The Hydrographer of the SA Navy is responsible for producing a table of tides covering the South African coast and that of Namibia. These tables contain:

• The predicted times and heights of low water and high water in all South African and Namibian ports, as well as the phases of the moon for every day of the year.
• The predicted hourly heights of tide in SA and Namibian ports for every day of the year.
• The times of sunrise and sunset at every SA and Namibian port for every day of the year.
• The times of moonrise and moonset at every SA and Namibian port for every day of the year.

The difference in height between low water and high water is known as the range of the tide whilst the time interval between high and low water is called the duration of the tide. All predicted heights of tide in the tide tables are given in metres above chart datum, which is the datum to which all soundings on navigational charts have been reduced. Chart Datum is derived from the Lowest Astronomical Tide (LAT) which is computed from 19 years of predictions.