Watch the morning drama of the waves at high tide or explore the mysteries revealed by afternoon low tides for the first king tide event of 2026.

La Jolla “king” tides will close out 2025 and ring in 2026 at the coastline, with the most dramatic difference between high and low tides appearing Friday and Saturday, Jan 2 and 3.

Below, the highest and lowest predicted tides for each day:

Wednesday, Dec 31: Highest tide at 6.8 feet at 5:55 am; lowest tide at 1:23 pm at -1.1 feet.

Thursday, Jan 1: Highest tide at 7.1 feet at 6:44 am; lowest tide at 2:10 pm at -1.6 feet.

Friday, Jan 2: Highest tide at 7.4 feet at 7:32 am; lowest tide at 2:54 pm at -1.9 feet.

Saturday, Jan 3: Highest tide at 7.4 feet at 8:20 am; lowest tide at 3:37 pm at -1.9 feet.

Sunday, Jan 4: Highest tide at 7.2 feet at 9:06 am; lowest tide at 4:19 pm at -1.7 feet.

Monday, Jan 5: Highest tide at 6.8 feet at 9:51am; lowest tide at 5 pm at -1.3 feet.

King tides are also known as “perigean spring tides,” caused by the gravitational pull between the Earth, moon and sun, with high tides measuring well above average and some leading to coastal flooding, though in La Jolla this is rare.

More probable are an increase in dangerous swimming and surfing conditions and localized beach erosion.

Low tides during king tides means more opportunities to view the La Jolla tide pools and other coastal points normally underwater.