Stats
When: low tide below 0 ft Where: Pullouts along Turnagain Arm
Summary
According to the web, Turnagain Arm has the 4th highest tidal bores in the world. These are fun and fascinating to watch.
Opinion
The Experience
Well, four hours to get there, and as a prize, we got to see the world's fourth largest bore tide on the Turnagain Arm just off the Steward Highway about 3 miles east of Bird point. However, based on previous experience, the bore tide can be 1 inch tall to 2 feet (see video).
You can see the tidal bore come in from any of the turnouts along Turnagain Arm, but some are better than others. The best sites are where the deepest part of the water is right next to the pullout. We were told by a friendly tidal bore watcher than the location we chose was the best place to watch from (see map above for location)
We read that the best time to see the bore tide is when the low tide at the mouth of Cook Inlet is lower than 0 ft; the lower the better. The day we went it was at about -4 ft. So, if you're planning a trip, check Alaska Park's Bore Tide Schedule for the best days. But note: for the 24 Jun the schedule got us there 45 minutes early for our location.
The tidal bore didn't look like much as it approaches: just a line of water. But as it got closer you could hear the hiss of the approaching wave on the sand. Then we saw the sea birds going wild on the far side of the tidal bore where the wave met the sand. Apparently, there were fish caught in the wave being shoved out onto the sand for the birds to catch. In fact, when we looked further down the bay we say 3 or 4 eagles standing on the sand waiting for the tidal bore to bring them dinner.
On the day we took the video, 10 surfers tried to catch the wave. Only 3 succeeded and they didn't last all the way to the end.
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