The techniques for computing the eigenfunctions of the velocity potential (Proudman functions) set out in Sanchez et al. (1986) in relation to the Atlantic‐Indian Ocean are here applied to the Pacific Ocean, using a 6° × 6° grid of 510 points (455 points for the associated stream functions). Normal modes are computed from the first 150 Proudman functions and have natural periods from 43.9 hours downwards. Tidal syntheses are derived from these modes by direct application of the (frictionless) dynamic equations and by least‐squares fitting of Proudman functions to the dynamically interpolated tide‐gauge data of Schwiderski (1983). The modes contributing most energy to the principal harmonic tidal constituents are different in the two computations; their natural periods are typically in the range of 9–16 hours for semidiurnal, 14–43 hours for diurnal tides. The RMS of fit for Proudman functions is in all cases better than the corresponding value for the same number of spherical harmonics.