For my last blog post, I decided to go to a beach a little closer to home. I say a little because it was still about 45 minutes away from my home. The lens I’ll be using is a local/family tradition lens, because I’ll talk about a lot of the things I like to do at these beaches. I went to the “tidepools” section of Point Dume in Malibu. I say the tide pools section because really it feels like there’s three beaches in one. On the northern side of the point there’s Point Dume state beach. You can get access to this beach south of Zuma beach or hike down to it from the Point Dume Hike. The middle of point dume in between lots of rocks is pirate cove beach. It’s harder to get to this beach and there’s not as much room on the sand as a Zuma beach. It’s a smaller more romantic beach, in my opinion. And then south of the point there is the tidepools it’s the beach where a lot of local surfers go. The only way to really get to it is by taking the nature trail down the cliff and that’s when you approach the super rusty stairs that look really unsafe but if you walk down carefully, you’ll be fine.
One of my favorite things to do is hike to the top of point dume to whale watch. On earth day 2 years ago my brother and I went hiking there and he brought his drone. He actually caught amazing footage of whales migrating and playing in the water. It’s not a long hike to the top maybe 20 minutes or less. If I don’t spot any whales or dolphins after a while I will hike down to the tide pools. The hike down is maybe 20 minutes just depends how slowly you take the rusty stairs to the bottom.
The tidepools has “a vast rock field exposed at low tide with numerous shallow pools that house a wide variety of marine life. This area has huge numbers of aggregating and solitaire sea anemones, a few sea hares, sea stars along with a good variety of algae”(Californiatidepools.com) I love to walk along the rocks and look into each of the tidepools to try and find a sea star. I mostly only ever see anemones.
I love Point Dume! What a great beach, I’d say 45 minutes is well worth the drive. Wow I didn’t know you could see whales from up there, I’m guessing you can spot some spouts during the migrating months, right? I wish we could post videos on here, I would have loved to see your brother’s drone footage! I think the family lens you chose shows how beaches can be part of family bonding and traditions. Natural places have a way of connecting us and are so important, which is why proper management and protections should be a priority.
Hi Sarah, I really like the shots that were taken here! They are very high quality and were taken very well. Anyways, I really liked your posts because you expressed what makes a beach absolutely amazing and it could be closer to us then we think. The tidepools you experienced sounded really cool and tells us the many wonders our environment has and give us more reasons to protect it. This makes me think about what traditions do others have regarding the beach? From class, we know that beach culture has its entirely own thing going and brings many people together. Your pots here is definitely a good example of why beaches are so important to us.
I recently visited Point Dume for the first time. It’s a protected marine area, so there was little construction nearby. I hope to go whale watching there, too. How often do you see whales, normally?
This spot in Malibu is such a magical place, filled with such diversity, and I have never thought about going whale watching there before. But now that I have been informed from your great blog post, i’ll have to definitely put that on my bucket list.
Hi, Sarah!
I enjoyed reading your blog post. I think it’s important to consider what natural environments, like the beach, mean to us and our loved ones. Ultimately, everything we do outside is connected to us inside, too. I think it’s awesome you were able to witness a whale migration! I would love to experience one myself. Would you be interested in actually going on a whale watching tour? I hear they are very informative. I also want to acknowledge your amazing yoga photo! It’s been a while since I’ve practiced but I’ve been thinking of getting back into it. How do you think practicing yoga by the beach can influence practitioners spiritually and emotionally?
Hello Sarah!
This beach honestly looks so pretty! I have never been to Point Dume simply because there are so many other beaches much closer to me, but by your description, this beach is definitely worth the venture. I’m super interested in the tide pools and what they have to offer considering they have such a wide variety of marine life. I’m curious as to why in that particular area, you mainly find sea stars and not so many anemones. What about that environment attracts sea stars and what kind of environment would attract anemones? Suddenly I want to explore the various tide pools near the PCH. Anyway, thanks for posting! This is a great sort of preview to have of Point Dume before going myself.
Hey Sarah! I love how you mentioned the tide pools at Point Dume because this place is one of my favorite spots to look at tide pools. Also, the cove beach as you described as a romantic place is a great place to visit while you are on Point Dume because it is seclude and hidden, which is not seen by many people. Overall, great photos and description on Point Dume!
Hey Sarah, my family and I just had a great camping trip at this beach the other weekend before the rain came. This beach during low tide is absolutely incredible. Unfortunately, we were down there throwing the football around and I left my sunglasses right before high tide came in and they were swept into the ocean. This is such a flat beach that the difference in the width of the beach between high and low tide is huge! Great pictures as well. Cheers