Tidepooling, San Diego Style © Jill Florio
Feb 10, 2003
If you enjoy beachcombing, exploring wild lifeforms and peering into tiny worlds, then tidepooling is for YOU! San Diego's got some lovely sites at low tide...and places like Sea World and Cabrillo National Monument even help you intepret what you find...
Sunset Cliffs
The stretch between the Pier at Ocean Beach and the sandstone walls at Sunset Cliffs is a joy to explore, with lots of pools and water-sculpted rock.
Cabrillo NationalMonument
THE classic San Diego tidepool locale, on a peninsula overlooking the City on one side, and the great wide ocean at the other. Though you must pay a fee to enter this park, it's worth a trip for the history, the Visitor Center Museum, and, of course, the view at sunset. The fine tidepools are located down on the ocean-side, north of the historic lighthouse.
On the western side of Point Loma lies the rocky inter-tidal zone, a window into the ocean ecosystem that lies along of San Diego's coast. During low tide's pools form along this shore in rocky depressions. In them you may see flowery anemones, elusive octopai, spongy deadman's fingers, and a myriad of other creatures. The tidepools are a wonderful discovery zone, but be careful if you visit. Few animals in this ecosystem can harm humans, but many animals are sensitive, and can even be killed, when handled or just touched by humans. Ask a ranger or volunteer how you can best explore the tidepools without harming them. From the Cabrillo National Monument Website Educational Tidepools Sea World and Scripps' Birch Aquarium have excellent indoor and outdoor displays of tidepool creatures, including gentle touch tanks for the kiddies. Here's Sea World's website blurb: TIDEPOOL Roll up your sleeves and touch a starfish, sea urchin or other fascinating creature in the California Tide Pool ... a recreation of one of the ocean's richest environments. Kids and adults alike will love the special touch-pool where one can also discover fascinating tube worms, sea hares and hermit crabs. Park educators are always on hand to answer questions and share information.
FORBIDDEN REEF Touch and feed California bat rays! Get face-to-face with moray eels! And take an up-close look at hundreds of these exotic creatures in their mysterious world of underwater caverns.
And from Scripps Aquarium:
Late fall to early spring is an excellent time to take a tidepooling excursion to one of California's rocky shore areas. During these months, minus tides (which fall below zero tide level) tend to occur during daylight hours, making this an excellent time to explore tide-pool habitats. Sign-up now for a guided tidepooling excursion with naturalists at Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Contact the education/activities office at 858/534-7336 for more information or check the calendar below for posted dates.
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