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Red Bank Gorge is like something out of a Bond movie. There is a series of narrow, winding, deep clear green pools, flanked by red stone that blazes gold when ignited by the sunlight.
The gorge continues for about 1km and the pools are separated by rocky banks to rest on. Make sure you take an inflatable raft or air mattress to navigate the pools as the water can be very cold. Even if you don't have a raft, you can easily explore the first two pools easily. The scenery is breath-taking.
I was there during peak season in the dry months and still was able to explore the pools by myself. One of the most beautiful places I have seen.
About 180km West of Alice Springs on the Larapinta drive just after Glen Helen resort. A 5km dirt track leads you from the main road - it says 4WD only, but I managed in a Getz no problem. A 20 min walk from the car park takes you to the gorge.
Google map: tinyurl.com/m6tgb3
Long gone are the days of my childhood, spent hunting for huge, edible pink crab with my great-uncle on the rocks of West Pentire. However, Vugga Cove on Crantock beach still holds many delights for rockpoolers, young and old.
This archipelago of pools is a tapestry of oxygenating wispy lime green and the burnt umbers and siennas of bladderwrack. Skylarks sing overhead as you hunt with bucket and net for fish and crab. The tiniest of creatures await to be inspected; sea lice, baby translucent fish, shrimps. Two-inch long stickleback and little shore crabs lurk in crevices.
Later, hot and sticky from the chase, you can swim in the warmed waters of Peggy's pool before the tide sweeps in to cover it.
Crantock beach, near Newquay, Cornwall
About three miles east from the pier at Herne Bay are some fantastic rock-pools. They cover a large area and are entirely made up of weirdly flat boulders, so it looks a platform game. You can happily spend time jumping from boulder to boulder, or playing games to work out the quickest way to the sea without stepping on the sand. The boulders are covered in weed though, so be careful you don't slip.
Best of all, there are lots of little rock-pools between the boulders with crabs, anemones, little shrimp-things etc. And the flat boulders provide the perfect standing platform to watch them all.
The whole place was totally deserted on a warm Saturday in June - a hidden gem!
Once you head back to Herne Bay, Ernie's Plaice does excellent fish and chips (eat on sea-front) or you can have a classic Knickerbocker Glory sat in one of the kitschy red booths at KC's Ice cream parlour. Their chocolate-orange ice cream is especially nice.
Turn right (as you face the sea) and walk along the sea-front, then down onto the beach when it finishes. Rock-pools are about 3 miles from the centre of town at low-tide only. Or you could drive to Reculver Lane and walk down from the church car-park (much closer).
When the tide goes out at West Runton beach near Sheringham it reveals a community of amazing creatures clinging to rocks, swimming in the salty shallows and sunning themselves on the once full pools. If you've forgotten your buckets, nets and spades, then the on-site cafe will sell you anything you need as well as a lovely cup of tea you can take down to the beach!
Follow the "beach" signs from West Runton village to the carpark.
Newgale is a beautiful, long, sandy beach and a favourite haunt of surfers. There's handy car parking and a small village with a surf school, cafe (Sands Cafe) and camping behind the beach.
Walk south along the beach to find the rockpools with crabs, anemone's.
Newgale SA62 6AS
I recommend Newton Ferrers, situated about 10 miles southeast of Plymouth for the best rockpooling in the UK.
Actually I haven't been there for years now, but my rose-tinted memories of endless summer holidays are so vivid, I hope the reality still lives up to it.
There are two beaches near the fishing port of Newton Ferrers, one is called Stoke Beach, and it had a caravan and camping site above the beach. It was a long walk down from the field/carpark and then we found a stretch of golden beach with dozens of coves, caves, rocks and pools to explore. The other beach was/is called Warren and it is found nearby, across a meadow filled with butterflies and ladybird colonies dotted all over the wildflowers and long grass. I remember a tricky scramble down over rocks and then a leap across the sand to get to the beach. It was like a secret beach as very few people made it past the obstacle course.
My tip for rockpooling is to turn over the large flat stones with the pinky markings on and you're sure to find tiny starfish clinging on. Just look and leave them there, of course! For crabs, a good root around under the knobbly seaweed will offer a cluster of the little demons. Pick them up by their two sides between your thumb and forefinger. Watch them wave their claws at you with attitude, then place them back in the salt water and watch them scuttle off. I love the little, inch-long cat fish and dog fish - if I'm correct - that inhabit the pools. I love everything about these beaches. I would still go rockpooling today, given half a chance, even though I'm 47 and my creaking knees hamper any clambering.
Devon, Plymouth, Newton Ferrers, Stoke Road
At the southern end of the three mile stretch of sandy beach in Studland is a secret rock pool cove, cut off by cliffs on both sides. Wait until the tide slides out before skirting round the cliff face and you’ll find yourself in a hidden world of crabs, fish, barnacles, snails and weird looking worms.
My favourite way to get a closer look at these pool dwellers is with an old detergent tablet net with a bit of chicken or meat inside tied to the end of a stick. Wait a bit for whatever creature is enticed and carefully lift it out of the water, its weight will close the net behind it so it can't climb out- just take care when letting the blighters go!
Studland Bay, Swanage, Dorset
It is a clean, large white expanse of coast with chunky groups of rock pools, many with names linked to the shape, for example : stag rock, cat rock etc. My two boys aged six and 10 delighted in them and I did think we could spend two weeks here and they would never tire - delightful.
Nearest station , Berwick on Tweed ( from the North) then the local 501 coastal bus - - a lovely journey through all the villages, spying seascapes and countryside.
I do not know about driving, yet I have lots of tips and affordable holiday advice for car less families. ( you know; green, guardian reader type holidays, all acceptable and educational for the kids, whilst full of fun and freedom)
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