Tide gauges have been critical sources for sea level research, enabling the development of tidal theory and an understanding of local variations that occur across the global oceans. Tides play important roles in a variety of oceanographic and geodetic applications; characterizing their spatial variability is valuable for applications ranging from fishing to flood risk management. Coastal characteristics of ocean tides are presented based on 3,591 high-frequency tide gauge observations. The analysis shows that 125 out of 237 long-time series show statistically significant trends in one or more tide constituents. Particularly the novel results on tidal high-water durations and tidal trends are of interest. The paper provides a global summary of a number of tidal characteristic quantities that will be useful for tide experts but also for the greater oceanographic community, in particular sea level researchers, providing insights crucial for a wide range of biogeochemical processes. It also presents insights that can be useful for local communities. This paper, along with its accompanying data, could become an important reference in the field.