Good tide pools near Santa Barbara CA?

June 16, 2010 10:24 AM

Where are some good tide pools near Santa Barnara CA?

Visiting Santa Barbara for the week with the boyfriend and wanted to show him some tide pools. I tried Carpinteria and wasn't impressed. Only a few areas rocky enough to create tide pools and mostly there was just seaweed and anemones with one or two starfish. When tide pooling as a teen near Los Angeles i remember a lot more diversity: sea urchins, abalone, octopi, turbines, etc. My previous experience in tide pooling was along the rocky cliffs near Palos Verdes so I feel like the problem is that the areas I'm looking are sandy beaches with a few rocky outcroppings and what I need is a true rocky coast line. Lowest tide is around 7:30am currently, so I'm looking to keep the drive under 45 mins or so. Any suggestions?

posted by reticulatedspline to Science & Nature (2 answers total)

Rincon Point, just south of Carpinteria. Tidepools galore off the point at low tide. Park in the lot, go down the steps and walk left toward the point. NB if you walk right you'll eventually get into creepy naked-guy area.
posted by Nothing... and like it at 10:32 AM on June 16, 2010

Refugio and El Capitan State Beaches, to the north.

Oh. Oh. Goleta Point, up by the campus!
posted by Danf at 11:16 AM on June 16, 2010