Question

what is the simplest method of understanding the timings of The tides

Answer 1

There are generally 2 tidal bulges each day, 12 hours and 25 minutes apart. So if on a given day the first high tide is at 5:10 am the next high tide will be at 5:35 pm. The next day the tides will be 50 minutes later than the previous high tides, so first high tide is at 6:00 am the next high tide for that day will be at 6:35 pm. The same goes true for low tides.

Explanation: The reason the tides are 50 minutes later each day is because, tides fallow the lunar orbit around the earth. It takes the moon 24 hours and 50 minutes to orbit the earth.