[cjwesthoff]

To be as succinct as possible: How high of a tide, in feet, covers the "floor" at hole in the wall north of Rialto Beach? Slightly Longer: My wife and I will be doing our first ever beach backpacking in July (we have other backpacking experience, but not on the beach with a tide). For the day we arrive at the beach the NOAA tide prediction is -.53 feet in the morning, 5.5 feet at 11am, 3.26 feet at 3:50 pm and 8.17 feet at 10:00pm. If we get to hole in the wall at around 3:50pm when the water level is predicted to be over three feet will we be able to walk through the hole (and around that area) or will we be limited to going over the overland route to get around to the other side? I'm trying to plan the itinerary but most everything I read just says "try to be there at low tide" but I really don't know what that means since the tide goes from under zero to over 8 feet through the course of the day. We will have plenty of time on day 2 when the tide is at its lowest to explore, but I'm trying to figure out when we can actually get to hole in the wall without drowning on day 1.

[Malachai Constant]

There is a bypass trail over the top that is steep and slippery but passable poles help otherwise around 5’ the bottom gets flooded.

[cjwesthoff]

Thank you - exactly the information I was looking for.

[Pyrites]

5’. Remember you are exposed to wave action at same time.

[zephyr]

[Randito]

That section of beach is well worthwhile, expect your hiking speed to be slower than what you would expect for a hike with no elevation gain, both because the beach surface requires more effort than a firm well graded trail, but also because there is so much to see that you'll spend more time taking photos or just gawking. If you use trekking poles, recommend using winter snow baskets instead of the normal tiny soil baskets. In sand and cobbles those small baskets don't limit pole penetration as much as you would like.

[Damian]

Beach hikes- respect them, don't overthink them. Get out there. That's a great route. There are many others.

[cjwesthoff]

Thank you everyone. This is more information than I expected and more helpful than what I found elsewhere.

[Slugman]

13 years ago? How can that be? Rialto to Cedar creek “Whenever I have passed through Hole-in-the-Wall, it's like I've entered into a different world. A gateway into another dimension, maybe, or maybe just a symbolic entering of the real wilderness, the kind that is beyond the reach of the casual day trippers that come and go from the parking lot. What makes it even better is how the tide closes the hole twice per day, or maybe I should say it opens it twice per day, is there a difference? Yes, you can climb over the wall on a short, steep trail, and the view from up there is very nice, but I recommend going through the hole to start and end any hike in this area. Once I went through the hole on my way in, but the tide made me take the trail on the way out. So now maybe I'm still in that alternate world that I entered that day and never left.”

[RumiDude]

Just be aware that some of the sections of the route north are slow going, especially between Norwegian Memorial and Yellow Banks. The coast is a great great hike, but respect the conditions. And watch the sun set every night. Don't mist even one. Rumi