Low Tide at Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego

Today was the first day for hiking and getting out in the sunshine, so we decided to head over to Cabrillo National Monument, as the tides were going to be low this afternoon, and see what it was all about.  The info I read online, from another family that hiked the area, said that there was a "hidden sea cave" that would be exposed at low tide.  This peaked our interest, so we decided we would check it out.

We arrived around 10:00 a.m. and the parking lot was fairly empty, with some time to spare with the lowest tide being around 11:54 a.m., so we decided to look around at the visitors center and watch the video on tide pools before starting the hike.  Online suggestions were to start the hike about an hour before low tide, so you could see most of the exposed areas and be able to explore the cave without worry of the tide coming back in too soon, so we started our hike slightly before 11 o'clock.

Choppers flying overhead

The weather was perfect, windy enough to blow away the fish smell of the seaweed but not too much so you felt you would blow off the rocks.  The sunshine was refreshing although I was slightly concerned Eli would get overexposed, as he refused to keep his hat on his head.

Walking down to the tide pool area

We hiked along the path, leading down to the tide pool area, and then along the shoreline per the directions, but our trip was stopped short by an orange cone and sign, reading "area closed".

We stood there a few moments, and watched as a few couples passed by the sign and "looked" like they knew what they were doing, so we sized up the danger quotient, to the adventure quotient, and decided we were going to give it a go.  Honestly, the ledge seemed pretty stable that we were crossing on, and it was not slippery with green seaweed, so that small area was the only part that was risky, in our opinion.

Lisa and Eli, being careful to cross the narrow path

See the opening to the sea cave?

 

Derrick checked it out first.

All clear!

The colors were pretty against the blue water.

Once we got to the cave, we agreed we were glad we made the decision to cross.  It was an interesting experience and from our little spot, we could see a few lounging sea lions on the rocks, just outside the sea cave.

Sea Lions in the distance

The top was open, so we had plenty of light

Opening to the sky

The area in the back was piles of collapsed rock and dirt, we stayed away as it looked unstable.

Sea lions

Derrick, on his way back out

We picked up a few pieces of garbage, following the lead of the other groups before us (thinking the ranger would be less likely to be upset if they knew we were trying to help and clean up the area), and we went back along the shoreline the way we entered.

Small, dime sized snails were everywhere, in the small crevices.

Sea Anemone

Brown Sea Hare doing his thing

The sea hare was pretty large, here you can see it in the water next to Derrick

After returning to the designated tide pool area, we explored a little more, let Eli climb around on the flat open rocks, and even build a cairn of our own (knowing the tide was coming in and would end up erasing it before the day was done), before returning to the car.

Those curls!!

Impressive stack of rocks

Our impressive stack of rocks (cairn) complete with a small snail shell

The opening in the foreground was the opening to the sea cave we explored.
This was near the parking lot.

After exploring the tide pools, we headed back towards the visitor center to see the lighthouse and the view of the city, as the morning clouds had started to clear.  I think the kids would love this area, and someday we will have to come back to explore.