Tide times and sunsets

I need to get out and shoot some more... I was thinking about heading to Seaside/Ecola State Park this Sunday. But I note that the tide is going to be pretty high throughout the end of the day (hope this copy/paste works:

Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
/Low Time Feet Sunset Visible

Sa 18 High 1:48 AM 5.4 6:22 AM Set 7:36 AM 92
18 Low 9:46 AM 0.2 6:26 PM Rise 10:50 PM
18 High 2:39 PM 4.4
18 Low 9:25 PM 0.8

Su 19 High 2:15 AM 5.4 6:20 AM Set 7:59 AM 86
19 Low 10:28 AM 0.2 6:27 PM
19 High 3:29 PM 4.0
19 Low 9:55 PM 1.0


Living in Corvallis, and with a significant other who is not a morning person, I'm not going to get up there till the middle of the day.

So, longwindedly , I'm wondering what sort of tide is the optimum for shots of crashing waves on rocks in the sunset in the Ecola State Park region. Am I likely to have much joy at a mid tide on Sunday, or should I go for plan B (Mary's Peak and maybe the snowy cascades).

Any advice appreciated.

First, the tide will not be either high or low at sunset on either Saturday or Sunday. It will be between +3 and +4 feet which is about the mid-tide for Ecola. I prefer to shoot Ecola in winter at the highest tides, around +8 or +9 feet. However, my best Ecola shot ever came on the eve of the lowest tide of the year at -1.5 feet. when I was allowed a rare perspective on the major arch in the North rocks with sun bursting through the mist. Shooting the waves on rocks is best done at higher tides, but really it's not going to matter all that much, particularly if you're taking more of longer lens approach instead of foreground intensive images such as most of mine.

Thanks Marc... in that case I'll probably head up there and see how it plays out on Sunday.

Craig, maybe I'll see you there - I'm 50/50 on hitting the beach this weekend.

If you're looking for low tides, next weekend (26-27th) looks like a good time to go, they'll be lowest around 4pm. I may go check out the tide pools at Seal Rock.