A Guide to Tide Pooling with Kids in the Bay Area
One of my favorite family-friendly winter activities is to visit the ocean to go tide-pooling. Yes, braving the frigid ocean wind and water to go tide pooling! There’s something magical about catching a glimpse of elusive sea creatures in their natural habitat during the unique time of year that the moon is pulling the tides to their lowest points. Over the last few negative tides we’ve observed sea anemones, star fish, an octopus! and (my faves) nudibranchs!
My daughter was around 6 years old when we first brought her to the tide pools and she could enjoy them to their fullest. Read on for her reflections, and the best tips I’ve acquired as a novice tide pooler. Hope you and your family enjoy the tide pools as much as we do!
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Why Go Tide Pooling with Kids
Here are just a few reasons:
What You Can See While Tide Pooling
So many cool creatures are revealed during low tide, and ones I’ve only seen in photos or at tide pool exhibits at the local science museums: anemones in all colors of the rainbow, an octopus!, starfish, sea urchins, and nudibranchs! Nudibranchs have been one of our favorites to spot, as they’re really small and elusive, but have the most amazing shapes and colors—they look like tiny little unicorn slugs! On a recent excursion we saw at least 10 nudibranchs in the same area, which my little one dubbed, “Nudibranch Central!”
Welcome To Japan
The Next Somewhere is the travel, food, and lifestyle blog of Millette Stambaugh. Browse through my wanderlists for the top five things to do in cities around the world, cool digs for a good night’s sleep, and the best food finds for those who travel to eat.
Getting There
Tokyo is a little more than 11 hours away from the Bay Area on a nonstop flight. There are direct flights from both SFO and SJC, with our personal budget-friendly pick being Zipair.
Tokyo has two main airports: Narita and Haneda. Haneda (HND) is much closer to the city center than Narita (NRT); you can be in Tokyo Station within about 30 minutes via public transportation from Haneda, whereas from Narita it would take you about an hour to 90 minutes. We flew SJC to NRT and had no complaints!
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Quick Tips
When To Visit
The best time to visit the tide pools are during a negative tide. Check our tips below for how to find negative tides in your region.
Before You go
- Look up the negative tides for the day and region you plan to visit
- Prepare your family for ocean safety & respect
What To Pack
- Snacks
- Boots, waterproof shoes, or water shoes
- Towels
- An extra set of clothes
- Garden gloves to protect your hands from sharp rocks
- Warm water for washing off
- Jackets & beanies in the winter
History Corner
The Athabascans and Iñupiaq Eskimos have stewarded the land around Fairbanks, Alaska for 30,000 years. Alaska became the 49th state, part of the U.S. in 1959. Native Alaskans have been fighting for their rights for decades.
According to a children’s book by Inuit storyteller Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak, the many Native Alaskans interpret the Northern Lights as the spirits of their ancestors. Also, dog sledding is an Indigenous tradition as well as a popular Native Alaskan sport.
our experience
The staff at Chena Hot Springs Resort were a mix of white and BIPOC people, as were the guests. During our one-night stay we were the only family there with little kids. Staff and other guests were kind to us, and greeted us with smiles. We felt welcomed and safe.
Learn More
1. Watch this video about the dog sledding way of life for Alaskan Native communities. Read about Ryan Redington, the sixth Native Alaskan to win the annual Iditarod dog race.
2. Read Northern Lights: Soccer Trails by Inuit storyteller Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak.
3. Check out the Native Youth Olympics in the summer. Watch this video to learn more.
Antiracist Travel Considerations
Top Tips for Tide Pooling with Kids
Find a Tide Pool Near You
Not every beach makes for a great tide pooling experience. There has to be an ideal set of conditions to make a great tide pool: beaches close to craggy cliffs where little pools full of sea creatures are shielded from the crashing waves.
From our experience, there are several great tide pooling options in the Bay Area that span from Bolinas to Santa Cruz—check out our roundup at the link below! We’ve also gone to San Diego’s Ocean Beach tide pools where we caught sight of an octopus!
Look Up the Dates of the Next King Tides
During winter, the king tides—which boast the lowest low tides and highest high tides—are your best windows for tide pooling. These are when negative tides occur and the ocean waves dissipate farther from the shore, making for some sweet sea creature sightings. Search the dates of the next “king tide” on the coast of your choice to save the dates for your next tide pooling adventure! For us on the California Coast, the winter king tides usually occur in the months of November, December, January and February.
Look Up the Low Tides
Once you decide where and on which day(s) you’ll go tide pooling, look up the tide charts for those regions and dates. Find the times at which the tides are in the negative numbers, and be sure to cross-check those with sunset and bedtimes so as not to get caught in the ocean after dark!
For our family, the sweet spot for tide pooling is when negative tide is at least an hour before sunset. We go straight to the beach after school, get in an hour or two of tide pooling, and are back home in time for dinner!
Prepare Your Family for Ocean Safety & Respect
The ocean can be a scary place, even during low tide, and tide pooling is a great opportunity to remind our littles about staying safe in the open water. Always keep an eye on the waves and never turn your back to the ocean.
Also remember that we are just there to observe the creatures we find there, and to not touch or remove anything from the tide pools. Check out this guide from the California Academy of Sciences about tide pooling safely and respectfully.
Where to Go Tide Pooling Near the Bay Area with Kids
Below are great family-friendly tide pooling areas within a couple hours of Oakland and San Francisco.
Thinking about spending more than just a few hours in the area? Check out the links to our guides below.
Rockaway Beach, Pacifica
Our family’s favorite tide pool overall
- Proximity to the East Bay
- Easy beach access from parking lot
- Diversity of sea life
- Foraging OK with license
Rockaway Beach in Pacifica is our go-to tide pool. It checks off all the boxes for me: with no traffic it is a quick 30-minute drive from Oakland; it doesn’t require a hike from our car to the tide pools; it is the site of “Nudibranch Central” (as my kid dubbed it); and you can even forage for mussels from there (license required).
J V Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, Moss Beach
- Less crowded beach
- Requires a quick up/downhill walk
- Uni sightings, but no foraging
Ross’s Cove is a great tide pooling area for spotting sea urchin, which are prevalent there because it is a protected area. The cove is just on the other side of the ridge from the more bustling Maverick’s Beach in Half Moon Bay. It is a quick hillside walk from the nearest parking lot, which in our experience is usually full so we find ourselves having to park at least another half-mile or so away.
Ross's Cove, Moss Beach
- Less crowded beach
- Requires a quick up/downhill walk
- Uni sightings, but no foraging
Ross’s Cove is a great tide pooling area for spotting sea urchin, which are prevalent there because it is a protected area. The cove is just on the other side of the ridge from the more bustling Maverick’s Beach in Half Moon Bay. It is a quick hillside walk from the nearest parking lot, which in our experience is usually full so we find ourselves having to park at least another half-mile or so away.
Pillar Point/Maverick's Beach, Half Moon Bay
- Expansive tide pooling area
- Requires a Mostly flat hike
- Crowded
- Foraging OK with license
Pillar Point is a great tide pooling option and was the site of my initial foray into tide pooling with my kid. On a King Tide weekend in February, my six-year-old and I, along with my brother, walked the long road from the neighborhood with available parking to the tide pool area, curious about what we’d see along the way.
The tide pools were teeming with activity, both above ground and under the surface. We saw children point to crabs while we heard others yell excitedly, “¡Una estralla del mar!” On a subsequent visit we spotted our first nudibranch, a bright, flowery, orange spotted dorid!
While a great spot, the crowds and long walk make me think twice about tide pooling here.
If You Have Time...
Make a Day of It!
If you don’t live by the coast, why not plan an extended day (or more!) around your tide pooling trip? Below are some of our fave tide pooling towns on the Northern California Coast.
Extras
Where to Eat in
Tokyo with Kids
Pacifica
Pacifica is our preferred tide pool spot as of late—it only takes 30 minutes to get to the nearest tide pool from where we are in Oakland! Less driving = more tide pooling!
Moss Beach
Moss Beach is further south than Pacifica and is home to the J V Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and Ross’s Cove, where the tide pools are teeming with sea life!
Travel Mishaps
My, oh my. Many a travel mishap was had on the Tokyo leg of our trip. Where to begin?
First, during our day at DisneySea, I believe my daughter and I were the only ones whooping and clapping during the evening show—no one else in the crowd clapped, so I was left to feel like I must’ve missed a cultural memo, probably fulfilling the typical trope of “that loud American.”
Then, my brother came down with COVID, and had to spend his last couple days isolating in our hotel room in Tokyo.
Finally, my daughter and I spent our last day in Tokyo at the U.S. Embassy, applying for emergency passports because I had lost ours at Tokyo Skytree the night before. Not only that, but I ran out of cash to pay for said emergency passports, so I incurred some yucky fees pulling some cash out of a nearby ATM.
Despite these wild mishaps, we had a lovely time in Tokyo!
oops!
Read on
Our partners at Storybook Lists provide children’s book recommendations that feature native and local voices to deepen our understanding of the places we visit.
Looking for more?
Browse Storybook Lists’ full catalog of recommended children’s books on Japan.
Final Thoughts
Come for the tide pools, stay for the vibe! Being on the coast is so magical—I love the way the fog rolls in and hangs heavy in the air. That plus the tide pools will always keep the coast high up on our local adventures.
Where is your family’s favorite tide pooling spot? Let us know other beaches to feature in the comments below.
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