The Best Tide Pools in Orange County

Its official. I’m calling it. After a year of extensive  beach research (it was such hard work. I can’t even begin to tell you…), I am crowning the tide pools at Little Corona Beach the best in Orange County. We scampered across rocks in Laguna, frolicked amongst the anemones in San Clemente, and cozied up with the hermit crabs at Crystal Cove. As wonderful as those other tide pools might be, when minus tides appear, Little Corona is where you will find me.

Why? I think the number one reason is diversity. We always find a wide variety of little critters whenever we visit Little Corona. On our last visit we saw starfish (plural), loads of purple sea urchins, more anemones than we could count, tons of tiny fish,masses of mussels, and the biggest limpet I have ever seen!

  

In addition to the tide pool animals, sea birds such as pelicans and gulls frequent the area. The distant barks of sea lions can be sometimes be heard in from the cliffs above the beach.

My kids love to scramble over the rocks and play pirate in a sea cave. Ben could can (and will) sit there for hours, throwing rocks into the crashing waves.

Of course the sunsets aren’t so bad either…

Little Corona Del Mar Beach is located in Corona Del Mar  at the corner of Ocean Blvd and Poppy Avenue.  You park in the residential neighborhood above the beach (and oh what a neighborhood it is!) and then walk down the path to the beach. There are restrooms located halfway down the path. A lifeguard station in on the beach but I have never actually seen anyone on duty. Check tide tables (such as these here) before heading out to be sure you hit the beach at peak tide pooling time.

If you would like to see more fabulous travel photos check out Delicious Baby’s Photo Friday here.

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