Here is a  blog post about the tides and how they affect kayaking and paddle boarding along the Port Hacking River from our base at Bonnie Vale in Bundeena. Starting very simply tides are the movement of water from the ocean up into the rivers and back out to the ocean. 

We are based at the entrance to the Port Hacking River right near the ocean. If you’d like to plan a paddling trip along the Port hacking River up into areas such as Cabbage Tree basin and South-West Arm or maybe all the way from Bundeena to Audley it’s important that you plan your trip around the tides. This allows the flow of the tides to help you along on your trip and also to access areas where water becomes very shallow at lower tides.

Every day there are two low tides and two high tides. There is around six hours between a high tide and a low tide. It’s important to remember that the low tide and the high tide is not at the same time every day. For example on one day a high tide might be at 6 am in the morning and then another day the high tide might be at 10 am.  The tide time changes by moving roughly about one hour forward each day. For example if say on a Monday high tide is at 10 am, on the next day the high tide will be around 11 am. Note this is very rough but it gives you a basic idea.

If planning a paddling adventure with us here in Bundeena we generally recommend planning your trip so that you leave about one hour before a high tide (note this will vary depending on how long a trip you have planned). Then you will have the help of the tide running in to carry you up the river. Then you can have a break and wait until the tide for the trip back.

Oh and another important thing to remember is that actually height of the tides there is every day as well. For example a high tide can be just 1.2 m high and on other days it can be up to 2 m high. Our favourite paddling times are high tides greater than about 1.5 m.

Cabbage Tree Basin is a beautiful water body nestled between the townships of Bundeena and Maianbar. It’s an area best reached aboard either a kayak or a paddleboard. This area is extremely tidal and is difficult to access if the tide is not high enough. The optimum time to visit this area is when the tide is above 1.5 m and on or close to the high tide on the day.

Here’s a link to a full year Tide chart where you can look at tide heights and tide times and plan your next paddling adventure. Note that these are the tide times predicted for Fort Denison in Sydney Harbour. There is lag for Port Hacking of around 30 minutes, meaning you need to add 30 minutes to the times in the chart when planning.

The picture below will give you and idea. Here’s a quick example, say you’d like to go kayaking to Cabbage Tree Basin. First remember you need to look for a day when the tide is greater than 1.5 metres (so that the water is not too shallow). Then just plan to arrive around the time of the high tide (remembering the Port Hacking lag of 30 mins)….ideally about 30 mins before the high tide. Saturday 17th October around 9.30am would be a good day/time for a trip to Cabbage Tree Basin :). Here’s a bit more information about the lovely Cabbage Tree Basin

If you have any questions please do email us here at Bundeena Kayaks and we will do our very best to help you plan your adventure. Full details of all of our kayaking and paddle boarding tours and hire can be found on our website: www.bundeenakayaks.com.au