Samui And Koh Phangan Tides

[yabs]

This always gets flamed but in the rainy season or South west monsoon from may to October

both samui and Phangan both seem to suffer from very low tides that never seem to get very high at high tide

most of the beaches on Koh Phaghan west coast seem almost unswimmable at this time and chaweng and lamai

are very low as well,. For instance the water at chaweng inside the rocky reef never seems to get more than a few cms deep even though in the other monsoon it gets quiet deep here.

Anyone know the reason for this?

[sbk]

suffer? Its normal seasonal tides.

6 months out of the year the wind in Asia runs clockwise, the other 6 months counterclockwise. When the season changes the tides become lower. Starting about March and running through till September.

Also, in case you didn't know, Koh Pha-Ngan means island of the sand bars. The reef is quite far out and the sand bars between here and the reef protect the island from off shore winds.

[womble]

The gulf of Thailand has only 1 tide a day similar to other gulfs such as Gulf of Carpentaria and Gulf of Mexico. This means in 24hrs the tide will rise and fall only once instead of twice.

As SBK says the tides in summer are much higher than the tides in winter.

December and January they can be as high as 3m two days after full moon and as low as 1.3m, the neap tides around half moon vary 2.3 - 2.6.

July and August the vary 2.3 - 0.8 Full moon and on half moon 2.0 - 1.1

Interestingly for some months the highs are all at night or all during the day (as there is only one of each a day), this means for some parts of the year (July, August) you only see in daylight the low tides.

[yabs]

wow thanks

i posted this on the TT and i was told i was talking b*llocks.

So for snorkelling and swimming you need to go from september to may?

interesting as i went on a smorkelling trip in june pnly to find all the coral was exposed

they must have known this so this was obviously just another tourist samui rip off

[John 1]

Yabs,

Don't you get bored bashing Samui for any reason? There are ripoffs anywhere it the fool's like you that fall for them.

[yabs]

b ut why would the wind and water direction affect tide heights?

[yabs]

sorry i should have known that the tides were lower at that time of year

silly me

basically it was impossible to snorkel at this time on the beaches they took me too

they know this , i didn;t therefore it was a ripoff

[womble]

sorry i should have known that the tides were lower at that time of year

silly me

basically it was impossible to snorkel at this time on the beaches they took me too

they know this , i didn;t therefore it was a ripoff

Snorkling around samui is poor year round, the waters around samui are shallow and the island is close to mainland rivers which means the water has estural effluent which basically effects the clarity. KPG is better than Samui, particulary the North Side, Koh Tao is very good as it is further out and surrounded by deeper water. South of Samui around Koh Tan can be ok certain times of year, but at other times it too suffers from clarity problems. The marine park apart from the farthest N. islands also does not have good snorkling water, lots of marine life, but you can't see it.

Personally I would never bother with Snorkling around Samui.

[SpaceCow]

Very interisting!

So did I get this right:

July; the high tide is only in night time and during day there is the low tide?

So how are the low tides+high tides in Tao + Koh Phangang in July?

Same as Samui (hight tide in night + low tide in day time)?

Is the Tao/KPG any good for snorkeling in July, or is the water too far away?

[yabs]

womble

the snorkelling trip was on koh phanaghan

agreed the waters here are not very clear

went to koh tao a few years ago and whilst it was clearer than samui I didn't think it was as clear as on the west side of thailand

[mosquitoman]

For everyones info here is the link for the tide tables for Samui. but these tables work perfectly well for Koh Pha Ngan, and are probably 25 minutes different for Koh Tao

http://www.navy.mi.th/hydro/tide07/sm07.xls

Tides are controlled by the gravitational pull of the sun and the moon on the earth and have nothing at all to do with wind direction or monsoon season, hence we are able to make very accurate predictions as to future tide heights. Future wind directions and wind speeds are not accurately predictable but the earth and the moons orbit is.

The tides in the Gulf of Thailand are Diurnal - we have a single high tide and a single low tide per tidal day. We actually have two tides per day one being very minor sometimes with as little as 5cm of movement which to all effests and purposes means we have only one tide per day.

M.M.

[SpaceCow]

For everyones info here is the link for the tide tables for Samui. but these tables work perfectly well for Koh Pha Ngan, and are probably 25 minutes different for Koh Tao

http://www.navy.mi.th/hydro/tide07/sm07.xls

Tides are controlled by the gravitational pull of the sun and the moon on the earth and have nothing at all to do with wind direction or monsoon season, hence we are able to make very accurate predictions as to future tide heights. Future wind directions and wind speeds are not accurately predictable but the earth and the moons orbit is.

The tides in the Gulf of Thailand are Diurnal - we have a single high tide and a single low tide per tidal day. We actually have two tides per day one being very minor sometimes with as little as 5cm of movement which to all effests and purposes means we have only one tide per day.

M.M.

Thank you Mosquitoman for the tide timetabel

Did I understand it correctly:

The HT (M.) means Tide Height in meters?

So lets say July Tuesday 10 it looks like:

time HT(M.)

1010 1.01

1915 2.06

10.10 am the tide is 1.01 meters and 19.15 it is 2.06 meters?

So the low tide is in 10.10 and high tide is in 19.15?

But what does this actually mean?

Does the water/beachfront in Chaweng/Chaweng Noi look ugly?

How about beaches in tao + nang Yuan island?

[SamuiJens]

womble

the snorkelling trip was on koh phanaghan

agreed the waters here are not very clear

went to koh tao a few years ago and whilst it was clearer than samui I didn't think it was as clear as on the west side of thailand

Well then yabs, sounds as you found your paradice. Know if I were you I would fight for keeping it from getting ruined. Good look young man.

[Mid]

Tides are controlled by the gravitational pull of the sun and the moon on the earth andhave nothing at all to do with wind direction or monsoon

sorry , but this is false ,

you should be very careful with absolutes .............

[sbk]

Tides are controlled by the gravitational pull of the sun and the moon on the earth andhave nothing at all to do with wind direction or monsoon

sorry , but this is false ,

you should be very careful with absolutes .............

From the NZ meteorological website:

Meteorological Effects

Meteorological conditions which differ from the average will cause corresponding differences between the predicted and actual tide. Variations in tidal heights are mainly caused by strong or prolonged winds and by unusually high or low barometric pressure. Differences between predicted and actual times of high and low water are caused mainly by wind. The two effects are discussed separately below.

Barometric Pressure

Tide predictions are compiled for average barometric pressure. A difference from the average of 1 millibar can cause a difference in height of 1 centimetre. A low barometer will tend to raise the sea level and a high barometer will tend to depress it. The water level does not, however, adjust itself immediately to a change of pressure and it responds moreover to the average change in pressure over a considerable area. For practical purposes the average barometric pressure over the area covered by the New Zealand Tide Tables may be assumed to be 1014 hectapascals.

Changes due to barometric pressure seldom exceed 30 centimetres but, when the mean sea level is raised or lowered by strong winds or by storm surges, this change will be greatly enhanced.

Effect of Wind

The effect of wind on sea level, and therefore on tidal heights and times, is very variable and depends on the topography of the area in question. In general it can be said that the wind will raise the sea level in the direction towards which it is blowing. A strong wind blowing straight onshore will pile up the water and cause high waters to be higher than predicted, while winds blowing off the land will have the reverse effect.

Storm Surges

Winds blowing along a coast tend to set up long waves which travel along it, raising sea level where the crest of the wave appears and lowering it in the trough. These waves are known as storm surges.

Negative Storm Surges

In a manner somewhat similar to the storm surges described above, the level of the sea can also be lower than the predicted level. This effect, known as a negative storm surge, is of great importance to very large vessels which may be navigating with small underkeel clearances.

[Mid]

well done sbk

[Jose]

Below is a graphic representation of Samui/Pha-Ngan's 2007 tide prediction data from the Royal Thai Navy's Hydrographic Dept.

Blue: day's high

Red: day's low

Green: day's median avg

Dark green: month's median avg

Yellow: full/new Moon day signals

For the KPG Bantai/Bankai areas, deduct about 0.8m for actual tide heights there.

Interesting to note that tidal range is greatest on high tide periods.

And with few exceptions, high tides tend to coincide with full/new Moon periods.

jose '-)

[koheesti]

This always gets flamed but in the rainy season or South west monsoon from may to October

both samui and Phangan both seem to suffer from very low tides that never seem to get very high at high tide

most of the beaches on Koh Phaghan west coast seem almost unswimmable at this time and chaweng and lamai

are very low as well,.

I live in Bangrak just 50m from the beach and the tides have been high lately. Submerging one of the docks just last week. I was in Lamai on Friday and people were telling me they have never seen it so high. The beach was not only well underwater but the waves and currents were dangerous.

[Jose]

This year's local tides don't seem particularity higher than last year's to me. Last December we had sea waves crashing into our garden at Bantai beach.

jose '-)

[sbk]

Difference was that the waves were not big, Jose. Last year we had quite big waves at the same time as the very high tides. This year, nice and calm. Whew!

[2007nomad]

Hi,

Could you recommend me please a fair bikerenter (who don't want my passport) in Koh Phangan (chaloklum)?

Thanks

[John 1]

Nomad, do you want to rent the bike when the tide is in or out.