Bioluminescent plankton in Southern CA?

Question

Does anyone know of the time of year where the beaches "glow" because of bioluminescent creatures? I live in Southern CA in the LA area and would like to see this sometime. A few friends of mine have and they said it was around August, but still were not sure. Are there any sites that would predict this occurrence? Or is it usually just random? Thanks!

Answer 1

lived in So. Cal (Manhattan Beach) most all my life.  really love "Red Tide" as it is called sometimes - it can be pretty fun at night - body surfingin "Red Tide" water leaves a streak of light  - you can write your name in the sand kinda with light, oh and you sorta glow when you come out of the water - i seem to remember "Red Tide" coming in late June, July, August, pretty much summer.  jsut recently the gurnyen were running - that's knida a cool thing to see too.  have fun  :)

Answer 2

I've seen it in the summer months down in Carlsbad....OMG, I just found a pic of what I saw on Wikipedia!

I've also seen it in a well-known lagoon in Jamaica.

Anyway, I don't know about when or where it occurs.  I think it can happen anywhere at anytime??

Answer 3

Oh, bioluminescence is so cool.  I went on a school trip to Catalina Island (it's by long beach), and when we went night snorkeling, they told us to turn out our flashlights and we saw them.  That was is October, but they have camps year round and I think everybody gets to see the bioluminescence.