A crabs eye view

A guide to rockpooling

Still, by far the coolest thing to do on the beach – we’re huge fans of the humble rock pool in Pembrokeshire!

Is there anything better than hunkering down and squinting through the glimmer of seawater to see if that was actually a crab you saw scuttle off beneath some seaweed? Not in our book.

As well as limpets, periwinkles, shrimps and anemones, you can expect to see jellyfish, starfish, crabs and even fish. We recently saw quite a large dogfish in a Saundersfoot rock pool!

West Angle bay

There are endless rock pools to search in Pembrokeshire but some of our favourites include Manorbier, Cwm y Eglwys, Amroth, West Angle, Caerfai and Wiseman’s Bridge beaches.

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Caerfai beach

So to make things easier, we’ve put together a little guide to help you identify the creatures in our rock pools!

Before you begin:

  • Remember to put everything you collect & look at, back where you found it
  • Always replace any rocks or stones you turn over very carefully, to make sure you don’t disturb anyone’s home!
  • Take extra care on slippery rocks or seaweed, and make sure you keep an eye on the tide times so you don’t get cut off.

You can download and print our guide to take with you – remember to send us pictures of your excursion and finds! You can tag us on Facebook or Twitter.

Happy hunting!