Spring and Neap Tides

See the dates for all Spring and Neap tides for this year and into the future. Find out about what causes Spring and Neap tides and see which moon phase is responsible for them. Add them to your calendar to have them with you on the go.

Upcoming Spring and Neap tides

There are the upcoming spring and neap tides for 2026. To see all Spring and Neap tides for this year or for a year in the future, choose one of the years below for the full Spring and Neap tides.

Coming Up

Neap Tide Today

Next Neap Tide

First Quarter Moon

Next Spring Tide

Full Moon
See all for a given year:

August 2026

View all for 2026

What causes a spring and neap tide?

The moon is the primary driver of tides. The moon's gravitational pull causes the oceans to bulge on both the side of Earth closest to the moon and the side furthest from it. Even though the sun is much more massive, the moon is closer to the Earth, so its gravitational gradient is stronger. It's the gravitational gradient, not overall strength, that generates tides. The sun still matters, though. Its gravitational pull on our oceans is around 46% as strong as the moon's.

Spring tides occur when the sun, Earth, and moon align during full and new moons, causing the gravitational pull of the sun to combine with that of the moon. This makes high tides higher and low tides lower than average. The name has nothing to do with the season spring; it comes from the concept of the tide "springing forth."

FAQs

Spring tides are when the difference between high and low tides is at its greatest, typically occurring around full and new moon phases.

They have nothing to do with the seasons either; they're called 'spring' tides as they've sprung, rather than anything to do with the season.

Want to Find Out More?

If you want to know more about what exactly causes spring and neap tides, and see how the sun and moon influence them, give the 'Explained: What is a neap tide and what is a spring tide' article.

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