In this study, to meet the need for accurate tidal prediction, the accuracy of global ocean tide models was assessed in the South China Sea (0°–26°N, 99°–121°E). Seven tide models, namely, DTU10, EOT11a, FES2014, GOT4.8, HAMTIDE12, OSU12 and TPXO8, were considered. The accuracy of eight major tidal constituents (i.e., Q1, O1, P1, K1, N2, M2, S2 and K2) were assessed for the shallow water and coastal areas based on the tidal constants derived from multi-mission satellite altimetry (TOPEX and Jason series) and tide gauge observations. The root mean square values of each constituent between satellite-derived tidal constants and tide models were found in the range of 0.72–1.90 cm in the deep ocean (depth>200 m) and 1.18–5.63 cm in shallow water area (depth<200 m). Large inter-model discrepancies were noted in the Strait of Malacca and the Taiwan Strait, which could be attributable to the complicated hydrodynamic systems and the paucity of high-quality satellite altimetry data. In coastal regions, an accuracy performance was investigated using tidal results from 37 tide gauge stations. The root sum square values were in the range of 9.35–19.11 cm, with the FES2014 model exhibiting slightly superior performance.