Exploring La Jolla Tide Pools with Kids

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“Look here, look here! Come and see this Mami!” The kids usually shout excited looking at the marine life they find at the La Jolla tide pools.

We recently visited the tide pools for the first time ever and now we are hooked! It’s so fun to go see sea creatures in their natural habitat.

Dike Rock Tide Pools

Our adventure included two La Jolla Tide Pools: Dike Rock and Hospitals Break. When you explore tide pools with kids you are probably going to discover more because kids are such experts to point out the best finds!

That said, I decided to take them to Dike Rock first which is north of Scripps Pier. I parked close to the entrance of Scripps Beach on La Jolla Shores Dr., just make sure to park where there isn’t time limit because you’ll spend a long time exploring and you don’t want to rush back! (It happened to us!!).

Once you get down to the beach you walk north until you see the rocks where the tide pools are located.

We started exploring immediately. The first creatures we saw were crabs, they were everywhere and in lots of different sizes. We even saw one that was eating! It was moving his claws one after the other to his mouth!

Another creature that you will probably see a lot are Sea Anemones, they are greenish inside and sometimes if they are curled you won’t notice them, they are brown and covered with shells on the outside.

Hospitals Break Tide Pools

The second and final stop in our tide pool exploration was Hospitals Break, it’s south of the Children’s Pool and it’s quite a big area for tide pools. The rock formations there are very unique, there are some rocks covered with what seems like a carpet of seagrass, it’s amazing.

The kids can’t stop talking about their experience at the tide pools, we are planning to come back with some friends. I recommend you to go with your kids, if you do, make sure to check out the tide charts before you go, look for a minus (-) number for the best experience!