La Jolla

Few places in Southern California depend on the tide as much as La Jolla. The Scripps tide pools and the sea caves are worth it only on a lower tide; at high tide the pools are underwater and you can't get far into the caves. Look for a minus tide on the La Jolla tide chart and go early, before the crowds. Near the rocks, watch the water first. Even a calm-looking swell can surge along the base of the cliffs.

La Jolla is a small headland of sandstone cliffs and protected coves in San Diego. The water is clearer than at the sandy beaches to the south, and the kelp forests, caves, tide pools and the sea lions at La Jolla Cove pack a lot of sea life into a short stretch of coast.

The cliff walk above the cove and along the Children's Pool is free and accessible. Harbor seals haul out on the Children's Pool beach, and sea lions on the rocks at the cove and Point La Jolla. In harbor seal pupping season (December 15 to May 15) the Children's Pool beach is closed.

Where to go:

• Children's Pool (Casa Beach) — a harbor seal haul-out; watch from the seawall, especially in pupping season.
• La Jolla Sea Caves — seven sea caves cut into the sandstone cliffs, reached by kayak; you can walk down into Sunny Jim Cave through a tunnel from the Cave Store.
• Scripps Coastal Reserve Tide Pools — an intertidal area managed by UC San Diego that you can walk into at low tide.
• La Jolla Shores Beach — a wide sandy beach with calm surf, for swimming and launching kayaks.
• Windansea Beach — a surf spot with rocky reef breaks; a thatched hut on the sand is its landmark.
• Birch Aquarium at Scripps — the science behind what you see in the pools, in an aquarium above the coast.