Explore the tide pools at Duxbury Reef in Bolinas

This past week over spring break one of the most fun things we did was tide pooling on Duxbury Reef at Bolinas.

It took about an hour to get there from our hometown of Novato, but it was worth the drive!

I always feel better when I see the ocean. There’s just something about the sound of waves hitting the shore, the smell of salt water in the air and the sand under my feet that just feels so good. And the colors in this place, wow! Lots of shades of brown, green, purple, dusty pink, and dark brown.

Basically what you do is walk to the beach during low tide and check out everything that is going on hanging out on the beach. It sounds boring, but it is interesting and exciting to find different flora and fauna among the rocks.

One of the coolest things we found was this abalone shell, which was about the size of a large dinner plate. I haven’t seen one on the beach since I was a kid!

Don’t you love the combination of green, blue, pink and purple? It totally reminds me of fine jewelry.

We also saw hermit crabs, mussels, seaweed, sea urchins, sea anemones, and chitons.

A few more tidal pool tips

• Check the time of low tide online beforehand, then try to arrive at least an hour before the tide ends completely.
• Try to go on a day when the tide is negative low tide if you can!
• Bring up the layers. It was really sunny but cold and windy when we were there.
• You may also want to wear waterproof shoes with good traction.

Oh, and if you ever get a chance to visit, be sure to stop by the small town of Bolinas afterwards to grab avocado toast or an acai bowl at BoVida!

It was exactly what we needed after a trip to the beach.

Friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen