Monterey Bay in Winter

Monterey Bay was high on the list for a must visit, we’d avidly watching the BBC’s Blue Planet Live filmed from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and many other wildlife documentaries that showed this special home for marine life.

Monterey Bay is a popular stop on the Highway 1 road trip, even with the route via Big Sur closed its a quick detour a few hours south of San Francisco. And rightly so, the town is a vibrant tourist town, with two distinct areas, scenic coastlines and magnificent marine life. Fisherman’s Wharf is a historic wharf that now has an abundance of tourist shops, restaurants, and whale-watching operators. The Monterey Peninsular Pedestrianized Trail links the Wharf area with Cannery Row. This area was once the area where sardines were canned - it literally does what it says on the tin! It is now a hub of tourism activity with plenty of hotels, restaurants and shops and the famous aquarium.

We checked into our hotel early and wandered down to Fisherman’s Wharf where we mooched in the shops and had a look at the whale watching companies. January isn’t the best time for whales but the whale watching operator I had already scoped out as being the most ethical was offering free trips if no sightings, plus their sightings list was not lacking in content! So we made a quick decision to book the afternoon sailing. Stomped to the hotel, collected another layer of clothing and headed back to the wharf.

We sailed out into the bay towards Monterey Canyon, an amazing habitat for an abundance of marine life, including whales. It was a bright, sunny winter day, and the waves rolled big. We were on a catamaran, so the rolls didn’t feel too big. As we approached the canyon, we saw distant blows from the whales, so we knew we would get some sightings. 

We were soon near a pair of humpbacks that would rise to the surface before plunging into the depths. We were with Monterey Whale Watching, one of the few operators that take science seriously and have biologists on board (read more on their website). We kept our distance from the whales, and our crew predicted where they would rise again, and we often corrected. This meant we had much time with the whales before they disappeared into the deeps. We were also lucky to spot a minke and finn whale pop up in front of us. These were rare sightings at this time of year, and we got very lucky with the fin whale as we were sitting at the front of the deck when it popped up in front of us! 

Between whale sightings, we saw sea birds, jellyfish, and seals splashing around in the sea. We returned to shore mesmerised by the life in this small but mighty section of the Pacific Ocean. 

After a short wander, we took our tired selves to a seafood restaurant on the wharf and enjoyed a meal of locally caught seafood and an obligatory margarita.

After a nights sleep we rose early to ensure we were at the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium for opening, which lived up to its expectations, for now I will share some photos and write an indepth review soon.

On our last day we took the winding road home. We decided to do the 17-mile drive along the coast to Carmel. The drive hugs the coast between Pacific Grove and Carmel with rugged coastal scenery, white sand beaches, and a forest with The Lone Cypress being a highlight. The scenery changes and there is plenty of wildlife to see with pelicans, seals and otters spotted along the way. The route ends just outside of Carmel which is a pretty seaside town, we spent a few hours on the white sand beach before jumping in the car and heading back home. 

There are 15 points to stop at on the drive (yes, that's a lot!), and we soon realised we were hopping out of the car a lot more than we would like. There were plenty of people cycling the route, it's mostly flat along the coast and various options to shorten the route, we would hire bikes next time! Or choose fewer stops and do some walking between them, or stop at one of the beautiful beaches to make a day of it. Starting and stopping the way we were was not for us!

The route ends just outside of Carmel, a pretty seaside town. We spent a few hours on the white sand beach before jumping in the car and heading back home. 

We chose to visit in the low season (over the school winter break) as hotels are cheaper and it's less crowded. This was a good time to go if you’re not too worried about it being warm. I am sure we will go back over the summer for a comparison.