Barron River Tides
Live NOAA predictions for Everglades City, Chokoloskee, and the Ten Thousand Islands
The Barron River tide station has been the backbone of how locals here plan their day for as long as anyone can remember. Whether you’re launching at Outdoor Resorts before sunrise, running the pass to Chokoloskee, or trying to make it back to the Rod & Gun dock before the bottom shows, the numbers on this page are the ones to trust.
NOAA’s official station — #8724948, Everglades City (Barron River) — sits at the mouth of the Barron and reads the same water that fills and drains Chokoloskee Bay, the Ten Thousand Islands, and most of the back country inside Everglades National Park. Predictions are pulled live from NOAA and update daily.
Today’s Tide & 7-Day Forecast (NOAA)
Live data: NOAA Station 8724948 — Everglades City (Barron River). Predictions are not for navigation.
How Locals Use the Barron River Reading
Tides here aren’t just a nice-to-know — they decide where you can go and when. Barron River runs roughly two feet between low and high on a typical day, and that two feet is the difference between a deep channel and a mud-flat sandbar. A few rules of thumb that long-time residents and guides swear by:
- Outdoor Resorts ramp: Easiest launch is two hours either side of high tide. Trying to retrieve a trailer at dead low can mean a long walk in the muck.
- Smallwood Store dock and the Chokoloskee causeway: At low tide, large oyster bars are exposed right next to the channel. Beautiful for photos — rough on a lower unit.
- Chokoloskee Pass: Runs out hard on a falling tide. Plan your inside-out trips for the back half of an incoming so the pass works with you both ways.
- Lopez River and Lostmans River back-country runs: Most paddlers and guided eco-tours leave on a falling tide and time the return for the next incoming. Going against the current both ways is a long day.
- Demijohn Island flats: South of Chokoloskee, these grass flats fish best on the top half of an incoming through the first hour of falling — enough water on the grass to bring the reds and snook with it, but not so much that the fish scatter.
- The flats off Pavilion and Rabbit Key: The really skinny water shows best on the bottom hour of a low. Bring polarized lenses and idle.
Reading Tides for Fishing the Ten Thousand Islands
Capt. Mike Merritt and the other guides who fish out of Everglades City will tell you the same thing: the bite changes with the tide more than any other variable, including weather. In winter, when the snook stack in the rivers and the redfish ride high water onto the flats, the moving water is everything. A slack tide here is a slow tide.
- First two hours of an incoming: Best for working creek mouths and oyster bars. Bait moves with the push.
- Top of the high through the first hour of falling: Flats fishing prime time. Reds and black drum get up on the grass and the mud.
- Last hour of falling into the dead low: Funnel fishing. Snook, big trout, and tarpon stack in the deeper holes and pass mouths.
- Slack high or slack low: Good time to ride, fuel up, or grab lunch at one of our local eateries.
- Cool-month bonus — the oyster bars near Chokoloskee: From November through February, sheepshead hold tight to the oyster beds and bite best on a moving tide. A slow incoming over the bars is hard to beat with a piece of shrimp on a small jig.
What’s Biting Each Season
The Ten Thousand Islands fishery rotates through the calendar, and the right tide window changes with it. A quick cheat sheet:
- Spring (March–May): Tarpon run through the passes on the incoming. Indian Key Pass and the mouth of Chokoloskee Pass turn on as silver kings push in with the tide.
- Summer (June–August): Redfish school up on the flats — chase them on the high, especially the back-bay grass beds and oyster points. Mangrove snapper move shallow with the warm water.
- Fall (September–November): Snook stack in the river mouths and back creeks. Work the falling tide as bait pulls out of the marsh and funnels through the cuts.
- Winter (December–February): Sheepshead and trout take over. Sheeps on the oyster bars, trout in the deeper holes — both bite best on moving water, both shut down at slack.
For monthly specifics, check the latest fishing report from Capt. Mike Merritt.
Nearby Tide Stations
The Barron River reading is the reference for a wide swath of Collier County’s coast, but if you’re heading into the back country, NOAA also publishes predictions for several substations closer to where you’ll actually be. Each one runs a few minutes ahead of or behind Barron River and reads slightly different highs and lows.
| Station | NOAA ID | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Chokoloskee | 8724919 | Causeway, Smallwood Store, Chokoloskee Pass |
| Pumpkin Bay | 8724925 | Backcountry north of Chokoloskee |
| Coon Key | 8724964 | Western approach to Goodland, north Gulf-side runs |
| Cape Romano | 8724947 | Outer islands, Marco-area approaches |
| Chatham River entrance | 8724891 | Southern Ten Thousand Islands |
| Lostmans River entrance | 8724842 | Far south backcountry, wilderness waterway |
| Onion Key, Lostmans River | 8724863 | Inside Lostmans, southern paddling routes |
Bookmark this page. The tide here changes every six hours and twelve minutes, give or take, and the predictions update daily straight from NOAA. If you spend any time on the water around Everglades City, this is the only tide page you need.
Next stop: catch up on our fishing reports by local guide Mike Merritt before you head out. Craving fresh fish? Browse our local eateries in our directory.
