Tidal processes play an important role in the dynamics of shelf circulation in the Laptev Sea. The Unstructured Grid Finite Volume Coastal Ocean Model (FVCOM) is used to simulate the tidal dynamics in the Lena Delta region of the Laptev Sea in ice-free barotropic case. The grid element size ranges from 400m to 5km. The major semidiurnal tidal waves M2 and S2 are investigated with the M2 being the most important in generating large sea level amplitudes and currents over shallow areas. A correction to the tidal elevation at the open boundary is proposed, which minimizes the discrepancy between the model prediction and observations. The observations include both recent mooring data and the standard set of tide gauge measurements used in previous studies. The comparison of results to known tidal solutions is carried out. The paper also discusses the residual circulation and energy fluxes and assesses the impact of additional bathymetric information. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.