Tide-Pooling Calendar

The upcoming minus tides — the daytime lows that uncover the tidepools at the Headlands and Doheny's north end — with the conservation-area rules and how to visit well.

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Town Tools builds free, public tools for Dana Point and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.

Upcoming minus tides

After-dark lows are listed too — the water is just as low, but tide-pooling needs light.

Date	Low tide	Height
Sun, Oct 25	3:20 PM	−0.3 ft
Mon, Oct 26	4:02 PM	−0.6 ft
Tue, Oct 27	4:49 PM	−0.7 ft
Wed, Oct 28	5:42 PM	−0.6 ft
Thu, Oct 29	6:44 PM	−0.4 ft	after dark
Fri, Oct 30	7:54 PM	−0.1 ft	after dark
Sat, Nov 7	1:56 PM	−0.2 ft
Sun, Nov 8	2:32 PM	−0.3 ft
Mon, Nov 9	3:07 PM	−0.4 ft
Tue, Nov 10	3:43 PM	−0.3 ft
Wed, Nov 11	4:21 PM	−0.1 ft
Sun, Nov 22	1:29 PM	−0.4 ft
Mon, Nov 23	2:13 PM	−0.9 ft
Tue, Nov 24	2:58 PM	−1.3 ft	especially low

What is a minus tide?

Tide charts here measure the water against the station’s zero — the average of the lower of each day’s two low tides, taken over years. A predicted low below zero is a minus tide: the water drops below a normal day’s minimum, and rock and reef that usually stay underwater are briefly out in the air. That is when the tidepools are at their best.

Minus tides come in runs of a few days around the new and full moons, usually a couple of times a month — and in some months, not at all.

Where the tidepools are

Dana Point Headlands tidepools — behind the Ocean Institute

Getting there: Follow Dana Point Harbor Drive to its dead end at the Ocean Institute (24200 Dana Point Harbor Drive), park there, and walk around behind the institute to the rocky reef.

The rocky Marine Protected Area directly behind the Ocean Institute — the richest pools in town, and the reef the institute's naturalists walk on their guided hikes.

Source: oceaninstitute.org/tidepool-hikes-2, checked July 17, 2026 (2 months ago).

Doheny State Beach — north of San Juan Creek

Getting there: Enter Doheny State Beach and walk to the north end, past the visitor center; the pools form in the uneven rocky bottom north of the creek mouth.

San Juan Creek's outflow pushes the sand south, which is why this stretch stays rocky. On many days the tide never drops far enough to uncover the reef here — that is exactly what the calendar above is for. There is also an indoor touch tank at the Doheny visitor center.

Source: dohenystatebeach.org/aquarium, checked July 17, 2026 (2 months ago).

Tide-Pooling Calendar

About these tools

Upcoming minus tides

What is a minus tide?

Where the tidepools are

On the reef

Guided walks

About the predictions

The ocean gets the last word

More on the tides and the pools