Tidepooling at the Fitzgerald Marine Preserve

Usually minus tides occur too early in the morning or when it is dark. Today, however, there was a -1.2 tide at 3:50 pm. The sky was sunny and the temperature was mild, so I headed over the hill to the James Fitzgerald Marine Reserve at Moss Beach, north of Half Moon Bay. I took along the polaroid underwater housing for my Canon camera that I bought for snorkeling in the Caribbean last month. That way I was able to take pictures underwater in the tide pools.

A large rocky reef exposed at low tide makes this 3-mile long beach one of the best places in California to enjoy an amazing diversity of intertidal marine life.  Check a tide table on the internet and head for this reserve when the tide is low, preferably in the minus range. Tide pool walks are conducted at low tide by rangers and docents. Remember that it is illegal to remove or disturb marine life or to disturb the harbor seals that hang out on the offshore rocks.

TO GET THERE... take Highway 1 to the town of Moss Beach and turn west on California Avenue. It's about 10 miles south of Pacifica and 6.3 miles north of Highway 92.