Corallina Cove

Corallina Cove is a small rocky cove inside Montaña de Oro State Park, roughly half a mile south of Spooner's Cove along the Bluff Trail. It takes its name from the coralline red algae that encrusts the intertidal rocks. At low tide a wide rocky shelf comes out of the water, with deep tide pools, narrow channels, and cracks lined with sea anemones. A short spur descends from the Bluff Trail to the rocks.

The wide intertidal shelf of sandstone and mudstone, with cobble, deep tide pools, and exposed rocky structure extending into the water, makes the cove a rocky reef biome. The narrow strip of open water at the outer edge of the shelf, where the waves break, is a surf zone biome.

Tide-pooling at minus tides is the dominant activity, and wildlife viewing of harbor seals on the offshore rocks and shorebirds along the bluffs is common. The small footprint, the long walk in, and the shelf's swell exposure keep snorkeling occasional, hook-and-line fishing and spearfishing uncommon, and surfing and scuba essentially absent.

Parking is at the Spooner's Cove lot inside Montaña de Oro State Park, with a roughly half-mile walk south on the Bluff Trail to a spur down to the cove. Hook-and-line fishing and spearfishing are legal under standard California regulations.