Pillar Point & Fitzgerald Reserve
Half Moon Bay · near Half Moon Bay / Moss Beach · SF Bay Area
Wildlife Watching
At a glance
- Best season
- Year-round at low tide (check tide tables); winter for whales offshore
- Open year round
- Yes
What is here
- Wildlife
- tidepools · birds · seals-otters
- Species
- Sea stars, anemones, hermit crabs, nudibranchs, harbor seals, shorebirds, gray whales offshore
- Amenities
- Extensive tidepool reef · Fitzgerald Marine Reserve · Harbor seals & shorebirds · Easy beach access
- Best for
- Family tidepooling & shore wildlife
- Features
- Rich low-tide reef · Sea stars & anemones · Harbor seal haul-out · Easy, kid-friendly
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Slippery rocks & incoming tides · Go only on a low (minus) tide · Never collect or pry off animals · Sharp rocks — wear grippy shoes
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Wildlife Watching detail
- Viewing
- shore
- Effort
- easy
- Habitat
- coast
- Sighting
- 4
- Viewing notes
- One of the richest tidepool reefs in the Bay Area — a vast low-tide rock reef teeming with sea stars, anemones, and crabs, plus harbor seals and shorebirds
- Intl tip
- One of the richest, most accessible tidepool reefs in the Bay Area, at the north end of Half Moon Bay (Fitzgerald Marine Reserve). At low tide the reef brims with sea stars, anemones, hermit crabs, and nudibranchs; harbor seals haul out offshore, shorebirds probe the flats, and gray whales pass in winter. Easy and family-friendly, but timing is everything: go only on a low (minus) tide, watch incoming water and slick rocks, wear grippy shoes, and never collect — it's protected.
The guide
At the north end of Half Moon Bay, the broad rocky reef off Pillar Point and the adjacent James V. Fitzgerald Marine Reserve fo…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Pillar Point & Fitzgerald Reserve — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.5, -122.5