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Botanical Beach

Capital Regional District, British Columbia · Canada

What have people found?

Red sponge dorid, black leather chiton and gumboot chiton turn up here more than at our other rock pools. Pacific purple sea urchin, giant green anemone and aggregating anemone are the usual finds. ~200 distinct species have been recorded here, across at least 8 years of observations.

What is the best time to visit today?

Download the app to see the 7-day schedule.

Modeled while the Port Renfrew gauge loads. Sources.

See low tide times at Botanical Beach for the next three days
  1. Sun 15 Nov~9:30in the dark~23:00
  2. Mon 16 Nov~11:00in the dark~0:00
  3. Tue 17 Nov~12:30

Every low tide each day, in local time at the shore.

Plan the week in Intertidal
  • A tide chart for every day, with the best window marked
  • Identify what you find from a photo
  • An alert when a good daylight low is coming

When do people visit?

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Most observations come from July and August.

What should you know before visiting?

Parking is about 450 meters away.
Arrive 45 minutes to an hour before low tide and leave as it turns. The water comes back faster than it left.
Grippy shoes beat sandals. Wet rock and algae are more slippery than they look. Rock pool safety
A rock pool is a fragile place. Look and photograph, take nothing. The rockpooling code

What lives at Botanical Beach?

Species records from iNaturalist

Pacific Purple Sea UrchinStrongylocentrotus purpuratus
Giant Green AnemoneAnthopleura xanthogrammica
Aggregating AnemoneAnthopleura elegantissima
Mossy ChitonMopalia muscosa
Pacific Banana SlugAriolimax columbianus
Gooseneck BarnaclePollicipes polymerus
Purple Shore CrabHemigrapsus nudus
Black Leather ChitonKatharina tunicata
California MusselMytilus californianus
Gumboot ChitonCryptochiton stelleri
Monterey DoridDoris montereyensis
Pacific Hairy Hermit CrabPagurus hirsutiusculus
Red Sponge DoridRostanga pulchra
Bull KelpNereocystis luetkeana
RockweedFucus distichus
Scan this rock pool on your next visit.

Every organism named, every visit logged to your journal.