Trip Planner.
Pick where you're launching and what you're crossing in. We pull NOAA tides and the forecast for that spot, check them against the stuff that actually goes wrong out there, and tell you if it's worth loading the boat.
NOAA CO-OPS · Station 8658163
Wrightsville Beach
Open-Meteo Forecast API
Queried at your launch point
Your trip
7-Day Outlook
Loading tides and forecast…
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This is a read of the forecast, not a safety guarantee. Conditions change fast. You're the captain.
How we make the call ↓Tide curve
Daylight Easy-water window King tide: above the dashed 5.0 ft line
| Type | Time | Height | Notes |
|---|
Current in the waterway runs hardest midway between high and low, and eases off near the turn. Plan to cross close to a high or low. Creek mouths and inlets can lag the table, so watch the water, not just the clock.
Field briefing
Pre-trip checklist Tuned to this forecast
Overnight sky
How we make the call
Official sources come first. We check live National Weather Service alerts for the coastal waters off Masonboro and the beaches at Wrightsville, then the hour-by-hour forecast for your launch point. Red is only for things NWS or basic lightning safety would keep you off the water. Everything else we flag stays yellow, and we say when it's our judgment rather than an official one.
- NWS Small Craft Advisory, Gale, Storm, Hurricane or Tropical Storm Warning, Special Marine Warning, or Coastal Flood Warning in effect
- NWS Forecast wind at the Small Craft Advisory level (25 knots, about 29 mph) or higher
- NWS Thunderstorms in the forecast. When thunder roars, go indoors.
- NWS Watches, Coastal Flood Advisories, Dense Fog, Rip Current and other advisories
- Our call Wind over 15 mph for paddlers, or over 20 mph for small boats
- Our call Rain chance of 60% or more, fog, cold air for paddlers (under 55°F), or no tide turn in daylight
- Our call Paddling from Carolina Beach: a long run past the inlet that has to be timed with the tide
- Nothing above. Lighter breezes, passing showers and king tides show up as notes, not warnings.
King tides are the highest tides of the year. They come when a new or full moon lines up with the moon's closest pass to Earth. A king tide doesn't change the color on its own. A calm, sunny king tide is a great day out, and the same tide in a gale is not. So king tide days get a teal badge on top of whatever the call is, and a teal band on the tide chart showing how far the water climbs past the 5-foot line at Wrightsville Beach. If NWS issues a Coastal Flood Advisory, that official alert takes over and the day goes yellow.
Why paddler limits are ours. The NWS Small Craft Advisory is written for boats on the open ocean out to 20 miles, and the Coast Guard doesn't publish wind limits for kayaks. Its advice is the basics: wear a life jacket, file a float plan, check the weather, and boat sober. So the paddler wind line is our judgment for the waterway behind the island, and we label it that way.
The marker on the bar shows where the day sits inside its color. More flags push it further along. A day just into yellow and a day about to turn red get the same word, but not the same spot.
NWS Wilmington marine forecast · NWS lightning safety · USCG Boating Safety