Long sunny days, beaches and ice creams: there’s a lot to love about the school summer holidays in Cornwall. For us though, the influx of visitors makes it a challenge to go anywhere, whether on and off the beach. So, from the end of next week, Cornish Rock Pools junior and I will be adopting our much-loved summer routine of visiting remote local coves on foot. In the meantime, we have fun taking our friends to Hannafore beach to learn about sea creatures.

It feels like the calm before the storm. It’s so calm, in fact, that a thick sea mist has settled over the bay. Looe Island, a few hundred metres away, has disappeared. With no waves and not a ripple on the pools, the conditions are ideal for rockpooling. The damp air also means the animals are active without fear of drying out. As we walk across the shore we see crabs scuttling in every direction.

I’ve asked Junior to help me. He’s now spent so much time on the shore that he knows the health and safety spiel by heart and can identify crabs, fish and starfish in the blink of an eye. He takes on his role with unstoppable enthusiasm, telling his friends that they should look closely at the hermit crabs.

“If you’re really lucky you might find a rare one like Anapagurus Hyndmanni,” he explains.

It so happens that one of the first finds of the day is this very species, occupying a shell so small that my eyes ache from trying to focus on it. Despite its size, the Anapagurus hyndmanni is a feisty little crab, reaching as far out of the shell as it dares to threaten me with its miniscule pincers.

Close-up, its right pincer looks inflated, like it’s wearing a white boxing glove.

As always, the starfish are hugely popular with the children. We find cushion stars, brittle stars and a young spiny starfish and watch how they move.

A friend returns from a distant pool with a fish I don’t often see on the shore here: a butterfish. It’s instantly recognisable from its wonderful marbled patterns and dark spots along its flanks. By gently touching it the children find out that it gets its name from its slippery skin.

Among the rainbow weed at the end of the walkway we find a candy-stripe flatworm. It swims into my bucket and we watch it slipping along, feeling its way with its head tentacles.

We find the usual array of crabs, squat lobsters, prawns and anemones. A member of the public donates a large velvet swimming crab to our big bucket. The crab is less than pleased about its capture and draws gasps from the children with its quick pincers and gleaming red eyes.

A netted dog whelk also captures the kids’imaginations; its huge syphon reminds them of an elephant’s trunk.

All too soon the tide turns and we slip the creatures back into the still water, watch them swim away and the children disperse to eat their picnics on the beach. It’s hard to imagine how busy the town and beaches will be a week or two from now. I enjoy the calm while I can.

There will be lots of great family rockpooling events around Cornwall during the summer holidays – it’s the perfect way to find and learn about our fabulous wildlife. Take a look at the Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s events page for more dates of rockpooling and other marine wildlife events.