How come the ocean in the Caribbean has almost no tidal range?

Answer

In the large, deep oceans, the tidal amplitude – or the difference between high and low tides – is usually limited to a difference in level of just 0.5 to 1 meter. After all, on these vast oceans only the gravitational pull of the moon (and to a lesser extent the sun) plays a role, and the depth of the water or the surrounding relief of the coast have relatively little effect. Small tidal differences are therefore perfectly normal in many coastal towns in the world.

The situation is different when the tidal wave flows into bays or semi-closed seas. The tidal wave is pushed up, as it were, when it passes through these gorges. For example, in the Bristol Channel (W-England) tidal ranges of up to 15 meters occur and tidal amplitudes of up to 18 meters have been observed in the Bay of Fundy near Nova Scotia (Canada). And at Mont Saint-Michel in Brittany, too, the difference between high and low tides can be up to 14 m. Although the North Sea does not have such extreme tidal differences, the topography of the bottom, the shape of the coast and all kinds of other side effects ensure that the North Sea has a complex tidal system. Partly as a result of this, the Dutch coast experiences average tidal differences of more than 1.5 m, while those on the Belgian coast at 3.9 m are much larger.