The tides at Pointe-Lebel, and why the beach changes size

Pointe-Lebel has its own tide station in the Fisheries and Oceans Canada registry, under code 02842. That is unusual for a village of two thousand people, and it says something about the place: here the tide is not a detail, it decides the shape of your day.

The station that publishes the useful predictions sits in Baie-Comeau, eighteen kilometres away, under code 02840. Its times are within minutes of Pointe-Lebel.

The tidal range, in numbers

Over the four days following 6 September 2026, the official predictions give high waters up to 3.51 m and low waters down to 0.32 m. The spread reaches 3.2 m between highest and lowest.

In practice: at high tide the water laps the foot of the staircase, and six hours later the sand runs several hundred metres out in front of you. Same beach, entirely different walk.

What low tide uncovers

The bottom here is a tidal flat: firm sand grooved with runnels, dotted with warm pools the sun heats faster than the river ever does. Children spend hours there. So do shorebirds, and that is when you see them best, busy probing the mud.

• Walk out on a falling tide rather than a rising one: you follow the water instead of being followed by it.
• The runnels fill before the sand around them: coming back may mean crossing water that was not there on the way out.
• The St. Lawrence stays cold even in August. The pools on the flats genuinely warm up.
• Rubber boots beat sandals: the mud clings and the shells cut.

Where to check before going down

The official predictions are free and published by Fisheries and Oceans Canada for the Baie-Comeau station. Check them the night before: the times shift about fifty minutes each day, so tomorrow low tide is not today low tide.