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 Tue 05:57 (EDT) · Source: Snapshot

The skinny

Go in the best window Data updated Tue 05:57 (EDT)

Dry Tortugas has a usable snorkeling window around Tue 08:00. The main thing to watch is sea temperature.

Right now (forecast)

Poor · 0.0/10

Tue 06:00 (EDT)

Later today

Good · 7.1/10

Tue 08:00 (EDT)

Next three days

Excellent · 8.0/10

Thu 16:00 (EDT)

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

Score: 7.1/10

Best time: Tue 08:00

Main risk: Sea Temperature

Best morning signal: Tue 08:00 (Good).

Best afternoon signal: Tue 13:00 (Good). Peak afternoon wind is about 5.5 m/s.

Email me when it is good

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

Sunrise

07:20

Sunset

19:27

Water

30.9°C

Max air

28.9°C

Sky

Cloudy

100% cloud

Good model window in the next 72 hours

Next good model window: Tue 08:00–09:00 (37% of the next 72h meets the model threshold)

3-day planner Best available Show data

3-day planner

Tuesday

✅ Good conditions

Main blocker: Sea temperature

Wednesday

✅ Good conditions

Main blocker: Sea temperature

Thursday

✅ Excellent conditions

Main blocker: Sea temperature

Best available hours

The next good model window starts at Tue 08:00 and lasts until 09:00.

Why this verdict

Main blockers across the next 72 hours:

Sea temperature (70 hours)
Tide/current (55 hours)
Darkness (34 hours)

Jellyfish drift risk

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

Low · 34/100

Low peak drift risk around Tue 17:00.

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: Tue 07:00

Tue 07:00, Tue 21:00, Wed 21:00, Thu 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 06:00 – Wed 06:00 (EDT)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.74 around Sun 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 0.14m to 0.18m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 23/24 sampled hours (range 1.24 to 6.01m/s).

Tides range from -0.43m to 0.06m; 2 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview

Sun 06:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 07:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 08:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Sun 09:00 Excellent ✅ Excellent

Sun 10:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 11:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 12:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 13:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 14:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 15:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 16:00 Good 🌟 Good

Sun 17:00 Good 🌟 Good

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 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 09:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Mon 10:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Mon 11:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 12:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 13:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 14:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 15:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 16:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Mon 17:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Mon 18:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 19:00 Good 🌟 Good

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 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 14:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 15:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 16:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 17:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 18:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 19:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

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

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 06:00	0.14 · good	1.24 · good	31.60 · out of range	Poor
Sun 07:00	0.16 · good	2.94 · good	31.50 · out of range	Poor
Sun 08:00	0.16 · good	3.82 · good	31.50 · out of range	Excellent
Sun 09:00	0.16 · good	3.80 · good	31.60 · out of range	Excellent
Sun 10:00	0.16 · good	3.45 · good	31.70 · out of range	Good
Sun 11:00	0.16 · good	3.36 · good	31.80 · out of range	Good
Sun 12:00	0.16 · good	3.09 · good	31.90 · out of range	Good
Sun 13:00	0.16 · good	1.91 · good	32.00 · out of range	Good
Sun 14:00	0.16 · good	1.80 · good	32.00 · out of range	Good
Sun 15:00	0.16 · good	2.32 · good	32.10 · out of range	Good
Sun 16:00	0.14 · good	2.34 · good	32.10 · out of range	Good
Sun 17:00	0.14 · good	2.48 · good	32.00 · out of range	Good
Sun 18:00	0.14 · good	2.70 · good	32.00 · out of range	Good
Sun 19:00	0.16 · good	2.97 · good	32.00 · out of range	Good
Sun 20:00	0.16 · good	3.24 · good	32.00 · out of range	Poor
Sun 21:00	0.16 · good	3.67 · good	31.90 · out of range	Poor
Sun 22:00	0.16 · good	4.79 · good	31.90 · out of range	Poor
Sun 23:00	0.16 · good	4.34 · good	31.90 · out of range	Poor
Mon 00:00	0.16 · good	5.00 · good	31.80 · out of range	Poor
Mon 01:00	0.18 · good	6.01 · high	31.80 · out of range	Poor
Mon 02:00	0.18 · good	4.94 · good	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Mon 03:00	0.18 · good	4.27 · good	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Mon 04:00	0.18 · good	2.69 · good	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Mon 05:00	0.18 · good	3.11 · good	31.60 · out of range	Poor
Mon 06:00	0.18 · good	2.91 · good	31.60 · out of range	Poor
Mon 07:00	0.18 · good	3.58 · good	31.60 · out of range	Poor
Mon 08:00	0.18 · good	4.25 · good	31.60 · out of range	Good
Mon 09:00	0.18 · good	4.59 · good	31.60 · out of range	Fair
Mon 10:00	0.18 · good	4.48 · good	31.70 · out of range	Fair
Mon 11:00	0.18 · good	4.62 · good	31.80 · out of range	Good
Mon 12:00	0.18 · good	5.07 · good	31.90 · out of range	Good
Mon 13:00	0.20 · good	5.09 · good	31.90 · out of range	Good
Mon 14:00	0.20 · good	4.78 · good	32.00 · out of range	Good
Mon 15:00	0.20 · good	5.08 · good	32.00 · out of range	Good
Mon 16:00	0.18 · good	4.36 · good	32.00 · out of range	Fair
Mon 17:00	0.18 · good	4.20 · good	32.00 · out of range	Fair
Mon 18:00	0.18 · good	4.33 · good	32.00 · out of range	Good
Mon 19:00	0.18 · good	4.80 · good	31.90 · out of range	Good
Mon 20:00	0.18 · good	5.00 · good	31.90 · out of range	Poor
Mon 21:00	0.18 · good	4.81 · good	31.90 · out of range	Poor
Mon 22:00	0.18 · good	5.07 · good	31.90 · out of range	Poor
Mon 23:00	0.18 · good	5.07 · good	31.80 · out of range	Poor
Tue 00:00	0.20 · good	5.22 · good	31.80 · out of range	Poor
Tue 01:00	0.20 · good	4.96 · good	31.80 · out of range	Poor
Tue 02:00	0.22 · good	5.57 · high	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Tue 03:00	0.24 · good	5.66 · high	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Tue 04:00	0.24 · good	5.41 · high	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Tue 05:00	0.26 · good	5.25 · good	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Tue 06:00	0.26 · good	5.69 · high	31.60 · out of range	Poor
Tue 07:00	0.24 · good	5.04 · good	31.60 · out of range	Poor
Tue 08:00	0.26 · good	4.92 · good	31.60 · out of range	Good
Tue 09:00	0.28 · good	4.22 · good	31.60 · out of range	Good
Tue 10:00	0.32 · good	3.95 · good	31.60 · out of range	Good
Tue 11:00	0.34 · good	3.96 · good	31.70 · out of range	Good
Tue 12:00	0.34 · good	4.37 · good	31.70 · out of range	Good
Tue 13:00	0.36 · good	4.95 · good	31.80 · out of range	Fair
Tue 14:00	0.36 · good	4.92 · good	31.80 · out of range	Fair
Tue 15:00	0.36 · good	4.84 · good	31.80 · out of range	Fair
Tue 16:00	0.48 · high	4.80 · good	31.90 · out of range	Fair
Tue 17:00	0.48 · high	4.91 · good	31.90 · out of range	Fair
Tue 18:00	0.46 · high	4.83 · good	31.90 · out of range	Fair
Tue 19:00	0.44 · high	4.69 · good	31.90 · out of range	Fair
Tue 20:00	0.42 · high	4.15 · good	31.90 · out of range	Poor
Tue 21:00	0.42 · high	4.95 · good	31.90 · out of range	Poor
Tue 22:00	0.42 · high	5.41 · high	31.80 · out of range	Poor
Tue 23:00	0.42 · high	5.70 · high	31.80 · out of range	Poor
Wed 00:00	0.48 · high	5.89 · high	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Wed 01:00	0.52 · high	5.95 · high	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Wed 02:00	0.58 · high	6.05 · high	31.70 · out of range	Poor
Wed 03:00	0.56 · high	6.13 · high	31.60 · out of range	Poor
Wed 04:00	0.54 · high	5.59 · high	31.60 · out of range	Poor
Wed 05:00	0.52 · high	5.65 · high	31.60 · out of range	Poor