Data presented here were collected between September 2018 to September 2023 within the research unit DynaCom (Spatial community ecology in highly dynamic landscapes: From island biogeography to metaecosystems) involving the Universities of Oldenburg, Göttingen, and Münster, the iDiv Leipzig and the Nationalpark Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer. Experimental islands and saltmarsh enclosed plots were established in the back-barrier tidal flat and in the saltmarsh zone of the island of Spiekeroog (Germany). To measure local turbidity, a turbidity recorder equipped with a Seapoint® turbidity meter (RBRsolo Tu, RBR Ltd., Ontario/Canada) was installed in the back-barrier tidal flat near the experimental islands in a shallow tidal creek (0.9 m NHN). Another one was installed at the saltmarsh edge (1.2 m NHN). Both loggers were bottom mounted through a steel girder (buried 0.3 m deep in the sediment) and were positioned 15 cm above sediment surface, as was determined by using a portable differential GPS. This resulted in the sensor falling dry during low tide. The turbidity recorders were pre-calibrated by the manufacturer (Seapoint Sensors, Inc., NH/USA). Recorded data were internally logged and exported using Ruskin software V2.24.3.x (RBR Ltd., Ontario/Canada). Subsequent data processing was done using MATLAB (R2024b). Post-processing and quality control included the removal of (a) low tide data (sensors exposed to air), (b) data covering maintenance activities, (c) data affected by biofouling, and (d) implausible values, i.e. negative values and values exceeding the linear response range of the sensor (1250 NTU). According to manufacturer specifications, the linear measurement range extends up to 1250 NTU, while 750 NTU represent a more conservative estimate of linearity. Therefore, 1250 NTU was adopted as the upper threshold for valid measurements in this dataset.