Visitor Information

Reserve Director:
Dr. Cristina Sandoval

Associate Director
Dr. Kevin Lafferty

GENERAL INFORMATION

Daily walk-in usage by the public for recreational beach use, hiking, or birding and the like is permitted as long as posted rules and regulations are followed.
Bona fide research and class use in the field sciences and humanities, or any group usage, must submit an application as specified below, and receive approval from the reserve director.

PARKING

Everyone (including UCSB faculty, staff, and students with valid UCSB stickers) who parks at the reserve is required to have a Special West Campus parking permit. These permits must be displayed in the lower left corner of the car's front windshield. Permits are required 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Please call the Reserve Director (805 893-5092) to obtain West Campus permits. You cannot purchase them at the campus parking kiosks.

•Permits: $3.00 per car/per day (no charge if you have a valid UCSB parking sticker).

Please encourage car pooling. Plan to meet off campus and reduce the number of cars you drive to the reserve.

APPLICATION PROCESS

•Read the Visitor Information page (this page).

• Use the Online Application Webpage to apply for research or class use, or for field trips.

• Call the Reserve Director (805 893-5092) to obtain parking permits.

• Applications should be submitted three weeks prior to the initial visit.

• You must file a separate application for each purpose, and follow these guidelines:

RESEARCH: if you have more than one research project, a separate application must be filed for each project. It is important to indicate on the application the approximate duration of the proposed research project. Approved applications are valid for one field season only (from date of approval through June 30) but may be renewed annually via phone or email for the duration estimated on the application. Non-UC researchers must sign a release agreement before entering the reserve. It is the responsibility of the applicant to be sure that all non-UC participants in his/her project have a signed release form on file at the UCSB NRS campus office

RESEARCHERS Responsibilities

To insure the integrity of research sites, do not remove stakes, pipes, flags, traps and other miscellaneous items that may belong to other researchers. To inform the reserve staff and other users which stakes or other research-related items are yours, it is helpful to put your initials and a date on them. Please be careful that any structures now present or to be placed in the intertidal zone do not present a safety hazard for surfers or swimmers. At the end of a research project, each user should take the responsibility to remove all materials, unless specific items such as plot markers or traps are to be left for research purposes.

Please provide by June 30 of each year a brief summary of your research accomplishments, and a list of your publications based on research done using the reserve (complete references).

• Any disturbance to the ecosystem or cultural resources of the reserve (sampling or removal of plant parts, collection of rocks, sand, dirt, water, animals, etc.) must be cleared in advance by the reserve director.

• Be particularly careful not to disturb the Snowy Plovers who rest in the sand between the mouth of the lagoon and the intertidal zone.

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FIELD TRIPS and CLASSES: a separate application must be submitted for each visit or series of visits.

• The group leader (the person who signs the application) is responsible for making sure each participant is aware of the reserve policies and guidelines listed on the application and in the information packet.

TIDEPOOLING

Devereux Point is also called Coal Oil Point because of the numerous natural oil seeps near the coast. It is one of the few rocky intertidal areas in Santa Barbara that is not seasonally covered with sand. Because of this, it is one of the better tidepooling areas. Much of the tidepool area has medium to small sized boulders and thus it is called a 'turnable rock' tidepool area. By looking under the boulders certain species can be found that do not occur in areas with solid rock (like the solid shale tidepools of Carpinteria Reef). Please observe the following rules when visiting the intertidal:

• Do not remove, collect, or harm any rocks, animals, shells, plants, sand, seaweed, etc.

• With groups of young children, be aware of the tide's movements and wave sets.

• Walk around large rocks rather than step on them: fragile algae and animals may be smashed.

• Touch the animals in the water, but do not pick them. Animals that are removed from the rocks have a hard time getting back to them.

• Leave everything as you found it (if you move a rock, put it back when you finish your observations).

• Help keep the reserve clean by carrying all your trash back with you and picking up trash left by others.

FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT

There is one portable toilet on the reserve at the parking turnaround. Researchers should contact the UCSB NRS campus office regarding facilities available for research use. A bibliography of reserve publications and a GIS database are under development.