Tonight's moon and whether the tides are running big (springs) or small (neaps), with the day's sunrise and sunset — to plan fishing and crossings. Not a tide table; the moon's rhythm and the light.
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The moon sets the rhythm of the water around Sherbro Island. This page shows tonight's moon, whether the tides are running big (spring tides) or small (neap tides), and the day's light — so you can plan your fishing and your crossing. It is not a tide table: for the real times of high and low water, ask the boatmen and fishermen who read this coast every day.
Tonight’s moon
Neap tides — the smallest range; gentler water and weaker currents.
A bright, moonlit night.
When the big water and the small water fall around Bonthe, so you can plan. Spring tides come around the new and full moon; neaps around the quarters.
Twice a month, at the new moon and the full moon, the sun and the moon pull in line. That makes the biggest tides — the “spring” tides: the high water comes up further, the low water goes out further, and the currents run hardest. These are the days the water moves most.
In between, at the half-moons (the quarters), the sun and the moon pull at angles to each other. The tides are at their smallest — the “neap” tides: less range, gentler currents.
The biggest tides actually run a day or two after the new or full moon, not on the exact day — so treat these as the strong stretch, not a single date.
The pam-pam boats leave on the tide and when they are loaded, not on a clock. A spring tide means more water and stronger currents; a neap means gentler water. Either way, watch the sky and ask at the wharf before you set out.
The big spring tides move more water and can change where the fish are and how hard the current runs. A bright full-moon night lights the water; a dark new-moon night does not.
In the wet season (June–September) heavy rain and wind can matter more than the tide for a safe crossing. The moon tells you the tide's strength, not the weather — check the Crossing Conditions page for wind and waves.
There is no published tide-prediction table for Sherbro Island or this stretch of the Sierra Leone coast. This page is built only from the moon and the sun, which can be calculated anywhere. It will never tell you the exact minute the water turns — only how strong the tide is, and when the light comes and goes.
There is no published boat schedule. Departures follow the tide and the load. Listen to Radio Bontico 96.9 FM and ask at the wharf — and see the Crossing Conditions and Getting to Bonthe pages on this site.
This is the moon, not a tide table
This page shows the moon’s rhythm and the day’s light. It does not give the height or the time of high and low water — there is no published tide table for this coast, and we will not guess at one.
For the real state of the water on any day — when it turns, how far it comes in, whether the boat can leave — the boatmen at the wharf and the fishermen read this water every day. They are the ones to ask.
Moon and sun times are calculated for Bonthe and can be a few minutes out. Times are shown in the local clock.