steadfetch/us-tide-times-extractor

Returns NOAA tide predictions (high/low tides) and water-level measurements for US coastal stations, as JSON. One row per tidal event, with station info, UTC timestamps, values in meters, and source URLs.

What it does

• Queries the public, keyless NOAA CO-OPS API (api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov) for tide predictions or water-level data.
• Returns one row per predicted high/low tide or water-level measurement: station_id, product, event_type, time, value, unit, datum, source_url, captured_at.
• Supports two product modes: predictions (high/low tides) and water_level (continuous measurements with H/L detection).
• Uses plain HTTP + JSON. No browser, no login, no paywall.
• Validates every row against the dataset schema before it reaches the dataset.
• Geo-discovery: find stations near a lat/lon coordinate within a radius.

How to use

Run it from the Apify Console or with the CLI:

$apify call steadfetch/us-tide-times-extractor --input='{"stations":["8443970","9414290"]}'

Read the rows from the run's default dataset (JSON, CSV or the API).

Minimum input

{ "stations": ["9414290"] }

With no input the Actor checks the default US stations (8443970 Boston, 9414290 San Francisco) for today.

Input fields

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description	Example
stations	array	No	[]	NOAA station IDs (7-10 digits). Use lat/lon for geo-discovery instead.	["8443970","9414290"]
lat	number	No	null	Latitude for geo-discovery (requires lon + radiusKm).	36.95
lon	number	No	null	Longitude for geo-discovery (requires lat + radiusKm).	-121.99
radiusKm	integer	No	25	Radius in km for geo-discovery (1-100).	25
product	string	No	predictions	NOAA product: predictions or water_level.	predictions
date	string	No	today	Query date in YYYY-MM-DD format. Defaults to today for predictions.	"2026-10-26"
monitorMode	boolean	No	false	When true, only emits rows whose values changed vs knownState.	false
knownState	object	No	{}	Maps station IDs to their last known value (for monitor mode).	{"9414290":1.521}

Output

Example output

{
  "station_id": "9414290",
  "station_name": "San Francisco, CA",
  "latitude": 37.8063,
  "longitude": -122.4659,
  "product": "predictions",
  "event_type": "H",
  "time": "2026-10-26T07:25:00.000Z",
  "value": 1.521,
  "unit": "m",
  "datum": "MLLW",
  "source_url": "https://api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/api/prod/datagetter?product=predictions&station=9414290&date=2026-10-26&timezone=gmt&units=metric&format=json",
  "captured_at": "2026-10-26T09:00:00.000Z"
}

Output fields

Field	Type	Description
station_id	string	Seven- to ten-digit NOAA station identifier (required).
station_name	string or null	Human-readable station name.
latitude	number or null	Station latitude in decimal degrees.
longitude	number or null	Station longitude in decimal degrees.
product	string	predictions or water_level (required).
event_type	string or null	High tide (H) or low tide (L). Predictions only.
time	date-time	UTC ISO 8601 timestamp (required).
value	number	Tide height or water level in meters (required).
unit	string	Always m (metric). Required.
datum	string or null	Vertical datum reference (e.g., MLLW).
source_url	string	Public NOAA URL that returns the same data (required).
captured_at	date-time	UTC timestamp when the data was fetched (required).

Pricing

Pay-per-event: apify-actor-start at 0.00005 USD per run (Apify-recommended default) and apify-default-dataset-item at 1.50 USD per 1,000 results (0.0015 USD per row delivered), plus steadfetch-monitor-check at 0.0004 USD per monitor check (0 results delivered).

Measured cost per 1,000 results: about 0.010 USD (local run of two stations: ~12 rows each, 4 HTTP requests, 8 s at 256 MB and 0.2 USD per GB-hour), so the price leaves about 99% margin.

Works on the Apify free plan - about 3,333 results for the $5 monthly credit.

FAQ

Does the Actor need an API key from NOAA? No. The NOAA CO-OPS datagetter API is public and keyless.

Which stations are available? Any NOAA CO-OPS station in the US and its territories. Use the station list or geo-discovery to find the nearest station to a coordinate.

Can I monitor a station for changes? Yes. Set monitorMode: true and pass knownState mapping station IDs to their last known values. Only changed rows are emitted.

What time zone are the timestamps in? All timestamps are UTC. The NOAA API returns times in local time; the Actor converts to UTC when time_zone=gmt is used.

Can I get water-level data? Yes. Set product to water_level and the Actor returns continuous water-level measurements. H/L extrema are auto-detected from the measurements.

When am I charged? Once per run start and once per row delivered. Monitor checks without new data only charge the monitor-check event.

Maintenance

This Actor is tested daily. Data comes from the NOAA CO-OPS API, a public US federal source with no copyright restrictions (17 U.S.C. section 105). No known rotatable anti-bot patterns; the only rate limit is 1 request/second between calls.

Support

Report bugs or request features through the Apify Store page (Issues tab) of the Actor, or through the Steadfetch actors repository issues. Include the run ID and the input used.