Tides & Tunes: A Tide Pool Tour That Doubles as a Singles Night

Overview

Sea to Shore Explorers runs guided tide pool tours along the San Diego coast, and this edition adds a social layer: everyone attending is single, and the whole thing is built around meeting people while doing something genuinely interesting. It starts with a guided walk through the tide pools led by a marine biologist, then moves to Oasis Wine Bar for wine, live music, and time to talk.

The organizers put it plainly in their own listing — this is a singles event held outside the usual dating scene. That framing is the appeal. Meeting people is easier when there's something to look at and talk about, and a tide pool full of anemones and hermit crabs does more conversational work than a crowded room ever will. It also self-selects for a specific kind of person: if you signed up for a coastal ecology walk on a Sunday afternoon, you and everyone else there already have something in common.

What You Need to Know

When: Sunday, October 11, 2026, 3:30–5:30 p.m. (two hours)

Where: The tide pool meeting point hasn't been announced yet — Eventbrite and the organizer's own site both say "to be announced." The second half is at Oasis Wine Bar. Check your confirmation email before you drive anywhere

Cost: From $54.13 with the early-bird discount applied — the discount is capped, so the price rises once those tickets go

Ages: 21+

Included: Guided tide pool exploration with a marine biologist, a glass of wine, and live music

Refunds: None — this one is final sale, so be sure before you book

Host: Sea to Shore Explorers

Tickets: Get tickets on Eventbrite

What to Expect

The afternoon splits cleanly in two. First is the guided portion — a walk through the rocky intertidal zone with a marine biologist, which is the difference between "some rocks and seaweed" and spotting anemones, crabs, sea stars, and the rest of the intertidal life most people walk straight past.

Then the group moves to Oasis Wine Bar: a glass of wine, music, and the part where you actually talk to people. You've just spent an hour crouching over the same tide pools, so there's no cold open.

The 3:30 start time isn't arbitrary. Low tide at La Jolla on October 11 lands at 4:27 p.m. at −0.06 feet — a negative tide, which is when the intertidal zone is most exposed and there's most to see. The tour starts about an hour ahead of it, so the group is out on the rocks as the water bottoms out. That's also why Sea to Shore's start times jump around the calendar from early morning to late afternoon: the clock follows the tide, not convenience.

For reference, the National Park Service considers a tide of 0.7 feet or lower the threshold for good tidepooling. October 11 comes in well under it.

Good to Know

Wear shoes you don't mind soaking. Wet rock, barnacles and algae. The operator's own advice is secure waterproof shoes, a hat, sunscreen, and water in a carrier so your hands stay free.

Look, don't take. Tide pools are protected habitat up and down this coast — no collecting, and don't pry anything off the rocks.

Book early if price matters. The early-bird tier is capped rather than time-limited, so it can disappear before the date does.

No refunds. Worth repeating, since it's a small event and the policy is firm. Weather is the usual exception, but don't count on flexibility for anything else.

It's 21+ and wine is included.

Come alone or bring a friend. Solo is completely normal at this kind of thing — everyone there is in the same position, which is rather the point.

More from Sea to Shore Explorers

Sea to Shore Explorers is run by Becca Jaffe, a marine biologist with a master's in the subject and a decade of leading outdoor science programs. Alongside the singles events she runs family tide pool adventures, school group citizen-science trips, tide pool birthday parties, corporate outings, and snorkeling tours.

The singles event gets a new name each time it runs — this one is Tides & Tunes — but the shape holds: a guided walk through the intertidal zone at low tide, then somewhere to sit down together afterward. If you miss this one, another turns up on their calendar within a month or so.

For tide pools you can visit on your own, any day the tide cooperates, our Sunset Cliffs Natural Park guide covers the ones at the south end of Point Loma.