# Why is tide 10ft in Panama but 0ft in Caribbean side?



## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

This has always perplexed me... But,..

Tides are meant to be effected by the moon. But on the Caribbean side of Panama Canal there's zero tide but on the Pacific side it's 10 feet. They are less than 100 miles apart.

W H Y ?



:|


Mark


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

My little brother is a big surfer and spends 3 or 4 months of the year roaming the beaches from Panama to Nicaragua. I've flown down to Costa Rica to display my horrible surfing ability (I lay flat on my belly and flap my arms like a seagull) and he has explained to me the shallow waters west of panama work as kind of a tidal/wave magnifier. There is nowhere else for the water to go but up. Almost like the way surf piles up in shallow water.

Of course, he's a surfer that grew up on the great lakes, so who knows how much he really understands tides.


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## Rocky Mountain Breeze (Mar 30, 2015)

Just to venture a guess, maybe the water traveling the width of the Pacific builds more momentum so there is a larger surge when it meets the unmovable? I think that the moon is orbiting in the same direction the Earth is turning so that may have an influence on the tide strength too since it is the gravitational pull of the moon that creates the tides.


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## CalebD (Jan 11, 2008)

It is more related to topography and hydrology (how water flows around solid surfaces).

A related question is why does the tidal range vary so much on the East coast of north america? The tidal range out on the open ocean is fairly constant barring events like hurricanes and is about 1 meter or so. Islands in the middle of the Atlantic have ocean normal tides of about 1 meter where there are no significant land masses to alter the normal east to west progression of the tidal bulges that the moon/sun create on the surface of the ocean. Ok?

So why does the Bay of Fundy have tidal ranges closer to 40' while the Georgia coast has a tidal range closer to 8'? Many ocean beaches on the east coast have essentially ocean normal tidal ranges so what makes these places so special?

The Georgia tidal range is perhaps easiest to explain and understand. The answer is the topography of the land. The coast of Georgia is the easternmost portion of a large scallop shell in the coast so as the relatively even ocean normal tidal bulge approaches the coast it is funneled into the armpit which is the Georgia coast line. By the time all the water arrives at the end of the armpit it all piles up in the large scallop shape giving it a larger than ocean normal tidal range.
The same process is at work everywhere giving Long Island Sound an 8' max tidal range and at the extreme is the Bay of Fundy which corrals the ocean tides into a relatively small but long north/south inlet/bay. 
Similarly the Panama Bay is a fairly large horse shoe shaped body of water that enters the ocean in a north/south configuration. Remember, the tidal bulges move from east to west. As the ocean tide begins to ebb off of Panama the Bay soon follows allowing a lot of water to flow out of Panama Bay giving a tidal range much greater than the normal Pacific ocean tide (also about 1 meter). 
The Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean is a perplexing enigma but can also be explained by topography. Most of the Caribbean islands are really islands out in the ocean with not so much topography to alter the way the tidal bulge is distributed. Channels between island will routinely see higher currents than surrounding areas because more water has to get between the islands to normalize the height. The bigger the island the more water has go around causing stronger currents. 
In the Gulf of Mexico the tides are not anything like "normal" tides in more temperate areas. For one thing there is a geothermal conveyor belt running out of the GOM that we call the Gulf Stream through the Straits of Florida and on northwards. Adding to the complexity of the GOM tides are the Greater Antilles islands of PR, Hispaniola & Cuba which create a sort of inlet/outlet configuration for the water to run through as a tidal bulge approaches this area. High tide reaches the Florida Straits before it reaches the western end of Cuba while the Gulf Stream pushes against any tidal bulges. It is complicated but I have noticed that the tidal range in southern Florida is not as easily predictable as areas that are only influenced by ocean tidal bulges like the west coast of southern Florida.

Topography. Hydrology. Moon, Sun, tides.


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## seabeau (Oct 5, 2014)

The great indention in the US southeastern coast is formally known as "The Georgia Bight", this topographical feature coupled with the numerous rivers, expelling enormous quantities of sand produce a extremely shallow ledge that extends quite a way offshore. These two facts combine to produce truly horrendous chop and fill the cruising guides with "Thou Shalt not" warnings in approaching these coastal Sounds, in anything resembling a greater than moderate contrary tide/wind combinations.


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## AJC506 (Nov 3, 2016)

If you really want to see tides in action I recommend a trip to St Malo or Mont St Michel. I'd never seen a tide rushing before.


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## Cap-Couillon (Jan 2, 2013)

Tidal ranges in Balboa/Amador actually average closer to 18' which sounds impressive, but actually doesn't even make it close to the top 50 in the world. Tidal ranges on the Caribbean side are actually around a foot although for practical purposes no one pays attention to tide charts there. The whole thing would have put paid to the French idea of a "sea level" canal with no locks. Even with ramps at the old Balboa Yacht Club (before the fire) it could be a real uphill hike at high tide.

As to why... Balboa is located on the Golfo de Panama. With a max depth of around 700' and enclosed on three sides it forms what is a relatively small bathtub. The moons influence is trying to shove the water from the Pacific Ocean (62,000,000 sq miles 13,200 ft average depth) into this small area. Hence a good size tidal range.

The Golfo de los Mosquitos which runs from Bocas Del Toro down to Colon is by contrast wide open to its tidal influence, the Caribbean Sea. At around a million square miles and an average depth of 8600' the Caribbean has a much smaller volume of water to get dragged around by the moon than its Pacific cousin. That fact along with the aspect ratio of the Golfo de los Mosquitos (which tends to let the tidal "bulge" run out of the ends) means it has a much lower tidal range...

A gross simplification, but adequate for today's hydrology lesson. NOAA offers a pretty good basic look at tidal influences online Our Restless Tides. If you get REAL curious, you can order Manual of Harmonic Analysis and Prediction of Tides (Special Pub 98) from NOAA which will tell you everything you never needed to know.

Fun Trivia... What is the Eastern most terminus of the Panama Canal?

Balboa on the Pacific side is further East than Colon on the Caribbean side. This is because (like the middle and lower Florida Keys ) Panama runs (generally) east and west. The Canal runs northwest from the Pacific to the Caribbean.


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## svHyLyte (Nov 13, 2008)

MarkofSeaLife said:


> This has always perplexed me... But,..
> 
> Tides are meant to be effected by the moon. But on the Caribbean side of Panama Canal there's zero tide but on the Pacific side it's 10 feet. They are less than 100 miles apart.
> 
> ...


Mark, Mark, Mark.... With all your travels, don't you realize by now that _Everything_ on the "Left" side of the Americas is exaggerated beyond all reason?


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## darc (Nov 1, 2016)

Being from New England you can go from one side of the cape cod canal it's a 4' tide to the other it's a 8' to 12' tide. Always made me wonder so I asked a sailing physicist friend of mine, his answer was, he simply picked up his glass of beer and slooshed it back and forth. In that side Panama like in the side of Cape Cod to the bay of Fundy they are just big beer mugs getting slooshed to and furrow by the hand of the moon.
Simple enough...


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

darc said:


> picked up his glass of beer and slooshed it back and forth...


I can understand you so far...

:nerd


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## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

it is so because the pacific ocean is a larger and manlier body of water. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
irateraft:


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## gbgreen59 (Aug 20, 2013)

Cap-Couillon said:


> Tidal ranges in Balboa/Amador actually average closer to 18' .....


Last week the tide change was about 10 feet at the BYC. This week it is closer to 15 feet.


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