You will receive directions to the meeting location upon booking. From the meeting location, you can expect:

• A 5-10 minute walk to the tide pools.

• A briefing on how the tides work, what critters we may find, and tide pool ettiquette and safety.

• Approximately one hour of tide pool exploration. Expect to kneel and sit in wet algae. Occaisionally, you may be submerged up to calf deep in the water.

• A 5-10 minute walk back to the meeting location, should you choose to walk back with your guide.

The critters that we find will depend on tidal height and sheer luck, though it is guaranteed that you will see wildlife on your tour, with some potential finds including:

• Tunicates

• Anemones

• Urchins

• Sea stars

• Snails

• Nudibranchs

• Hydroids

• And more!

You can also expect to have the opportunity to ask your guides ANY ocean-related questions you may have. Your guides are always local marine biologists with experience spanning labs, research vessels, and classrooms.

It is important that you wear closed-toed shoes to protect your feet from getting scraped up by barnacles! Expect water submersion up to calf level. Think:

• Water shoes

• Old sneakers that can be thrown in the wash afterward

• Calf-high waterproof boots.

You should also wear long, quick-dry pants. You can expect to be sitting and kneeling in seaweed, and most folks prefer to have their legs covered for that.

Wear sunscreen and bug spray as desired, but please apply at home and wash your hands after applying! It is important not to introduce sunscreen to the tide pools.

We welcome children of all ages on private guided tide pooling sessions but encourage parents to assess the suitability of this activity for their individual children, as you know your child’s interest-level and attention span best.

You must book a slot for any children who will be joining, and any child under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

For community events, there is a strict 13+ policy.

One of the nice things about Maine is that we have very few marine critters that can seriously harm you. However, crabs do pinch, washed up jellies do sting, and barnacles do scrape you up if you are not wearing the required attire.

You should always be careful when in close proximity with wildlife.

Keeping our customers and the critters we are trying to build appreciation for safe is our top priority. Each session starts with a briefing on tide pooling ettiquette and safety. This includes:

• Stepping mindfully. When possible, we do not walk through tide pools; we walk around them. There are some sites where we may enter the water. These are typically sandy-bottom sites with high visibility, so you can see exactly what you are stepping on.

• Leaving sensitive native animals where they are. Your guides are trained marine biologists. They know how to give yout the most hands-on experience possible with animals that are invasive and/or resilient to gentle handling. All sensitive native fauna are observed where they are found within the tide pools.

• Tucking in our tide pools! The algae that floats at the surface of a tide pool helps keep the water in the tide pool cool and hides the critters underneath from predators. Once we are done looking in the tide pools, we always tuck everything back in.

• Avoiding rock flipping. This is a popular trend on social media which can be incredibly damaging to the ecosystem if not done properly. We avoid this practice entirely in our rocky tide pools.

• Keeping groups small. We have a maximum group size of eight to avoid overwhelming the tide pools. For bigger events, we have multiple guides leading smaller sub-groups of up to eight people.

• Cleaning up. We pack out all litter we find in the tide pools.

Turning Tides utilizes multiple tide pooling sites throughout Biddeford Pool. You will receive detailed directions via email upon booking through our regular calendar.

Any special considerations for sites requested outside of Biddeford Pool will be discussed after you fill out our special request form.

In a word, no. Most of our tide pooling sites strictly prohibit dogs. This is to protect the wildlife Turning Tides wants to grow appreciation for.

If you show up to your tour with a (non-service) dog, your guide will leave and no refunds will be issued.

We do not expect tips for guide services.

In lieu of a tip, a positive review on Google or Facebook is priceless for a small business!