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

Snorkel in daylight, if possible in the morning before the wind picks up. Currents are often weaker near high slack tide. SnorkelForecast scores each daylight hour for Dry Tortugas.

What is the best tide for snorkeling?

High slack tide, within about an hour of the high-tide peak, often has weaker currents. Strong low tides and tidal flow near channels or headlands reduce the score.

Dry Tortugas Snorkel Report Today

USA · Updated Mon 12:52 (EDT) · Source: Snapshot

The skinny

Go in the best window Data updated Mon 12:52 (EDT)

Dry Tortugas has a usable snorkeling window around Mon 17:00. The main thing to watch is sea temperature.

Right now (forecast)

Good · 6.6/10

Mon 16:00 (EDT)

Later today

Good · 6.9/10

Mon 18:00 (EDT)

Next three days

Good · 6.9/10

Mon 18:00 (EDT)

Model estimates using Open-Meteo; not observations or safety guarantees. Check official advisories and conditions at the beach.

Score: 6.9/10

Best time: Mon 17:00

Main risk: Sea Temperature

No useful morning window is showing yet.

Best afternoon signal: Mon 18:00 (Good). Peak afternoon wind is about 2.5 m/s.

Email me when it is good

Also see the best places to snorkel in Florida, ranked on our stored historical scores.

Sunrise

07:19

Sunset

19:28

Water

31.1°C

Max air

28.4°C

Sky

Cloudy

81% cloud

Good model window in the next 72 hours

Next good model window: Mon 17:00–19:00 (25% of the next 72h meets the model threshold)

3-day planner Best available Show data

3-day planner

Monday

✅ Good conditions

Main blocker: Sea temperature

Tuesday

✅ Good conditions

Main blocker: Sea temperature

Wednesday

✅ Good conditions

Main blocker: Sea temperature

Best available hours

The next good model window starts at Mon 17:00 and lasts until 19:00.

Why this verdict

Main blockers across the next 72 hours:

Sea temperature (67 hours)
Tide/current (47 hours)
Darkness (36 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.

Upcoming high tides

Next early morning high tide: Tue 07:00

Tue 07:00, Tue 21:00, Wed 21:00

Nearby alternatives in USA

Looe Key

149 km away

✅ Good

Bahia Honda

161 km away

✅ Good

Key Largo

250 km away

✅ Good

Crystal River

476 km away

✅ Good

Advanced forecast data

Viewing historical data

Sun 16:00 – Wed 16:00 (EDT)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.83 around Mon 08:00; 12 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.

24/24 sampled hours stay at or below 0.36m (range 0.12m to 0.14m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 24/24 sampled hours (range 0.91 to 4.28m/s).

Tides range from -0.4m to 0.22m; 1 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview

Sun 16:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Sun 17:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Sun 18:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 19:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 20:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 21:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 22:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 23:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 00:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 01:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 02:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 03:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 04:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 05:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 06:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 07:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 08:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Mon 09:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Mon 10:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Mon 11:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Mon 12:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Mon 13:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 14:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 15:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Mon 16:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Mon 17:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Mon 18:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Mon 19:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Mon 20:00 Poor ❌ Limited

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 Good 🌟 Good

Tue 09:00 Good 🌟 Good

Tue 10:00 Good 🌟 Good

Tue 11:00 Good 🌟 Good

Tue 12:00 Good 🌟 Good

Tue 13:00 Good 🌟 Good

Tue 14:00 Good 🌟 Good

Tue 15:00 Good 🌟 Good

Tue 16:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Tue 17:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Tue 18:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Tue 19:00 Good 🌟 Good

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 Good 🌟 Good

Wed 09:00 Good 🌟 Good

Wed 10:00 Good 🌟 Good

Wed 11:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 12:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 13:00 Good 🌟 Good

Wed 14:00 Good 🌟 Good

Wed 15:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

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 is better in daylight, so night hours score lower.

Detailed hourly data table

Time	Wave (m)	Wind (m/s)	Sea temp (°C)	Status
Sun 16:00	0.14 · good	0.91 · good	32.10 · out of range	Excellent
Sun 17:00	0.14 · good	1.36 · good	32.10 · out of range	Excellent
Sun 18:00	0.14 · good	2.20 · good	32.10 · out of range	Good
Sun 19:00	0.14 · good	2.42 · good	32.10 · out of range	Good
Sun 20:00	0.14 · good	2.77 · good	32.10 · out of range	Poor
Sun 21:00	0.14 · good	3.01 · good	32.00 · out of range	Poor
Sun 22:00	0.12 · good	3.21 · good	32.00 · out of range	Poor
Sun 23:00	0.12 · good	3.62 · good	32.00 · out of range	Poor
Mon 00:00	0.12 · good	4.28 · good	31.90 · out of range	Poor
Mon 01:00	0.12 · good	3.18 · good	31.90 · out of range	Poor
Mon 02:00	0.12 · good	3.61 · good	31.80 · out of range	Poor
Mon 03:00	0.12 · good	3.66 · good	31.80 · out of range	Poor
Mon 04:00	0.12 · good	2.66 · good	31.80 · out of range	Poor
Mon 05:00	0.12 · good	2.19 · good	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Mon 06:00	0.12 · good	1.89 · good	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Mon 07:00	0.12 · good	1.33 · good	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Mon 08:00	0.12 · good	1.46 · good	31.70 · out of range	Excellent
Mon 09:00	0.12 · good	1.89 · good	31.80 · out of range	Excellent
Mon 10:00	0.12 · good	2.34 · good	31.80 · out of range	Excellent
Mon 11:00	0.12 · good	1.86 · good	31.90 · out of range	Excellent
Mon 12:00	0.12 · good	1.00 · good	32.00 · out of range	Excellent
Mon 13:00	0.12 · good	2.10 · good	32.10 · out of range	Good
Mon 14:00	0.12 · good	1.90 · good	32.10 · out of range	Good
Mon 15:00	0.12 · good	1.77 · good	32.20 · out of range	Excellent
Mon 16:00	0.12 · good	2.12 · good	32.20 · out of range	Excellent
Mon 17:00	0.12 · good	1.40 · good	32.20 · out of range	Excellent
Mon 18:00	0.12 · good	0.70 · good	32.20 · out of range	Excellent
Mon 19:00	0.14 · good	0.61 · good	32.10 · out of range	Excellent
Mon 20:00	0.14 · good	1.20 · good	32.10 · out of range	Poor
Mon 21:00	0.16 · good	1.08 · good	32.10 · out of range	Poor
Mon 22:00	0.16 · good	2.73 · good	32.10 · out of range	Poor
Mon 23:00	0.18 · good	2.91 · good	32.00 · out of range	Poor
Tue 00:00	0.16 · good	3.31 · good	32.00 · out of range	Poor
Tue 01:00	0.16 · good	3.14 · good	31.90 · out of range	Poor
Tue 02:00	0.14 · good	3.71 · good	31.90 · out of range	Poor
Tue 03:00	0.14 · good	3.85 · good	31.80 · out of range	Poor
Tue 04:00	0.12 · good	3.99 · good	31.80 · out of range	Poor
Tue 05:00	0.12 · good	3.94 · good	31.80 · out of range	Poor
Tue 06:00	0.12 · good	3.36 · good	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Tue 07:00	0.14 · good	2.60 · good	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Tue 08:00	0.18 · good	2.35 · good	31.60 · out of range	Good
Tue 09:00	0.18 · good	2.53 · good	31.60 · out of range	Good
Tue 10:00	0.16 · good	2.43 · good	31.70 · out of range	Good
Tue 11:00	0.16 · good	2.51 · good	31.80 · out of range	Good
Tue 12:00	0.16 · good	2.21 · good	31.90 · out of range	Good
Tue 13:00	0.14 · good	2.50 · good	31.90 · out of range	Good
Tue 14:00	0.14 · good	2.69 · good	32.00 · out of range	Good
Tue 15:00	0.14 · good	2.82 · good	32.00 · out of range	Good
Tue 16:00	0.16 · good	1.02 · good	32.00 · out of range	Excellent
Tue 17:00	0.14 · good	1.22 · good	32.00 · out of range	Excellent
Tue 18:00	0.14 · good	1.78 · good	32.00 · out of range	Excellent
Tue 19:00	0.14 · good	2.28 · good	32.00 · out of range	Good
Tue 20:00	0.14 · good	2.77 · good	31.90 · out of range	Poor
Tue 21:00	0.14 · good	2.41 · good	31.90 · out of range	Poor
Tue 22:00	0.14 · good	3.47 · good	31.90 · out of range	Poor
Tue 23:00	0.14 · good	2.44 · good	31.80 · out of range	Poor
Wed 00:00	0.14 · good	3.49 · good	31.80 · out of range	Poor
Wed 01:00	0.14 · good	3.14 · good	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Wed 02:00	0.14 · good	3.54 · good	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Wed 03:00	0.14 · good	3.75 · good	31.60 · out of range	Poor
Wed 04:00	0.12 · good	4.11 · good	31.60 · out of range	Poor
Wed 05:00	0.12 · good	3.92 · good	31.60 · out of range	Poor
Wed 06:00	0.12 · good	3.53 · good	31.50 · out of range	Poor
Wed 07:00	0.24 · good	4.26 · good	31.50 · out of range	Poor
Wed 08:00	0.24 · good	4.32 · good	31.50 · out of range	Good
Wed 09:00	0.24 · good	4.32 · good	31.50 · out of range	Good
Wed 10:00	0.26 · good	4.42 · good	31.60 · out of range	Good
Wed 11:00	0.26 · good	4.65 · good	31.60 · out of range	Fair
Wed 12:00	0.28 · good	4.37 · good	31.60 · out of range	Fair
Wed 13:00	0.28 · good	4.31 · good	31.70 · out of range	Good
Wed 14:00	0.30 · good	4.40 · good	31.70 · out of range	Good
Wed 15:00	0.30 · good	4.52 · good	31.70 · out of range	Fair