A low tide is when the sea level is at its lowest point in the regular rise‑and‑fall cycle of the tides at a coast.

Quick Scoop: What is a low tide?

Think of the ocean “breathing” in and out along the shore:

  • High tide = water has moved in as far as it will go.
  • Low tide = water has moved out as far as it will go, exposing more beach, rocks, or sandbars.

In one tidal cycle at a given place, low tide is the moment when the water has receded to its minimum level before it starts rising again. Many coasts have two low tides and two high tides roughly every 24 hours because of the way the Earth rotates under the Moon’s gravitational pull.

Why does low tide happen?

Low tide is part of the same moon‑driven system that creates high tide. Key points:

  • The Moon’s gravity pulls ocean water into bulges on opposite sides of the Earth, creating two high tides.
  • Areas between those bulges end up with their lowest water levels: that is low tide.
  • The Sun’s gravity and Earth’s rotation also tweak the timing and height of low and high tides.

So low tide happens where your part of the coast is “between” those bulges of high water, and the sea temporarily lies lower and farther from the shore.

What does low tide look and feel like?

At low tide you’ll often notice:

  • Wider, exposed beach or mudflats.
  • Tide pools left behind in rock depressions, full of small sea creatures.
  • Shallow channels and sandbars you can sometimes walk on safely in calm conditions.

For boaters and harbors, low tide can mean:

  • Shallower navigation channels.
  • Some docks or ramps becoming hard or impossible to use until the water rises again.

Everyday example

Imagine a small bay with a sandbar just offshore.

  • At high tide, the sandbar is covered; you’d need to swim or take a boat over it.
  • At low tide, the water drops, the sandbar appears, and you can walk across it on firm sand.

That moment when the sandbar is fully exposed and the water is at its minimum level in that cycle is the low tide.

TL;DR: A low tide is the stage in the tidal cycle when the ocean’s surface is at its lowest level along a coast and the water has receded farthest from the shore before rising again.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.