Early Morning Low Tide in Carlsbad

Negative low tides in winter mean one thing: wake up before dawn and get to the beach. This morning’s -0.8 tide at Carlsbad had the reef exposed like I’ve never seen it. Entire sections of flat rock that are usually underwater were completely dry.

I got there just as the sky was turning pink. Had the beach almost entirely to myself — just a couple of surfers waiting for the tide to turn and one guy with a metal detector working the wet sand.

Found eleven sand dollars in about forty-five minutes. Most of them were clustered in a shallow pool near the south end of the exposed reef. The trick in Carlsbad seems to be checking the edges where the rock shelf meets the sand — that’s where they gather.

The sunrise over the Carlsbad hills was worth the early alarm all by itself. There’s something about having a beach to yourself at dawn that never gets old.