California tides in December 2026

The tides worth planning around in December 2026, at every Great Tides place: the best daylight low tide, the lowest low, the highest high and the largest tidal range at each place in December 2026, plus each place's ten best daylight low tides of the month. Unlike the 90-day rankings elsewhere on this site, everything here is ranked within December 2026 only.

This page covers the whole month. The season-wide rankings are dominated by the late-December King Tides extremes, which pushes good December dates out of the top tens entirely; ranking within the month brings them back. Each place is ranked only against its own tides; predicted heights are local to each station and are not directly interchangeable between places.

King Tides: the December 23–25, 2026 California King Tides window falls in December 2026. The month's highest highs and lowest lows cluster on those dates; see the extremes for every place on the California King Tides page.

Tides by month: October 2026 · November 2026 · December 2026 · January 2027

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December 2026 extremes at each place

Times are local station time; heights are relative to each place's own MLLW datum, so rows are ranked within each place, not against each other. The largest range is the biggest difference between two consecutive predicted tides in the month, dated by its first tide.

Daylight low tides at Crescent City in December 2026

Crescent City had 20 predicted low tides in daylight in December 2026, 17 of them minus tides (at or below 0.0 ft). The ten lowest are below, lowest first. The rest of this place's rankings, including its 90-day daylight and weekend lists, are on its place page.

Daylight low tides at Half Moon Bay in December 2026

Half Moon Bay had 22 predicted low tides in daylight in December 2026, 17 of them minus tides (at or below 0.0 ft). The ten lowest are below, lowest first. The rest of this place's rankings, including its 90-day daylight and weekend lists, are on its place page.

Daylight low tides at Santa Cruz in December 2026

Santa Cruz had 22 predicted low tides in daylight in December 2026, 18 of them minus tides (at or below 0.0 ft). The ten lowest are below, lowest first. The rest of this place's rankings, including its 90-day daylight and weekend lists, are on its place page.

Daylight low tides at Port San Luis & Avila Beach in December 2026

Port San Luis & Avila Beach had 22 predicted low tides in daylight in December 2026, 17 of them minus tides (at or below 0.0 ft). The ten lowest are below, lowest first. The rest of this place's rankings, including its 90-day daylight and weekend lists, are on its place page.

Daylight low tides at La Jolla in December 2026

La Jolla had 23 predicted low tides in daylight in December 2026, 17 of them minus tides (at or below 0.0 ft). The ten lowest are below, lowest first. The rest of this place's rankings, including its 90-day daylight and weekend lists, are on its place page.

Questions

Why rank tides within a single month?

The 90-day rankings elsewhere on Great Tides are dominated by the season's most extreme dates, so a good low tide in December 2026 can miss every top-ten list even though it is the best date that month. Ranking within the month answers the question visitors actually ask when they plan a trip for a specific month: what is the best this month offers, at each place?

What height is good for tidepooling?

A daylight low of 1.5 ft (0.46 m) or lower generally exposes much more of the intertidal zone than an ordinary low, and at or below 0.0 ft the exposure is at its best. Those thresholds drive the Good and Excellent tidepooling labels shown next to the tides above.

Are these the actual water levels I will see?

No. These are astronomical predictions from NOAA CO-OPS. Wind, storms and air pressure push real water levels above or below the prediction, sometimes by a foot or more. Check the local forecast and conditions before you go, and do not use these predictions for navigation.

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