Observing & Recording
Tide Pooling
Go at low tide and turn over rocks; the tide table decides everything
It costs nothing but the timing is not yours: read a tide table, and the window is the hour or two around a low spring tide, which limits how many days a year work. Turn every rock back the way it was — that is somebody's house underneath. The rock is slick and sharp, so footwear matters more than any equipment.
First stepCheck the tide table, pick a low spring tide, wear grippy shoes, spend an hour among the rock pools, and put every rock back as you found it.
Barriers
Cost to start
Free
Going deep → $50–300
Alone or with people
On your own
Effort
Light
Without a teacher?
Self-taught
One session takes
1–2 hours
Where
Outdoors, free
Why people take it up