Graduate student Isabella Arzeno just published the first chapter of her dissertation on examining the dynamics over coral reefs. While prior dynamical studies over coral reefs have predominantly focused on cross‐reef dynamics, this manuscript examines the along-shore dynamics. This is done through using observations of a Hawaiian fringing reef system to quantify the dominant terms in the depth‐averaged alongshore momentum budget as a function of tidal phase. Importantly, while the canonical balance is important, the observations also suggest the importance of advective acceleration at one of the sites – a term often ignored.