Summer brings low tides. How low? Low enough that acres of ocean bottom, rock jetties, and abandoned pilings become exposed for an hour or two at a time. When that happens, sea creatures get trapped in small puddles of water, called tidepools. This is a perfect opportunity to get out and view and touch Puget Sound sea-life such as fish, crabs, barnacles, tube worms, sea stars, and sea cucumbers. You’ll also see a bazillion moon snail egg casings.
If you aren’t familiar with Pacific Ocean life, and you have a DIY spirit, grab yourself a guidebook. Whelks to Whales is a great resource to have with you on the shoreline. It offers categorized photos of all sorts of life, including ocean mammals, anemones, shell-creatures, and sea stars. Seashore Life of the Northern Pacific Coast is a good book to learn more about seashore life, including birds and plants near the ocean’s edge.
Experienced guides are also available to help you out. The Seattle Aquarium places beach naturalists at various beaches around Seattle during weekend low tides. This is a free service with no reservations required. Just go to the right beach and follow the signs. Naturalists can educate and guide your visit.
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If you’ve never gone tidepooling before, check out my blog post from last year: . This post covers what to bring, what to wear, and other useful bits of information.
Great beaches for tidepooling include
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- Richmond Beach
- Carkeek Park
- Golden Gardens
- South Alki
- Lincoln Park
- Seahurst Beach
- Olympic Sculpture Park Beach
- Edmonds Marina Beach Park (my favorite!)
For best viewing, plan your visit for an hour before and after lowest tide. Please check the Beach Naturalist schedule for specific days, times, and locations if you’d like a docent available. The days and times with the lowest tides this summer are listed below. For other days/times that are great for tidepooling, visit my favorite tide chart website. The best tidepooling is when tides get down to +0 feet or lower.
June
- Saturday, June 2. Lowest tide: -2.2 feet at 9:47 AM
- Sunday, June 3. Lowest tide: -3.2 feet at 10:32 AM
- Monday, June 4. Lowest tide: -3.7 feet at 11:19 AM
- Tuesday, June 5. Lowest tide: -3.8 feet at 12:05 PM
- Wednesday, June 6. Lowest tide: -3.4 feet at 12:53 PM
- Thursday, June 7. Lowest tide: -2.6 feet at 1:40 PM
- Saturday, June 16. Lowest tide: -0.5 feet at 9:49 AM
- Sunday, June 17. Lowest tide: -1.0 feet at 10:22 AM
- Saturday, June 23. Lowest tide: -0.9 feet at 2:00 PM
- Saturday, June 30. Lowest tide: -0.0 feet at 2:41 PM
July
- Sunday, July 1. Lowest tide:-2.5 feet at 9:27 AM
- Monday, July 2. Lowest tide: -3.1 feet at 10:16 AM
- Tuesday, July 3. Lowest tide: -3.4 feet at 11:03
- Wednesday, July 4. Lowest tide: -3.2 feet at 11:50 AM
- Thursday, July 5. Lowest tide: -2.7 feet at 12:35 PM
- Friday, July 6 Lowest tide: -1.7 feet at 1:20 PM
- Saturday, July 21. Lowest tide: -0.9 feet at 12:58 PM
- Sunday, July 22. Lowest tide: -0.1 feet at 1:37 PM
- Monday, July 30. Lowest tide: -2.0 feet at 9:11 AM
- Tuesday, July 31. Lowest tide: -2.3 feet at 10:02 AM
August
- Wednesday, August 1. Lowest tide: -2.2 feet at 10:50 AM
We go tidepooling at least once a summer. When those fall rains come back in, so do the higher tides. Take advantage while you still can!