diff --git a/erddapy/erddapy.py b/erddapy/erddapy.py
index 8ba9d3d..b896fd9 100644
--- a/erddapy/erddapy.py
+++ b/erddapy/erddapy.py
@@ -367,7 +367,11 @@ def to_ncCF(self, protocol: str = None, **kw):
         url = self.get_download_url(response="ncCF", distinct=distinct)
         return to_ncCF(url, protocol=protocol, requests_kwargs=dict(**kw))
 
-    def to_xarray(self, **kw):
+    def to_xarray(
+        self,
+        requests_kwargs: Optional[Dict] = None,
+        **kw,
+    ):
         """Load the data request into a xarray.Dataset.
 
         Accepts any `xr.open_dataset` keyword arguments.
@@ -380,7 +384,10 @@ def to_xarray(self, **kw):
             response = "ncCF"
         distinct = kw.pop("distinct", False)
         url = self.get_download_url(response=response, distinct=distinct)
-        requests_kwargs = {"auth": self.auth}
+        if requests_kwargs:
+            requests_kwargs = {**{"auth": self.auth}, **requests_kwargs}
+        else:
+            requests_kwargs = {"auth": self.auth}
         return to_xarray(url, response, requests_kwargs, xarray_kwargs=dict(**kw))
 
     def to_iris(self, **kw):
diff --git a/tests/test_to_objects.py b/tests/test_to_objects.py
index 72f5bd9..e3e0bbf 100644
--- a/tests/test_to_objects.py
+++ b/tests/test_to_objects.py
@@ -141,6 +141,17 @@ def test_to_xarray_tabledap(dataset_tabledap):
     assert ds["temperature"].name == "temperature"
 
 
+@pytest.mark.web
+def test_to_xarray_requests_kwargs(dataset_tabledap):
+    """Test converting tabledap to an xarray Dataset manually setting timeout"""
+    ds = dataset_tabledap.to_xarray(requests_kwargs={"timeout": 30})
+
+    assert isinstance(ds, xr.Dataset)
+    assert len(ds.variables) == 9
+    assert ds["time"].name == "time"
+    assert ds["temperature"].name == "temperature"
+
+
 @pytest.mark.web
 def test_to_xarray_griddap(dataset_griddap):
     """Test converting griddap to an xarray Dataset."""