LA Tidepooling

Photo courtesy of Steve Wolfe's slideshow of Abalone Cove.

Saturday, November 15 2:00 pm: Abalone Cove Shoreline Park tide pools - Rancho Palos Verdes. Docents from the Point Vicente Interpretive Center (PVIC) will lead groups on a two hour walk along the California Coastal Trail and a visit into the tide pools at the extreme of the low tide discussing geology, plant and animal life, as well as marine mammals, and the Native Americans who lived here. This is a "no take Reserve" so the tide pools are teeming with fascinating marine life. Wear sturdy shoes as a portion of the walk is along the cobblestone beach. The beach access trail is "moderate". No reservations required. FREE - donations appreciated.


Directions: The walk starts in the Abalone Cove parking lot. From the San Diego Fwy., I-405, exit at Hawthorne Blvd.  Drive south approx. 15 miles. Turn left onto Palos Verdes Drive West and continue to the park entrance on your right. 5907 Palos Verdes Drive South. If you get to the Wayfarer's Chapel, you just missed it. The parking fee will be waived from Noon until 12:30 if you tell the attendant that you are going on the walk. Co-sponsored with Los Serenos de Point Vicente and the City of Rancho Palos Verdes (1-310-377-5370). For more info, contact: Sunshine at 1-310-377-8761 or SunshineRPV@aol.com, Subject: Day Hikes.

This gave me an ethical quandary. If I blog about this, the expected crowd might be even worse than usual. However, this is such a rare occurrence and a real treat for kids, it would be remiss not to share this info with other families.

If you look at the NOAA tide tables for Los Angeles, you will see that tides lower than -1.0 (feet below mean low tide) rarely occur during daylight hours. Yet, those are the only conditions that expose the tidepools at Abalone Cove shoreline park. Take a look at the gorgeous photos in Steve's slide show. Abalone Cove has some of the finest tidepooling in California. This is our lucky week.

11/12/2008 Wed     02:35PM LST -1.0 L
11/13/2008 Thu     03:21PM LST -1.3 L
11/14/2008 Fri     04:11PM LST -1.3 L
11/15/2008 Sat     05:06PM LST -1.2 L
11/16/2008 Sun     06:05PM LST -0.9 L 

If you can make it during a weekday, you will encounter less of a crowd (unless there are school groups). This Saturday afternoon should be a madhouse, but that's the only time my family can go. Consider carpooling because parking will be tight.

More info:

• 2008 LA Tide Tables
• 2009 LA Tide Tables
• 2010 LA Tide Tables
  
• CA coastal hikes
• Steve Wolfe's photography (great CA photos)
• Abalone Cove Shoreline Park
• Point Vicente Interpretive Center (great place for whale watching from shore)
• Tie-dye Family at PVIC