The Moon: The gravitational pull from the moon pulls the water towards it. The earth is pulling the water towards it. This is a very simplified explanation of how the moon causes tides.
The Sun: There is also a gravitational pull from the sun which causes tides but it has less affect since the sun is much farther away than the moon.
The Spin of the Earth on it's Axis: The spin of the earth is what causes semidiurnal tides. This means two high tides and two low tides each day. It is sort of hard to explain so I will let you check out the website.
The Tilt of the Earth's Axis: The inclination or tilt of the axis causes the northern and southern latitudes to only have one low tide and one high tide a day. Click the link above to read more about how the inclination affects the tides.
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I saw a National Geographic special on the moon and I was shocked by how much it influenced the tides. However, I didn't know that the sun had any influence on the tides (though now that I think about it, it makes sense..)Good post!
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