what is a good tide to go surfing?

for context i recently bought an 8ft foamie after taking a couple of lessons and fell in love. today i went out to the beach not knowing what tide it was going to be and low and behold we got there straight at high tide! the waves were massive so i learned today not to go out in conditions like that with my experience. now that i have knowledge that sometime the ocean is just too tough when at high tide my question is, is it best for me to go there before or after or during peak low tide?