"Day Trip: Abalone Cove" Top 5 Page for this destination Torrance Things to Do Tip by mstinawu

Abalone Cove is actually composed of two coves w/ three separate tidepool areas so there is a ton to explore even if all you're doing is going to check out the tidepools. We were there from high to low tide--it's pretty amazing how quickly the water levels change and expose all kinds of stuff in the process. It's maybe a steep 5 mile hike (2 of which is over gravely huge rocks--hiking boots would help here) to the farthest tidepool from the nearest parking lot. The path we took (there are many) was a scenic shortcut to the other side. A decent pair of tennis shoes will get you to the bottom in one piece.

Your standard fare creepy crawlies at the ocean were all there. Starfish, sea anenome, sea slugs, hermit crabs, little fishies. Every inch of the tidepool was filled with color and crawling with life. You could almost hear them all breathing in any quiet spot. I image it's not hard to do since this place was almost devoid of people. A perfectly warm sunny day on a beach and no one in site? God bless! I love a secluded beach.

There are also all kinds of interesting rock formations along the beach. If I were a geology geek, I'd probably have a field day here. There's another trail where you just walk in between two gigantic slab of rock and there are several different layers of--sediment? I dunno. Rock stuff--maybe I'll check it out next time.

We also checked sea caves located in the center of each tidepool area. They were tiny but noisy. The water crashes against it and create a kind of "blow hole" affect on the surrounding rocks w/ big enough crevices in them. It's refreshing by the caves, there's a cool mist and it's almost instantly 5 degrees cooler in the shade than in the sun. This also seems to be a good place for kayaking--we saw a few kayakers out there.

Another note, the best time to visit, if you are only interested in visiting the tidepools is between December and March when the tidepools are most active and during low tide which is generally in the mid to late afternoon.

Address: 5970 Palos Verdes Drive South
Directions: Located in the city of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA (20 min. drive from Torrance). There is a big sign off of Palos Verdes Drive that points to the Abalone Cove parking lot ($5/car) which will give you access to the trails leading to the beach below.
Phone: +1 (310) 377-1222
Website: http://www.palosverdes.com/rpv/recreationparks/AbaloneCoveShoreline/index.cfm