Parks and the outdoors in Monterey

Parks and the outdoors in Monterey

1. Eat

   Bubba Gump Shrimp Co

   This location is the first Bubba Gump, opening in 1996. This is a more recognizable location set in the background of many smaller seafood places in the Cannery Row area - explore the options as you walk around.

   Sun 11AM-9PM, Mon-Wed 11AM-8PM, Thu 11AM-8:30PM, Fri Sat 11AM-9PM

2. Buy

   Cannery Row

   Sports a Pebble Beach Golf shop, where virtually every item on display somehow incorporates the famous Lone Cypress (C) logo. It also has a number of overpriced, tacky specialty shops and overpriced, mediocre restaurants, including a Ghiaradelli store.

3. See

   Colton Hall

   Considered one of the most historic buildings in California, Colton Hall is the birthplace of the State of California. Home of the California Constitutional Convention of 1849, visit the site where 48 delegates debated the decisions that made California a free state. See original documents, artifacts, and even walk on the same floor as the delegates. the.

   Sat-Sun 10AM-4PM·free

4. See

   Cooper Molera Adobe

   An adobe from 1827 which now houses a small museum, a garden, cafe, restaurant and event venue. Formerly the site was part of the Monterey State Historic Park but now is owned by National Trust for Historic Preservation. The ground floor museum exhibit is open on weekends but the rest of the museum is closed due to COVID.

   Sat Sun 10AM-4PM·free

5. Do

   Dennis the Menace Park

   A giant kids' park that includes a full sized train, numerous bridges, ducks and geese you can feed and paddle boat rentals. One of the better free municipal parks in Northern California.

   Wed-Mon (closed Tue)

6. See

   Monterey Bay Aquarium

   This large aquarium specializes in exhibiting local sea life in typical local habitat displays and has many spectacular exhibits. It is particularly known for its Kelp Forest exhibit, three stories high, filled with several varieties of giant kelp and a wide variety of marine animal species, and also for its million-gallon Open Sea exhibit with large blue fin and yellowfin tunas, mahi-mahis, sharks (including an occasional Great White Shark as a very temporary visitor, before being released back to the ocean), ocean sunfish (mola-molas) and sea turtles. The best exhibits include a large tank of silver sardines that swim around and around above one's head, and one of rescued sea otters deemed unreturnable to the wild and therefore kept at the aquarium. (The aquarium has rescued and released back to the wild over 500 sea otters.) Quite expensive, but for a good cause (the aquarium is privately funded, and much of the money goes for conservation research), and most visitors will consider a visit well worth the charge.

   9AM or 10AM to 5PM or 6PM, depending on time of year and day of week·$65/adult, $50/youth and seniors, $45/child

7. See

   Monterey State Historic Park

   This park is the historic downtown area known as Old Monterey, containing a number of historic buildings and gardens. Most of the buildings are from the first half of the 19th century, and most of the historic gardens are about a century old. Start at Custom House Plaza, in downtown Monterey, near the Old Fisherman's Wharf, and look for the yellow plaques that mark the Monterey Walking Path of History to take in some of the town's most intriguing buildings. Informational signs are posted at each stop. Maps and tour information are available at the Pacific House and the Cooper Molera store. Wheelchair-accessible restrooms are available near the Central Plaza in the Casa del Oro Garden and in the Cooper Molera courtyard.

   Gardens open daily 9AM–5PM summer; 10AM–4PM winter; museums vary·free

8. Do Not mapped

   Monterey Bay Coastal Trail

   29-mile-long (47-km-long) walking/biking trail. Bikes available for rent at several places along the path (and at some other places, e.g. Monterey Transit Plaza). Multi-passenger surrey bikes are particularly popular and available for rent.

9. See Not mapped

   Seals at the wharves

   There are two piers and a breakwater that provide excellent viewing of sea lions. Monterey's original "Fisherman's Wharf" generally has a handful of sea lions lounging about, and occasionally, harbor seals on the beach next to the pier. Larger groups of sea lions can generally be found at the more industrial wharf ("Municipal Wharf #2") a short walk to the east from Fisherman's Wharf. Wharf #2 has a small fishing industry warehouse still in operation, so numerous sea lions have made it their home. Towards Cannery Row from Fisherman's Wharf, near the Coast Guard station (reached by driving on Del Monte west from Fisherman's Wharf, through the traffic tunnel and taking the first exit and then the first right turn), there is a large breakwater that is generally occupied by a huge number of sea lions, piled on the breakwater's rocks. One can walk part way down that breakwater on its paved portion and view the sea lions from only a few feet away through a steel fence at the end of that paved portion. Additionally, sea otters can often be seen in the bay, and harbor seals can often be seen at Hopkins Beach, just west of the Hopkins Marine Station (part of Stanford University) that is just west of the Aquarium, or in the calm waters next to Fisherman's Wharf, particularly resting on the tops of rocks that are just above the ocean level (sea lions can jump from the water up to places like the top of the breakwater, harbor seals can't).

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Monterey (CC BY-SA 4.0).