Located a mere seven-minute drive from Inn at Mavericks is the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, a perfect place to spend the day exploring a diverse marine habitat. We decided to spend the day at this unique coastal habitat on our summer family vacation.
On our first adventure to Fitzgerald Marin Reserve, we arrived at the northern end of the Park on Lake Street. The views of the Moss Beach coastline were stunning, and we were greeted by a friendly park ranger. We couldn’t access the beach here because it was Harbor Seal mating season, but we had a great view of the seals through the Park’s telescope. We could see the seals sunbathing on the beach and hear their friendly “barks” from miles away.
We decided to enter the Park on the southern end where we could access the beach. We walked south down North Lake Street until we got to the Coastal Trail. We crossed over a beautiful bridge with a flowing creek below. We continued our walk on the Bluff Trail, where we entered a gorgeous cypress forest with a tunnel of coastal cypress trees… the perfect place to stop and take scenic pictures. Our walk through the beautiful cypress forest ended at Seal Cove Trail, where we walked down a long wooden staircase to Moss Beach.
Moss Beach is truly a magical place! We ran on the sandy shore, watched the waves crash, splashed in the ocean, and enjoyed the cool ocean breeze.
The tide was low, so we ventured down the beach to the shallow reef, where we could explore the tidepools. The tidepools are a city full of incredible marine life. A few of the many unique creatures we saw were sea anemones, starfish, and hermit crabs. We also saw many different types of colorful seaweed decorate the tide pools in a vibrant “seaweed salad” as each wave rolled into the shallow reef.
It seemed like time stood still as we explored the tidepools. Before we knew it, the tide had come in, and it was time to go! We packed our beach towels and headed down the beach, up the wooden staircase, and back onto the Bluff Trail. As we walked back through the Cypress Tunnel, we talked about our amazing adventure and how rewarding it was to explore Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and spend our day in a beautiful place enjoying nature.