In my book A Very Typical Family, which is set in Santa Cruz, CA, an early draft had Kit visiting the tide pools, looking for amazing creatures. Santa Cruz is a wonderful place to go see tide pool creatures. In this post, I’ll cover where to go, what to look for, and what to know.
Tide pools are also referred to as the intertidal zone, where rocky areas of mudstone are exposed during low tide and submerged at high tide, with varying depths of holes. The sea creatures who live in the intertidal zone are survivors: they wash up into the holes, sit in blistering sunshine in water that has a high salinity from salt deposits left behind when the rock is dry, only to possibly get washed out to sea again. But you can find crabs, sea stars, anemones, limpets, and so much more. Some people have been lucky enough to find an octopus during king tides, which is considered the prize discovery.
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You can find amazing tide pools to explore along the coast of Northern California, but if you’re spending a day or few in Santa Cruz and want to see them, this post is for you.
Where to visit the tide pools
There are two great primary spots to go looking: Natural Bridges State Beach and Pleasure Point.
Natural Bridges State Beach
Natural Bridges is a great beach to visit. At the end of West Cliff Drive on the west side of town, it has a small parking lot for a fee (but if you combine the trip with, say, a trip to Henry Cowell State Park, then you only pay the state park day use fee once). The “natural bridges” in 2023 are just a single arch, although it started out as three. The first arch collapsed around 1905. The second arch collapsed in a massive storm in 1980.
Now, there is just one iconic arch and you can no longer walk out on it. Sea birds (mostly cormorants and pelicans) have made it their home.
The beach is small but often crowded. There are picnic areas and a good set of bathrooms. My favorite part of this beach is the tide pools across the beach from the parking lot.
!> Warning: Never, ever turn your back on the waves that slam into the tidal shelf. Never, ever allow children to approach the edge. Getting swept off and into the sea (and then battered against the cliffs) happens and death is a strong possibility.
You can check the tide reports here and here. See the king tide dates here.
Pleasure Point
On the east side of Santa Cruz is another surfing hot spot and incredible fields of tide pools that stretch along the beach in a seemingly unending stretch of moss and pools. Here, half the fun is finding your way through the maze of pools without stepping into deep water. Birds come close here and the blue sky is wide.
You can access the beach easily via any of the stairs going from the cliff down to the beach at 36th Avenue and 38th Avenue. The small parking lot at 41st Avenue and E Cliff is always full; it will drive you mad finding a spot so don’t even bother. Park down one of the residential side streets between 30th and 41st Avenues, being respectful of the homes there. (Don’t block driveways, is what I’m saying.)
Supposedly, Pleasure Point tide pools are not exposed often. Go during low tide and it’ll be great. You can check the tide reports here and here. See the king tide dates here.
Resources
- I highly recommend purchasing the Laminated Guide to Northern California Tidepools from the Friends of Santa Cruz Parks.
- I also recommend the exquisitely done Fylling’s Illustrated Guide to Pacific Coast Tide Pools.
- And the small and inexpensive Pacific Intertidal Life: A Guide to Organisms of Rocky Reefs and Tide Pools of the Pacific Coast, which does a lovely job of showing what creatures live where.
Buy A Very Typical Family
More Santa Cruz good stuff:
- My post on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
- My post on the blue whale skeleton at Long Marine Lab in Santa Cruz
- My post on Long Marine Lab in Santa Cruz
- My post on West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz
- My post on the Santa Cruz Wharf