So where are the highest tides in the world?

The tidal coasts of the world are often divided into three tidal ranges: – micro – tidal range less that 2 metres; meso – tidal range 2 – 4 metres; and macro – tidal range over 4 metres.

This useful map shows where these occur. Outside these places tidal rise and fall also occurs, but is negligible, for example in the Mediterranean Sea. This map shows seventeen areas that are macro tidal. It is in these places that the highest tides occur. Only 5 – 10 % of the world’s coasts are macro-tidal. So to see these places, or live by them – is quite special.

The highest tides in the world are generally understood to be in the Bay of Fundy; Canada. The average spring tidal range is approximately 14.5 metre (47.5 feet), with extreme recordings reaching up to 16.3 metres (53.6 feet).

After that there are a number of other places around the world which also have exceptionally high tides.

One peculiar place in North-West Australia runs the Bay of Fundy close. According to Australian Broadcasting Company Science pages;

“The king of all Australian tides occurs near the town of Derby in King Sound, in north-west Australia, at the end of March and again at the end of April each year. Derby’s tides can reach up to 11.8 m and are the second biggest tides in the world (the largest, clocked at 15 m, occur in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia.” (Source).

So Australia, on the face of it, seems to have the second highest tides. But the tides in the Bristol Channel (Severn Estuary), which at their highest can rise 15 metres, are also routinely claimed to be the second highest tides in the world, and this claim has, in the past, also been made for the tides in Kamchatka, Russia.

Perhaps such claims and counter claims are inevitable because we are talking differences of centimetres here. And, as will be set out, although tides are generally highly predictable – their actual height on any give high tide can vary, and become uncertain, in relation to many effects such as wind direction, atmospheric pressure and other conditions. Also, tides can be measured in different ways, for example mean versus extreme tides. But generally, it makes sense to take the mean (average) in each location. And there is also – it seems – some question around what datum (base line) is being used to determined height data.

This list of the 10 highest tides in the world is initially adapted from information (from tidal measuring stations) on the The National Ocean Service (US) website here. Beyond that it was assembled and refined over a few years looking at quite a few sources.

1 Canada, Nova Scotia; Bay of Fundy, Burntcoat Head, Minas Basin; 11.70m

2. North-West Australia; Derby; 11.70 m.

3  Canada, Quebec; Ungava Bay, Leaf Lake; 9.75 m.

4  United Kingdom; Severn Estuary; Avonmouth; 9.60 m.

5. Alaska, Cook Inlet Sunrise, Turnagain Arm; 9.23 m.

7. Argentina; Rio Gallegos; Reduccion Beacon; 8.83 m.

8.  France; Bay of Saint Mon-Michel; Granville; 8.59 m.

9.  Russia, Kamchatka; Cape Astronomicheski;  7.34 m.

10. Channel Islands, Jersey; St Helier; 7.19 m.

I have recently (18 12 2025) asked ChatGPT and Google Gemini ‘where are the ten highest tides in the world?”

The answers are pretty consistent with the above. The same ten places are listed, but in slightly varying orders.

Here is a map. Click on it to jump to a zoomable Google Map.

Many of these places are at similar latitudes around the earth, but latitude does not seem to a key factor. The overriding factors are the shape and size of the oceans and the local geographies of the coast, interacting with the forces of the gravitational pull of the moon and sun, and the spin of the earth as these push and pull the waters of the earth around. Most obviously, the highest tides occur where the rising waters of a flood tide are driven into bays and estuaries, or into sharp corners of the coast, thus amplifying the overall tide height.

Another point to make is that other places, which have less extreme tidal ranges, can still be very dramatic and important tidal landscapes. For example, the Bahir Adair, Mexico, and the Wadden Sea off the Dutch and German coasts. In these places, due to the local coastal topographies, vast areas of inter-tidal land are exposed at low tides, even if the overall tidal range is not so huge as in these ten places.

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See also on this blog the other key pages:

The Breathings of The Moon. A Glossary of Tidal Terms. Nearly 300 terms.

A list Non-ficton Books About Tides.

A list of Tide Related Art Works

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