jellyfish with long trailing tentacles, treat them as sting-capable and give them space.

Nearby alternatives in US Virgin Islands

Trunk Bay

65 km away

⚠️ Fair

Advanced forecast data

Viewing historical data

Mon 18:00 – Thu 18:00 (AST)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.37 around Tue 11:00; 6 of 24 hours are good, fair, or excellent.

Score trend, higher is better. Excellent ≥ 0.72, good 0.55–0.72, fair 0.35–0.55.

Conditions (24h trends)

Tap a chart to load just that series.

0/24 sampled hours stay at or below 0.36m (range 1.16m to 1.34m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 0/24 sampled hours (range 5.99 to 8.6m/s).

Tides range from 0.04m to 0.44m; 0 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview

Mon 18:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 19:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 20:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Mon 21:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 22:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 23:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 00:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 01:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 02:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 03:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 04:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 05:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 06:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 07:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 10:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 11:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 12:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 13:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 14:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 15:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 16:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 17:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 18:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 19:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 20:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 21:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 22:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 23:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 00:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 01:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 02:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 03:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 04:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 05:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 06:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 07:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 10:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 11:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 12:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 13:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 14:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 15:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 16:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 17:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 18:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 19:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 20:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 21:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 22:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 23:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 00:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 01:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 02:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 03:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 04:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 05:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 06:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 07:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 10:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 11:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 12:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 13:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 14:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 15:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 16:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 17:00 poor ❌ Limited

Scoring methodology (for technical users)

We score each hour from 0 to 1 using daylight and these weighted components:

Wave height (35%): best below 0.36m, then decreases as it rises.
Wind speed (25%): best below 5.4m/s, lower is better.
Sea surface temperature (15%): best within 20.6°C to 30.4°C.
Tide and currents (15%): best around slack/high-tide windows.
Daylight (10%): visibility and safety gate (outside daylight scores lower).

Detailed hourly data table

Time	Wave (m)	Wind (m/s)	Sea temp (°C)	Status
Mon 18:00	1.34 · high	6.95 · high	28.70 · good	poor
Mon 19:00	1.32 · high	6.65 · high	28.70 · good	poor
Mon 20:00	1.30 · high	6.91 · high	28.70 · good	fair
Mon 21:00	1.28 · high	6.79 · high	28.70 · good	poor
Mon 22:00	1.26 · high	7.07 · high	28.70 · good	poor
Mon 23:00	1.26 · high	7.23 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Tue 00:00	1.24 · high	7.49 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Tue 01:00	1.26 · high	8.10 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Tue 02:00	1.26 · high	8.60 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Tue 03:00	1.28 · high	8.44 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Tue 04:00	1.28 · high	8.02 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Tue 05:00	1.28 · high	7.76 · high	28.50 · good	poor
Tue 06:00	1.28 · high	7.97 · high	28.50 · good	poor
Tue 07:00	1.26 · high	7.90 · high	28.50 · good	poor
Tue 08:00	1.26 · high	7.46 · high	28.50 · good	poor
Tue 09:00	1.24 · high	7.52 · high	28.50 · good	poor
Tue 10:00	1.22 · high	7.35 · high	28.50 · good	poor
Tue 11:00	1.20 · high	7.42 · high	28.50 · good	fair
Tue 12:00	1.18 · high	7.03 · high	28.50 · good	fair
Tue 13:00	1.18 · high	7.16 · high	28.50 · good	fair
Tue 14:00	1.16 · high	6.75 · high	28.50 · good	fair
Tue 15:00	1.16 · high	6.54 · high	28.60 · good	fair
Tue 16:00	1.16 · high	6.74 · high	28.70 · good	poor
Tue 17:00	1.16 · high	5.99 · high	28.70 · good	poor
Tue 18:00	1.16 · high	6.43 · high	28.70 · good	poor
Tue 19:00	1.16 · high	6.81 · high	28.70 · good	poor
Tue 20:00	1.16 · high	6.86 · high	28.70 · good	poor
Tue 21:00	1.16 · high	7.14 · high	28.70 · good	poor
Tue 22:00	1.16 · high	7.45 · high	28.70 · good	poor
Tue 23:00	1.16 · high	7.43 · high	28.70 · good	poor
Wed 00:00	1.16 · high	7.76 · high	28.70 · good	poor
Wed 01:00	1.18 · high	8.00 · high	28.70 · good	poor
Wed 02:00	1.18 · high	8.18 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Wed 03:00	1.20 · high	7.56 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Wed 04:00	1.20 · high	7.61 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Wed 05:00	1.22 · high	7.51 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Wed 06:00	1.22 · high	7.76 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Wed 07:00	1.30 · high	7.40 · high	28.50 · good	poor
Wed 08:00	1.28 · high	7.61 · high	28.50 · good	poor
Wed 09:00	1.28 · high	7.69 · high	28.50 · good	poor
Wed 10:00	1.28 · high	7.68 · high	28.40 · good	poor
Wed 11:00	1.26 · high	7.30 · high	28.40 · good	poor
Wed 12:00	1.26 · high	7.31 · high	28.40 · good	poor
Wed 13:00	1.24 · high	7.09 · high	28.40 · good	poor
Wed 14:00	1.22 · high	6.81 · high	28.50 · good	poor
Wed 15:00	1.20 · high	6.17 · high	28.50 · good	fair
Wed 16:00	1.18 · high	5.90 · high	28.60 · good	fair
Wed 17:00	1.18 · high	5.83 · high	28.60 · good	fair
Wed 18:00	1.16 · high	5.74 · high	28.70 · good	fair
Wed 19:00	1.14 · high	5.72 · high	28.70 · good	fair
Wed 20:00	1.10 · high	5.66 · high	28.70 · good	fair
Wed 21:00	1.08 · high	5.79 · high	28.70 · good	fair
Wed 22:00	1.08 · high	6.58 · high	28.70 · good	fair
Wed 23:00	1.06 · high	7.70 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Thu 00:00	1.06 · high	7.62 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Thu 01:00	1.08 · high	7.64 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Thu 02:00	1.12 · high	8.16 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Thu 03:00	1.14 · high	8.27 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Thu 04:00	1.18 · high	8.74 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Thu 05:00	1.20 · high	8.76 · high	28.50 · good	poor
Thu 06:00	1.24 · high	8.82 · high	28.50 · good	poor
Thu 07:00	1.26 · high	8.45 · high	28.50 · good	poor
Thu 08:00	1.30 · high	7.70 · high	28.50 · good	poor
Thu 09:00	1.32 · high	7.20 · high	28.50 · good	poor
Thu 10:00	1.30 · high	6.81 · high	28.40 · good	fair
Thu 11:00	1.26 · high	7.50 · high	28.40 · good	poor
Thu 12:00	1.24 · high	7.05 · high	28.40 · good	poor
Thu 13:00	1.22 · high	6.61 · high	28.40 · good	poor
Thu 14:00	1.20 · high	7.06 · high	28.50 · good	fair
Thu 15:00	1.18 · high	7.30 · high	28.50 · good	fair
Thu 16:00	1.18 · high	7.40 · high	28.60 · good	poor
Thu 17:00	1.16 · high	7.36 · high	28.60 · good	poor