Yaquina Head Tide Pools (Cobble Beach) · tide pools
Yaquina Head Tide Pools (Cobble Beach)
Below the historic lighthouse at Yaquina Head, just north of Newport, the BLM-managed Cobble Beach drains at low tide into one of the central Oregon coast's most accessible tide-pool fields. It's an easy day trip from an RV base in Newport: park, descend to the cobbles, and look for orange sea stars, purple urchins and giant green anemones, often with a roving ranger on hand. Because it's a working basalt headland, exposure depends on the surf as much as the tide.
Best low-tide window
Best when the tide is out on a minus low tide; use the BLM 'Tidepool Discovery Times' calendar — exposure depends on surf, and high surf may leave nothing exposed even at low tide
What you'll see
Orange sea stars · Purple sea urchins · Giant green anemones · Mussels and barnacles
Where
Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area (BLM), a basalt headland just north of Newport, OR — tide pools at Cobble Beach below the lighthouse
Nearest RV base
Day-use fee area with no camping at Yaquina Head itself; RVers commonly base at South Beach State Park (Oregon Parks, full RV sites just south of Newport) and drive ~15 minutes to the headland
Explore it safely
You MUST check the BLM 'Tidepool Discovery Times' calendar and a tide chart, and go only when the tide is out — but know that high surf can leave the pools covered even at low tide, and times change daily. The cobbles roll underfoot and the sea life is very slippery, so go slowly, keep an eye on the surf, and keep small children within arm's reach near big waves and steep cliffs. Observe only — do not pick up, poke or move animals; take only pictures.
Check conditions + tide charts with the source: BLM — Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, Explore .