Over the course of seven days staying in the Ocean Beach community in San Diego, California I went to visit the Ocean Beach Pier several times. It looked and felt different each time. I was there for a brilliant sunset. I was there as a storm approached. I was there when the pier was nearly completely empty, and when it was filled with people. I met a pelican. I walked it, and I rode a Bird (electric scooter) down it. I listened to the stories the ocean whispered as it passed under and around the pier.
San Diego and Ocean Beach in particular have many gems in them that may not appear on the front pages of many travel websites. Open up Google Maps and zoom in and you will see a place simply called Tide Pools. There are no signs in Ocean Beach pointing the way to them directly, and likewise no clear way of getting to them exactly. In fact one must scramble down a steep slope to a concrete wall, jump off it, and then there you are. Standing on a shore of black rock with all of the Pacific Ocean before you. It is quite a place to take in the sunset and get splashed by incoming waves! The tide pools are only visual, however, not like the ones I grew up exploring in New England that were full of aquatic life. Nevertheless, the Tide Pools of Ocean Beach, San Diego are a hidden gem worth finding.
