Chasing a minus tide in October
Autumn minus tides arrive in the late afternoon, which means good light and fewer people. I got to the bluff stairs forty minutes before the low and still nearly ran out of time.
The outer shelf was open for about an hour. Two ochre stars, a cluster of aggregating anemones closed up against the air, and one very annoyed shore crab.
Lesson: the tide table gives the time of the low, not the window. Arrive an hour early and leave when the first wave reaches your boots.