Tide Pools in Vancouver?

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by kien

I like rocky tide pools! Thanks! What's the best time of the day to check these out ?

In Howe sound you get fewer pools but more rocky cliffs with life. At Whytecliff there is a land bridge that connects the shore to the island just off the beach at low tide. There are certainly pools in there to check out and once you are on the island there some other pools to check out near the outmost tip. At low tide all the cliff walls are exposed so you get to see a TON of starfish and sunstars (which can be over a meter across!). There are lots of areas to explore there so you'll be surprised what you'll find. I've found brooding and painted anemones right at the water's edge and you'll usually get visits from the friendly neighbourhood seals. Whytecliffe is a marine reserve so the density of life is pretty high.

Lighthouse park is a really cool park to go explore - in my opinion it's Vancouver's most beautiful park and I'm sure many will agree. There are rocks down by the water that the kids can go scramble around on and, if you head toward the lighthouse there are small beach areas. At low tide there are some pools and walls that are exposed.

Ansel point is a small area but I've always found the best life there. Park at the bottom of Ansel Place and walk down the wood stairs to the water. At low tide there is a granite shelf that is exposed where you see diver's suit up. There are pools there that can have some pretty neat stuff depending on how the weather has been (it's been pretty dry and sunbaked here for a while without too many windy/wavy days, so the pools might be a bit barren right now). You can sit at the edge of the granite shelf and watch the life on the wall (it's a 500ft vertical cliff straight down under water). It's not uncommon to see 6ft lingcod, sculpins and octopus scuttling along the wall. Sometimes you can get visits from the pair of wolf eels who live on the wall (they like to snuggle with people - weird, yes, but very cool).

Kelvin Grove is a beach area in Lion's Bay. Great beach for playing and swimming. No cliffs like the other locations (except for one at the far end of the beach which is greatfor cliff diving). There are some pools and walls that are exposed at low tide. Snorkeling is great there. I always see crabs, jelly fish, painted greenlings and anemones there. Since it's end of summer, all the prawns are coming to the shallows to mate and they like to congregate in Kelvin Grove. Sometimes you can see them quite shallow when snorkeling, sometimes coming right up to the shore for food.

The water isn't that cold (it is if you're a sissy ), you can easily wade around and swim.

The mud flat areas are huge areas to explore but diversity tends to be low. The areas I described are the more typical BC rocky shoreline that has really cool sealife.

We also have Locarno Beach out in Kitsilano where the tide goes out 1 km at low tide. Great for kids to go play. Not a ton of sea life to find but I go come across stuff from time to time.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Actually there are some awesome tide pools at Porteau Cove, up the Sea-to-Sky highway. We were just at Lighthouse Park yesterday (high tide unfortunately) and it is a cool place to visit.

And yeah, now that I think about it, if its rocky tide pools, then Centennial and White Rock are mud flats, not rocky tide pools.

Anthony

[Delphinus]

A little off topic but .. since SHF brought it up .. Porteau Cove is a gem of a place! Years ago we camped there. That's when, around 3am or so, we discovered that sleeping in a tent about 10' next to a railway parking line can be an interesting experience. But what a cool little spot.

[gregzz4]

White Cliff Park, W.Van
Keith Park, N.Van
Deep Cove, N.Van

[kien]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! We ended up spending the morning at Centennial beach. Wow, we LOVED that beach. Very family friendly with a playground, clean posh bathrooms, a cafe. Kids had so much fun.





Lots of tide pools to frolic in. As suggested, we grabbed some cheap water shoes at Walmart for everyone and set out to find critters. In the various pools.







My son was able to find and catch quite a few local critters ranging from crabs, tiny fish, hermit crabs and even a couple of flounders (I think?).







I didn't think that we'd be there that long but they didn't want to leave so we ended up meeting up with Seahorse Fanatic and his family there for a BBQ lunch on the beach.



Good times and great eats! Thanks again man! :-)

[Dive_dry]

the first fish is a starry eye flounder the one in the cup looks like a rock sole

[lastlight]

That looks way better than the swimmer's itch and minnows me and the kids caught his summer at the lake lol.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Originally Posted by kien

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! We ended up spending the morning at Centennial beach. Wow, we LOVED that beach. Very family friendly with a playground, clean posh bathrooms, a cafe. Kids had so much fun.

I didn't think that we'd be there that long but they didn't want to leave so we ended up meeting up with Seahorse Fanatic and his family there for a BBQ lunch on the beach.



Good times and great eats! Thanks again man! :-)

You are MOST WELCOME my friend. Any time.

Anthony

[kien]

Once again, thanks for the suggestions. This morning we headed up to Whytecliff Park. Another awesome place that my kids absolutely loved!







The park was quite different from the beach and tide pools that we went to yesterday (at Centennial) but that was perfectly fine by us. There were plenty of things to discover with the turn of each rock.



And boy were there a lot of rocks to turn



It was also a very nice area to hike and picnic. I also wished that I had brought my bike. So jealous of all the cyclists whipping through the park. Next time!



There actually were a few tide pools here as well.









So ya, the kids had so much fun here that it was virtually impossible for me to peel them away from the park. As a result I ended up getting to the frag meet much later than I had originally planned.



Wish we had time to check out all those other places that were suggested. I suppose this means we will have to do a longer visit next time. :-)

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Kein,

Next year, why don't you four stay with us. It'll be a bit crowded, but then we can go hit the tide pools together. My kids enjoy spending time with yours. Save your $$ for more stuff for your tanks.

I live 4 minutes from Hwy 1, 15 minutes from Bblinks' and 13 minutes from J&L.

Anthony