Can you snorkel in Dry Tortugas today?

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

What is the best time of day to snorkel in Dry Tortugas?

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 Dry Tortugas 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.

Dry Tortugas Snorkel Report Today

USA · Updated Tue 04:14 (EDT) · Source: Snapshot

The skinny

Marginal Report Tue 23:39

Dry Tortugas looks marginal today. The least-bad daylight window is around Thu 19:00, but waves is limiting the forecast.

Score: 4.6/10

Best time: Thu 19:00

Main risk: Waves

No useful morning window is showing yet.

No useful afternoon window is showing yet.

Email me when it is good

Sunrise

06:55

Sunset

20:20

Water

30.6°C

Max air

29.3°C

Sky

Clear

18% 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

Wednesday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Thursday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Best available hours

Thu 23:00 — Fair (0.52) · still limited by waves, sea temperature
Thu 22:00 — Fair (0.51) · still limited by waves, sea temperature
Thu 14:00 — Fair (0.48) · still limited by waves, sea temperature

Why this verdict

Main blockers across the next 72 hours:

Waves (48 hours)
Sea temperature (44 hours)
Tide/current (32 hours)

Jellyfish drift risk

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

Low · 34/100

Low peak drift risk around Wed 08:00.

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.

Upcoming high tides

Next early morning high tide: Thu 09:00

Wed 23:00, Thu 09:00

Nearby alternatives in USA

Looe Key

149 km away

❌ Poor

Bahia Honda

161 km away

✅ Good

Key Largo

250 km away

✅ Good

Crystal River

476 km away

✅ Good

Advanced forecast data

Viewing historical data

Thu 03:00 – Sun 03:00 (EDT)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.42 around Thu 07:00; 10 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 0.72m to 1.24m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 1/24 sampled hours (range 5.22 to 9.07m/s).

Tides range from -0.45m to 0.1m; 1 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview

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 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 11:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 12:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 13:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 14:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 15:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 16:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 17:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 18:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 19:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 20:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 21:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 22:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 23:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 00:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 01:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 02:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 03:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 04:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 05:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 06:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 07:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 10:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 11:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 12:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 13:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 14:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 15:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 16:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 17:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 18:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 19:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 20:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 21:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 22:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 23:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 00:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 01:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 02:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 03:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 04:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 05:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 06:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 07:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 10:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 11:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 12:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 13:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 14:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 15:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 16:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 17:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 18:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 19:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 20:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 21:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 22:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 23:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sun 00:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 01:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 02:00 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
Thu 03:00	0.72 · high	6.61 · high	31.20 · out of range	poor
Thu 04:00	0.76 · high	7.40 · high	31.10 · out of range	poor
Thu 05:00	0.82 · high	7.81 · high	31.10 · out of range	poor
Thu 06:00	0.86 · high	8.00 · high	31.10 · out of range	poor
Thu 07:00	0.88 · high	8.10 · high	31.00 · out of range	poor
Thu 08:00	0.90 · high	8.35 · high	31.00 · out of range	poor
Thu 09:00	1.24 · high	7.97 · high	30.80 · out of range	poor
Thu 10:00	1.20 · high	8.13 · high	30.70 · out of range	poor
Thu 11:00	1.14 · high	6.50 · high	30.70 · out of range	fair
Thu 12:00	1.10 · high	7.43 · high	30.70 · out of range	poor
Thu 13:00	1.06 · high	7.01 · high	30.70 · out of range	fair
Thu 14:00	1.02 · high	7.60 · high	30.70 · out of range	poor
Thu 15:00	0.98 · high	6.02 · high	30.70 · out of range	fair
Thu 16:00	0.94 · high	6.10 · high	30.70 · out of range	fair
Thu 17:00	0.92 · high	6.01 · high	30.80 · out of range	fair
Thu 18:00	0.88 · high	5.22 · good	30.80 · out of range	fair
Thu 19:00	0.86 · high	5.70 · high	30.80 · out of range	fair
Thu 20:00	0.86 · high	5.61 · high	30.80 · out of range	fair
Thu 21:00	0.84 · high	5.90 · high	30.80 · out of range	fair
Thu 22:00	0.98 · high	5.71 · high	30.80 · out of range	fair
Thu 23:00	1.10 · high	8.10 · high	30.80 · out of range	poor
Fri 00:00	1.24 · high	7.20 · high	30.80 · out of range	poor
Fri 01:00	1.16 · high	7.92 · high	30.80 · out of range	poor
Fri 02:00	1.10 · high	9.07 · high	30.80 · out of range	poor
Fri 03:00	1.02 · high	8.66 · high	30.70 · out of range	poor
Fri 04:00	1.04 · high	8.91 · high	30.70 · out of range	poor
Fri 05:00	1.04 · high	8.49 · high	30.70 · out of range	poor
Fri 06:00	1.06 · high	8.93 · high	30.60 · out of range	poor
Fri 07:00	1.06 · high	8.39 · high	30.60 · out of range	poor
Fri 08:00	1.04 · high	8.04 · high	30.50 · out of range	poor
Fri 09:00	1.04 · high	9.01 · high	30.50 · out of range	poor
Fri 10:00	1.04 · high	7.60 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Fri 11:00	1.02 · high	8.83 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Fri 12:00	1.02 · high	7.93 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Fri 13:00	1.00 · high	8.01 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Fri 14:00	1.00 · high	7.28 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Fri 15:00	0.98 · high	5.41 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Fri 16:00	0.94 · high	8.00 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Fri 17:00	0.92 · high	6.75 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Fri 18:00	0.88 · high	6.70 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Fri 19:00	0.86 · high	5.95 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Fri 20:00	0.82 · high	5.95 · high	30.50 · out of range	poor
Fri 21:00	0.80 · high	6.96 · high	30.50 · out of range	poor
Fri 22:00	0.84 · high	6.00 · high	30.50 · out of range	fair
Fri 23:00	0.88 · high	6.31 · high	30.50 · out of range	fair
Sat 00:00	0.92 · high	6.20 · high	30.50 · out of range	poor
Sat 01:00	0.94 · high	6.50 · high	30.50 · out of range	poor
Sat 02:00	0.96 · high	6.65 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Sat 03:00	0.98 · high	6.91 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Sat 04:00	0.98 · high	7.90 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Sat 05:00	1.00 · high	8.69 · high	30.30 · good	poor
Sat 06:00	1.00 · high	7.39 · high	30.30 · good	poor
Sat 07:00	0.96 · high	5.69 · high	30.20 · good	poor
Sat 08:00	0.94 · high	3.38 · good	30.20 · good	poor
Sat 09:00	0.90 · high	2.14 · good	30.10 · good	poor
Sat 10:00	0.84 · high	1.53 · good	30.10 · good	poor
Sat 11:00	0.78 · high	4.90 · good	30.10 · good	fair
Sat 12:00	0.72 · high	5.30 · good	30.10 · good	fair
Sat 13:00	0.68 · high	5.16 · good	30.10 · good	fair
Sat 14:00	0.62 · high	5.98 · high	30.20 · good	fair
Sat 15:00	0.58 · high	6.26 · high	30.30 · good	fair
Sat 16:00	0.56 · high	5.44 · high	30.30 · good	fair
Sat 17:00	0.52 · high	4.17 · good	30.40 · good	fair
Sat 18:00	0.50 · high	4.34 · good	30.50 · out of range	fair
Sat 19:00	0.50 · high	5.46 · high	30.50 · out of range	fair
Sat 20:00	0.50 · high	5.27 · good	30.50 · out of range	fair
Sat 21:00	0.50 · high	4.92 · good	30.60 · out of range	fair
Sat 22:00	0.50 · high	3.62 · good	30.60 · out of range	fair
Sat 23:00	0.52 · high	3.16 · good	30.60 · out of range	fair
Sun 00:00	0.52 · high	3.59 · good	30.60 · out of range	poor
Sun 01:00	0.54 · high	5.59 · high	30.60 · out of range	poor
Sun 02:00	0.54 · high	6.17 · high	30.50 · out of range	poor