Monterey County

The coast line south of San Francisco almost all the way to LA is part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary which means there is an abundance of amazing marine life. Just south of the town of Monterey, the landscpe becomes a 100 miles of rugged craggy coastline with beaches, waterfalls and great sea cliffs. Amazing scenery as long as the coastal fog doesn't get too thick and hide it's natural beauty.

Our first stop out of San Francisco was to see some more of the amazing Red Wood trees. Unfortunately the main Red Wood park is still closed following a forest fire in 2020 but luckily for us our campsite for the night was in the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, so we took a very scenic walk and spent the night surrounded by the natural giants.

The following day we headed down to the town of Monterey, an old town which was once the Sardine capital of the world in the 30s. Over fishing and the decline of the Sardines meant Monterey had to reinvent it self, turning the old canary factory and warehouses into a world class aquarium and creating one of the biggest Marine Sanctuaries in North America. We saw some pretty huge Tuna, Leopard Sharks and some rescued Sea Otters.

Continuing down the coast we stopped for ice-cream at the picturesque town of Carmel-by-the-Sea , a quaint well manicured little place which seems to ouze wealth. Lots of expensive art galleries and restaurants but some very charming and peculiar little houses. It looks like everyone could choose the style of house they wanted from Normandy cottages to Tuscany village!

We spent the night at the northern end of the Big Sur in a campsite near a little River, very cute but the mosquitos were in full flight. An early morning saw us up and on the Big Sur in time to see the morning mists roll in. It gave the natural bridges and beachside forests of Pfeiffer beach a rather spooky feel.

We continued south past some amazing cliffs and a waterfall which flows right into the sea at high tide and made it down to Point Piedras Blanca's beach, famous for its colony of Elephant seals which stay here year round. Most were content to laze in the warm sand, once they had found a decent spot, but a few of the younger males were practicing their fighting technique in preparation for the upcoming mating season. It looked like hard work.

We eventually made it to Morro Bay at the southern end of the Big Sur and the end of the Marine Sanctuary, the fog had rolled back in so the famous Morro rock which marks the start of the natural harbour was hidden and we couldn't see it's full glory. The beach is flanked by sand dunes and the sand was very warm so we took a walk and managed to see a sea otter playing amoungst the kelp, glad we finally got to see one in the wild.Read more