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An updated tidal current atlas for the Salish Sea!
An updated tidal current atlas for the Salish Sea!
The links below provide download access for an updated tidal current atlas for the Salish Sea in PDF format. This new atlas follows the same basic structure and function of the 1984 DFO Current Atlas Vol 3: fixed hourly current maps with accompaning calendar look-up tables.
The updated tidal current maps are generated using Matlab and the tidal model of Foreman et. al. (2004). Volume 1 covers the same geographic region as the original, including Victoria, the San Juan Islands, the Gulf Islands, and the southern Strait of Georgia. Volume 2 covers Puget Sound and Volume 3 the northern sections of the Strait of Georgia. Volume 4 covers the Discovery and Broughton Islands. Volume 5 is under development.
To use these new tidal current maps, download the appropriate Atlas volume and the associated Calendar Lookup Table file for the year of interest.
These tidal current maps are for the general use of recreational boaters in the Salish Sea. They are not endorsed or sanctioned by either the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) nor the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA). They must not be used for navigational purposes. For accurate tidal height and current predictions, please refer to official government publications.
Salish Sea Tidal Current Atlas - Volume 1 (PDF) This volume covers the region from Victoria to the Southern Strait of Georgia, including the San Juan and Gulf Islands. The PDF file is 363 pages and 170 MB (large). Save the PDF file to a computer, phone, or tablet. Save trees by not printing. Single (smaller) sub-region (A, B, C, etc.) PDF files are also available, see below.
Calendar Lookup Tables for Volume 1 (and 3): A set of calendar based lookup tables to link dates and times to maps found in SSTCA Volume 1, year specific.
SSTCA Volume 1 Calendar Lookup Tables - 2026 (PDF)
Volumes 1 & 3 both use Point Atkinson as the tidal reference station, and tidal predictions were obtained using CHS web services.
Due to the size of the full Volume 1 map file (170MB), I have posted here files (44 pages each, <50MB) containing only maps for each sub-region of Volume 1: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H.
A supplement (133MB) to Volume 1 includes ten minute tidal current maps during the flood to ebb transition at High Slack and from ebb to flood at Low Slack, covering the period from 10 minutes prior to slack through to 60 minutes after slack. Slack tide is referenced as the "turn" times reported in the CHS Tide Tables (Vol 5) for Race Passage. These maps show how the tide turns first in the boundary layers. They are not time specific, but show current patterns during slack tides. These transitions are informative when animated, so I have generated short (7 sec) animations (mp4 movies) covering 1 hour prior to slack through to 3 hours after slack for High Slack (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H) and Low Slack (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H), with 1 minute per frame.
Salish Sea Tidal Current Atlas - Volume 2 (PDF) This volume covers the Puget Sound region of the Salish Sea. The PDF file is 403 pages and 128 MB (large). Save to a computer, phone, or tablet, avoid printing.
Calendar Lookup Tables for Volume 2: A set of calendar based lookup tables to link dates and times to maps found in SSTCA Volume 2, year specific.
SSTCA Volume 2 Calendar Lookup Tables - 2026 (PDF)
For Volume 2 of the Salish Sea Tidal Current Atlas, the reference station is Seattle, Washington, for which tidal predictions were obtained via the web services at NOAA.
Salish Sea Tidal Current Atlas - Volume 3 (PDF) This volume covers the Northern Strait of Georgia region of the Salish Sea. The PDF file is 363 pages and 166 MB (large). Save to a computer, phone, or tablet, avoid printing.
Calendar Lookup Tables for Volume 3 (and 1): A set of calendar based lookup tables to link dates and times to maps found in SSTCA Volume 3, year specific. Volumes 1 & 3 tables are the same.
SSTCA Volume 3 Calendar Lookup Tables - 2026 (PDF)
Volumes 1 & 3 both use Point Atkinson as the reference tidal station, and therefore have the same lookup tables, with tidal predictions obtained using CHS web services.
Salish Sea Tidal Current Atlas - Volume 4 (PDF) This volume covers the Discovery and Broughton Islands region of the Salish Sea. The PDF file is 571 pages and 400 MB (large). Save to a computer, phone, or tablet, avoid printing.
Calendar Lookup Tables for Volume 4: A set of calendar based lookup tables to link dates and times (PST/PDT) to maps found in SSTCA Volume 4, year specific.
SSTCA Volume 4 Calendar Lookup Tables - 2026 (PDF)
Volume 4 uses Powell River as the reference tidal station, with tidal predictions obtained using CHS web services.
The SSTCA Volume 5 for the West Coast of Vancouve Island will be delayed (late 2026, if ever) due to: Validation that the present tidal model reproduces accurate tidal currents for this region and suffcient time to generate the maps/documents (as I am now cruising in the Salish Sea for the summer of 2026 on our MV Tsona).
Disclaimer:
The use of data sourced from either the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) and/or the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) in these products shall not be construed as constituting an endorsement by either CHS or NOAA. These products do not meet the requirements of the Charts and Nautical Publications Regulations, 1995, (repealed in 2020, prior version) under the Canada Shipping Act, 2001, nor any NOAA regulations as official government publications. Official CHS charts and publications and NOAA charts and tide tables, corrected and up-to-date, must be used to meet the requirements of these regulations. The Salish Sea Tidal Current Atlas is not a Government of Canada nor a US Government publication.
All feedback or comments should be directed to the author, Richard Dewey
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