Snap, Crackle, Crystal Cove

Legendary California author John Steinbeck once noted "it is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again." And there might be no place better to take this advice than at Crystal Cove State Park beach, where seemingly endless sand meets plentiful tide pools. Park at the Los Trancos lot off of Pacific Coast Highway and take the trail towards the historic Crystal Cove Cottages. Continue past the Beachcomber Café to the water, with the wide sandy beach to the north. Here's the trick: Instead of heading north, go south along the coastal precipices to find a variety of rocks forming multiple tide pools. If you're lucky (and patient), you'll witness the incredible process of a hermit crab that has outgrown its shell finding a perfect new one to call home. There are even crab duels over the coveted real estate of a good shell: Everyone's trying to snap one up!