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 · Showing fallback/stale data

The skinny

Marginal Report Wed 11:22

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

Score: 4.8/10

Best time: Thu 19:00

Main risk: Waves

No useful morning window is showing yet.

Best afternoon signal: Wed 19:00 (Fair). Peak afternoon wind is about 5.2 m/s.

Email me when it is good

Sunrise

06:55

Sunset

20:20

Water

30.7°C

Max air

29.3°C

Sky

Cloudy

100% 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 (36 hours)
Sea temperature (36 hours)
Tide/current (26 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: Thu 09:00

Wed 23:00, Thu 09:00

Nearby alternatives in USA

Looe Key

149 km away

⚠️ Fair

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 15:00 – Sun 15:00 (EDT)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.64 around Thu 12:00; 13 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 0.18m to 0.26m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 0/24 sampled hours (range 5.7 to 18.2m/s).

Tides range from -0.43m to 0.14m; 0 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview

Thu 15:00 good 🌟 Good

Thu 16:00 good 🌟 Good

Thu 17:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 18:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 19:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 20:00 good 🌟 Good

Thu 21:00 good 🌟 Good

Thu 22:00 good 🌟 Good

Thu 23:00 good 🌟 Good

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 fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 12:00 good 🌟 Good

Fri 13:00 good 🌟 Good

Fri 14:00 good 🌟 Good

Fri 15:00 good 🌟 Good

Fri 16:00 good 🌟 Good

Fri 17:00 good 🌟 Good

Fri 18:00 good 🌟 Good

Fri 19:00 good 🌟 Good

Fri 20:00 good 🌟 Good

Fri 21:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 22:00 good 🌟 Good

Fri 23:00 good 🌟 Good

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 good 🌟 Good

Sat 12:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 13:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 14:00 good 🌟 Good

Sat 15:00 good 🌟 Good

Sat 16:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 17:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 18:00 good 🌟 Good

Sat 19:00 good 🌟 Good

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

Sun 03:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 04:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 05:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 06:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 07:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 10:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 11:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sun 12:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sun 13:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sun 14:00 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 and safety gate (outside daylight scores lower).

Detailed hourly data table

Time	Wave (m)	Wind (m/s)	Sea temp (°C)	Status
Thu 15:00	0.20 · good	12.10 · high	30.60 · out of range	good
Thu 16:00	0.20 · good	9.70 · high	30.70 · out of range	good
Thu 17:00	0.20 · good	10.00 · high	30.80 · out of range	fair
Thu 18:00	0.20 · good	10.80 · high	30.80 · out of range	fair
Thu 19:00	0.20 · good	9.80 · high	30.90 · out of range	fair
Thu 20:00	0.18 · good	8.90 · high	30.90 · out of range	good
Thu 21:00	0.18 · good	9.70 · high	30.90 · out of range	good
Thu 22:00	0.18 · good	9.10 · high	30.90 · out of range	good
Thu 23:00	0.18 · good	8.30 · high	30.90 · out of range	good
Fri 00:00	0.18 · good	9.40 · high	30.90 · out of range	poor
Fri 01:00	0.18 · good	12.20 · high	30.90 · out of range	poor
Fri 02:00	0.18 · good	13.40 · high	30.90 · out of range	poor
Fri 03:00	0.18 · good	14.10 · high	30.80 · out of range	poor
Fri 04:00	0.18 · good	16.80 · high	30.80 · out of range	poor
Fri 05:00	0.20 · good	16.20 · high	30.70 · out of range	poor
Fri 06:00	0.20 · good	17.70 · high	30.70 · out of range	poor
Fri 07:00	0.22 · good	18.20 · high	30.60 · out of range	poor
Fri 08:00	0.22 · good	16.70 · high	30.60 · out of range	poor
Fri 09:00	0.24 · good	15.90 · high	30.60 · out of range	poor
Fri 10:00	0.24 · good	14.00 · high	30.50 · out of range	poor
Fri 11:00	0.26 · good	17.40 · high	30.70 · out of range	fair
Fri 12:00	0.26 · good	15.90 · high	30.70 · out of range	good
Fri 13:00	0.26 · good	11.20 · high	30.80 · out of range	good
Fri 14:00	0.24 · good	5.70 · high	30.90 · out of range	good
Fri 15:00	0.24 · good	5.40 · good	31.00 · out of range	good
Fri 16:00	0.24 · good	8.60 · high	31.10 · out of range	good
Fri 17:00	0.22 · good	5.20 · good	31.20 · out of range	good
Fri 18:00	0.22 · good	4.00 · good	31.30 · out of range	good
Fri 19:00	0.22 · good	3.10 · good	31.40 · out of range	good
Fri 20:00	0.22 · good	3.50 · good	31.40 · out of range	good
Fri 21:00	0.22 · good	5.50 · high	31.40 · out of range	fair
Fri 22:00	0.22 · good	4.30 · good	31.50 · out of range	good
Fri 23:00	0.20 · good	6.60 · high	31.40 · out of range	good
Sat 00:00	0.20 · good	6.60 · high	31.40 · out of range	poor
Sat 01:00	0.20 · good	9.40 · high	31.40 · out of range	poor
Sat 02:00	0.18 · good	10.50 · high	31.30 · out of range	poor
Sat 03:00	0.18 · good	12.00 · high	31.20 · out of range	poor
Sat 04:00	0.18 · good	12.70 · high	31.10 · out of range	poor
Sat 05:00	0.16 · good	14.20 · high	31.00 · out of range	poor
Sat 06:00	0.16 · good	15.40 · high	31.00 · out of range	poor
Sat 07:00	0.16 · good	12.80 · high	30.90 · out of range	poor
Sat 08:00	0.18 · good	10.00 · high	30.90 · out of range	poor
Sat 09:00	0.18 · good	26.40 · high	30.90 · out of range	poor
Sat 10:00	0.20 · good	15.00 · high	30.80 · out of range	poor
Sat 11:00	0.22 · good	3.40 · good	30.90 · out of range	good
Sat 12:00	0.24 · good	22.10 · high	30.90 · out of range	fair
Sat 13:00	0.24 · good	16.90 · high	30.90 · out of range	fair
Sat 14:00	0.24 · good	4.70 · good	31.00 · out of range	good
Sat 15:00	0.24 · good	5.90 · high	31.10 · out of range	good
Sat 16:00	0.24 · good	15.60 · high	31.30 · out of range	fair
Sat 17:00	0.22 · good	12.20 · high	31.40 · out of range	fair
Sat 18:00	0.22 · good	2.10 · good	31.40 · out of range	good
Sat 19:00	0.22 · good	0.70 · good	31.50 · out of range	good
Sat 20:00	0.20 · good	4.60 · good	31.50 · out of range	fair
Sat 21:00	0.20 · good	4.90 · good	31.50 · out of range	fair
Sat 22:00	0.20 · good	5.20 · good	31.50 · out of range	fair
Sat 23:00	0.20 · good	8.40 · high	31.50 · out of range	fair
Sun 00:00	0.20 · good	8.70 · high	31.40 · out of range	poor
Sun 01:00	0.20 · good	11.00 · high	31.40 · out of range	poor
Sun 02:00	0.22 · good	9.40 · high	31.30 · out of range	poor
Sun 03:00	0.22 · good	8.50 · high	31.20 · out of range	poor
Sun 04:00	0.26 · good	10.40 · high	31.20 · out of range	poor
Sun 05:00	0.30 · good	13.40 · high	31.10 · out of range	poor
Sun 06:00	0.34 · good	16.70 · high	31.00 · out of range	poor
Sun 07:00	0.36 · good	19.70 · high	31.00 · out of range	poor
Sun 08:00	0.36 · good	19.90 · high	30.90 · out of range	poor
Sun 09:00	0.38 · high	21.00 · high	30.90 · out of range	poor
Sun 10:00	0.38 · high	19.90 · high	30.90 · out of range	poor
Sun 11:00	0.36 · good	16.80 · high	30.90 · out of range	fair
Sun 12:00	0.36 · good	14.30 · high	30.90 · out of range	fair
Sun 13:00	0.34 · good	13.50 · high	30.90 · out of range	fair
Sun 14:00	0.34 · good	14.20 · high	31.00 · out of range	fair