As of September 30, Pacific Grove's next Good-rated window is October 25: a −0.17 ft MLLW low at 4:52 PM from NOAA Monterey station 9413450. Its modeled 2:50–6:55 PM interval includes 208 daylight minutes, not daylight throughout. December 24's deeper −1.83 ft low occurs at 5:06 PM, about nine minutes after sunset. Window daylight, daylight at low water, and beach access are different things.
When is the next worthwhile low tide in Pacific Grove?
Tidewindow uses NOAA Monterey station 9413450 as the tide reference for Point Pinos, Asilomar, and Lovers Point. September's six qualifying daylight windows ran September 12–29; none had a below-zero low. Here, a qualifying window has at least 30 minutes of overlap with computed sunrise-to-sunset daylight. This does not require the low itself to occur in daylight.
These October examples use local Pacific time. The full modeled intervals below +1.0 ft can extend past sunset. “Low minus 1h” is the site's arrive-by offset, not a verified arrival, walking, or departure time for any beach.
| Date | Low (ft MLLW) | Time | Modeled interval below +1.0 ft | Low minus 1h | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Oct 10 | +0.23 | 5:18 PM | 3:40–7:00 PM | 4:18 PM | 53 |
| Sun, Oct 11 | +0.07 | 6:00 PM | 4:10–7:55 PM | 5:00 PM | 51 |
| Sat, Oct 24 | +0.37 | 4:09 PM | 2:40–5:40 PM | 3:09 PM | 51 |
| Sun, Oct 25 | −0.17 | 4:52 PM | 2:50–6:55 PM | 3:52 PM | 61 · Good |
| Mon, Oct 26 | −0.58 | 5:37 PM | 3:20–8:05 PM | 4:37 PM | 59 |
| Tue, Oct 27 | −0.84 | 6:26 PM | 3:55–9:05 PM | 5:26 PM | 58 |
| Wed, Oct 28 | −0.91 | 7:20 PM | 4:45–10:10 PM | 6:20 PM | 51 |
Rechecked 2026-09-30 against the Monterey fact sheet and complete remaining-2026 window data. The score weighs depth, daylight overlap, weekend timing, and the fixed seasonal comfort factor; it is a planning rank, not a safety rating or access guarantee.
October 25 is the next Good-rated window and October's highest-scoring one, even though the three following lows are deeper. It lands on a Sunday and keeps 208 minutes of its modeled interval in daylight, ending around 6:18 PM. The October 27 and 28 lows occur after sunset. On October 28 the low is −0.91 ft at 7:20 PM, while only 90 minutes of the interval overlap daylight. A deeper low is not necessarily a daytime low.
How deep are the November and December lows?
November has 12 modeled minus-tide windows with at least 30 minutes of daylight overlap; December has 14. Those are window-overlap counts, not counts of lows occurring in daylight. The table shows the eight deepest qualifying modeled lows from September 30 through December 31, ordered by date. Five of these eight lows occur after sunset.
| Date | Low (ft MLLW) | Time | Modeled interval below +1.0 ft | Low minus 1h | Score | Low before sunset? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, Nov 24 | −1.34 | 4:28 PM | 1:45–7:25 PM | 3:28 PM | 73 | Yes |
| Wed, Nov 25 | −1.53 | 5:18 PM | 2:30–8:25 PM | 4:18 PM | 70 | No |
| Thu, Nov 26 | −1.52 | 6:09 PM | 3:20–9:15 PM | 5:09 PM | 72 | No |
| Tue, Dec 22 | −1.41 | 3:31 PM | 12:45–6:35 PM | 2:31 PM | 73 | Yes |
| Wed, Dec 23 | −1.73 | 4:19 PM | 1:25–7:30 PM | 3:19 PM | 80 · Great | Yes |
| Thu, Dec 24 | −1.83 | 5:06 PM | 2:10–8:15 PM | 4:06 PM | 80 · Great | No |
| Fri, Dec 25 | −1.71 | 5:53 PM | 3:00–9:00 PM | 4:53 PM | 79 · Great | No |
| Sat, Dec 26 | −1.38 | 6:39 PM | 3:55–9:35 PM | 5:39 PM | 63 · Good | No |
Rechecked 2026-09-30 from NOAA station 9413450 predictions and Tidewindow's computed solar times. December 23 and 24 tie at 80/100. On the 23rd, the 4:19 PM low precedes the approximately 4:56 PM sunset, with 212 daylight minutes in the interval. On the 24th, sunset is about 4:57 PM, before the 5:06 PM low, with 167 daylight minutes in the interval. Neither full interval is daylight throughout. Compare fixed dates in the Trip Picker; use the Monterey tide chart for the full predicted high-and-low sequence, including lows without a qualifying modeled window.
What will you see in the pools now?
The September 30 snapshot of the preceding 60-day iNaturalist record within 5 km is dominated by sea slugs. The most frequently logged species are opalescent nudibranch (64 research-grade observations), Spanish shawl (40), cockscomb nudibranch (21), Hopkins' rose nudibranch (19), and Fisher's aeolid (19). Branched dendronotid and Doto urak each have 18 observations; hooded nudibranch has 13.
Those counts are a dated observation snapshot, not a census or a promise about what will be visible on a particular visit. They were refreshed 2026-09-30 by the Tidewindow pipeline from iNaturalist (CC BY-NC, © contributors).
Point Pinos, Asilomar, or Lovers Point?
The three areas share a tide station but differ in exposure and access:
- Point Pinos / Pacific Grove Marine Gardens — a broad rocky shoreline in the Pacific Grove Marine Gardens State Marine Conservation Area. CDFW says the area is popular for tidepools and that recreational take is limited to finfish; commercial hand harvest allowances apply only to giant and bull kelp. Tidepool visitors should leave marine life, shells, and rocks where they are.
- Asilomar State Beach — rocky pockets beside the Asilomar Coast Trail in the no-take Asilomar State Marine Reserve. California State Parks lists 27 trail entry points along Sunset Drive, adjacent roadside parking, no restrooms on the state beach itself, dogs on leash, and “No Fishing or Collecting.” CDFW notes that this side of the peninsula is exposed to open-ocean waves.
- Lovers Point — a more protected Monterey Bay-facing shoreline inside the no-take Lovers Point–Julia Platt State Marine Reserve. CDFW describes this side of the peninsula as sheltered from the ocean swell that reaches the outer coast.
Check the linked official pages for current posted restrictions before leaving. Tide predictions describe astronomical water levels, not waves, closures, or observed conditions.
What are the no-take rules?
CDFW's rule for both Asilomar SMR and Lovers Point–Julia Platt SMR prohibits injuring, damaging, taking, or possessing living, geological, or cultural marine resources. Pacific Grove Marine Gardens SMCA uses the same baseline prohibition with narrow finfish and kelp exceptions. Those fishing and commercial-harvest exceptions do not turn shells, rocks, or tidepool animals into souvenirs.
California State Parks makes the visitor version especially plain at Asilomar: marine animals and features, including shells and rocks, are protected, and collecting is not allowed. Observe in place and use photographs as the record.
How are these times computed?
NOAA Monterey station 9413450 publishes predicted highs, lows, and an hourly prediction series in feet MLLW. Tidewindow uses the hourly series to estimate when the water crosses the +1.0 ft planning threshold, rounds those window edges to five minutes, intersects them with computed sunrise and sunset, and scores the result. The formulas and limitations are published on the methodology page.
The Tide Window Finder accepts a ZIP code and selects the nearest of Tidewindow's 12 covered NOAA stations without sending or recording the ZIP. It compares modeled windows; it does not verify a beach route or an arrival time.