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 13:52

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.

Best afternoon signal: Tue 18:00 (Fair). Peak afternoon wind is about 6.1 m/s.

Email me when it is good

Sunrise

06:54

Sunset

20:21

Water

30.6°C

Max air

29.2°C

Sky

Cloudy

83% 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

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 (58 hours)
Sea temperature (54 hours)
Tide/current (40 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

Mon 17:00 – Thu 17:00 (EDT)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.5 around Mon 19:00; 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.

0/24 sampled hours stay at or below 0.36m (range 0.58m to 0.86m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 8/24 sampled hours (range 3.44 to 8.23m/s).

Tides range from -0.57m to 0.26m; 1 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview

Mon 17:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Mon 18:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Mon 19:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Mon 20:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Mon 21:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Mon 22:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Mon 23:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

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 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 16:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 17:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 18:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 19:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 20:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 21:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 22:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 23:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

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 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 12:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 13:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 14:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 15:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 16:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 17:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 18:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 19:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 20:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 21:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 22:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 23:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

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 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 11:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 12:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 13:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 14:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 15:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 16:00 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
Mon 17:00	0.78 · high	5.58 · high	30.40 · good	fair
Mon 18:00	0.74 · high	4.47 · good	30.50 · out of range	fair
Mon 19:00	0.72 · high	4.79 · good	30.50 · out of range	fair
Mon 20:00	0.68 · high	5.63 · high	30.50 · out of range	fair
Mon 21:00	0.66 · high	5.00 · good	30.50 · out of range	fair
Mon 22:00	0.64 · high	4.01 · good	30.50 · out of range	fair
Mon 23:00	0.60 · high	3.44 · good	30.50 · out of range	fair
Tue 00:00	0.58 · high	4.11 · good	30.50 · out of range	poor
Tue 01:00	0.60 · high	3.68 · good	30.50 · out of range	poor
Tue 02:00	0.60 · high	5.25 · good	30.50 · out of range	poor
Tue 03:00	0.62 · high	6.11 · high	30.50 · out of range	poor
Tue 04:00	0.66 · high	6.49 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Tue 05:00	0.72 · high	7.37 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Tue 06:00	0.76 · high	7.33 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Tue 07:00	0.80 · high	7.40 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Tue 08:00	0.82 · high	7.65 · high	30.30 · good	poor
Tue 09:00	0.86 · high	7.59 · high	30.30 · good	poor
Tue 10:00	0.84 · high	7.75 · high	30.30 · good	poor
Tue 11:00	0.84 · high	7.95 · high	30.30 · good	fair
Tue 12:00	0.82 · high	8.23 · high	30.30 · good	fair
Tue 13:00	0.80 · high	8.23 · high	30.30 · good	fair
Tue 14:00	0.80 · high	8.15 · high	30.40 · good	fair
Tue 15:00	0.78 · high	7.70 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Tue 16:00	0.78 · high	7.29 · high	30.50 · out of range	fair
Tue 17:00	0.76 · high	7.33 · high	30.50 · out of range	fair
Tue 18:00	0.76 · high	7.34 · high	30.60 · out of range	fair
Tue 19:00	0.74 · high	7.19 · high	30.60 · out of range	fair
Tue 20:00	0.74 · high	6.68 · high	30.60 · out of range	fair
Tue 21:00	0.72 · high	6.49 · high	30.60 · out of range	fair
Tue 22:00	0.72 · high	6.21 · high	30.60 · out of range	fair
Tue 23:00	0.72 · high	6.30 · high	30.60 · out of range	fair
Wed 00:00	0.72 · high	6.56 · high	30.60 · out of range	poor
Wed 01:00	0.74 · high	6.60 · high	30.60 · out of range	poor
Wed 02:00	0.76 · high	7.10 · high	30.50 · out of range	poor
Wed 03:00	0.78 · high	7.51 · high	30.50 · out of range	poor
Wed 04:00	0.82 · high	7.30 · high	30.50 · out of range	poor
Wed 05:00	0.84 · high	7.52 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Wed 06:00	0.88 · high	7.96 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Wed 07:00	0.74 · high	6.65 · high	30.30 · good	poor
Wed 08:00	0.84 · high	8.58 · high	30.30 · good	poor
Wed 09:00	0.92 · high	10.13 · high	30.30 · good	poor
Wed 10:00	0.92 · high	10.56 · high	30.20 · good	poor
Wed 11:00	0.90 · high	8.99 · high	30.20 · good	fair
Wed 12:00	0.90 · high	8.54 · high	30.20 · good	fair
Wed 13:00	0.88 · high	8.22 · high	30.20 · good	fair
Wed 14:00	0.86 · high	8.73 · high	30.30 · good	fair
Wed 15:00	0.84 · high	8.15 · high	30.30 · good	fair
Wed 16:00	0.82 · high	7.77 · high	30.40 · good	fair
Wed 17:00	0.82 · high	7.78 · high	30.40 · good	fair
Wed 18:00	0.80 · high	6.80 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Wed 19:00	0.78 · high	6.26 · high	30.40 · good	fair
Wed 20:00	0.74 · high	5.50 · high	30.50 · out of range	fair
Wed 21:00	0.72 · high	4.65 · good	30.50 · out of range	fair
Wed 22:00	0.70 · high	4.60 · good	30.50 · out of range	fair
Wed 23:00	0.66 · high	6.53 · high	30.50 · out of range	fair
Thu 00:00	0.64 · high	5.69 · high	30.50 · out of range	poor
Thu 01:00	0.62 · high	5.07 · good	30.50 · out of range	poor
Thu 02:00	0.60 · high	5.02 · good	30.50 · out of range	poor
Thu 03:00	0.58 · high	5.73 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Thu 04:00	0.56 · high	6.67 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Thu 05:00	0.56 · high	6.04 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Thu 06:00	0.54 · high	5.57 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Thu 07:00	0.54 · high	5.70 · high	30.40 · good	poor
Thu 08:00	0.52 · high	5.48 · high	30.30 · good	poor
Thu 09:00	0.52 · high	6.26 · high	30.30 · good	poor
Thu 10:00	0.52 · high	6.21 · high	30.30 · good	poor
Thu 11:00	0.50 · high	6.89 · high	30.30 · good	fair
Thu 12:00	0.50 · high	6.80 · high	30.30 · good	fair
Thu 13:00	0.50 · high	7.00 · high	30.30 · good	fair
Thu 14:00	0.48 · high	6.45 · high	30.30 · good	fair
Thu 15:00	0.48 · high	6.71 · high	30.40 · good	fair
Thu 16:00	0.48 · high	5.87 · high	30.40 · good	fair