Strong tidal currents generate in coastal waters a number of phenomena which are not taken into account by mesoscale modelling. These are related to: the Coriolis effects on horizontal turbulence; the bottom boundary layer effect modified by the rotation of the earth and depth variations. Schematic experiments to demonstrate these effects have been done on the large rotating table in Grenoble. We describe the experiments and the preliminary results obtained with permanent and alternative currents. The experiments were conducted along the wall of a horizontal flat-bottom cylindrical rotating tank, respecting the Froude, Ekman and Rossby similitudes.