Monterey sits on the southern curve of Monterey Bay, about two hours south of San Francisco, where a submarine canyon deeper than the Grand Canyon comes almost to the shore and brings cold nutrient-rich water up with it. That one geological fact explains the sardine industry that made the town, the aquarium that replaced it, the otters, the whales, and why the water is too cold to swim in.
SECOND, BECAUSE THE NAMES ARE ONE LETTER APART: THIS IS MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA, NOT MONTERREY, MEXICO. Monterrey with two Rs is a city of over four million people in Nuevo Leon in northern Mexico, nine hundred kilometres from here across a border, and this library covers it separately. The spellings differ by a single letter, the pronunciations are close, and booking systems confuse them constantly. If you meant the Mexican industrial capital, you want the Monterrey packing list instead.
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What Is Here
THE MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM IS THE BEST IN THE UNITED STATES AND IT IS THE REASON TO COME. It stands on the site of the largest of the old sardine canneries and it pumps seawater straight from the bay, which is why its kelp forest tank is a living ecosystem rather than a display. ITS SEA OTTER PROGRAMME RESCUES AND REARS ORPHANED PUPS and the third image is an otter in the bay itself, descended from a population that was hunted to perhaps fifty animals and recovered. TICKETS ARE TIMED AND SELL OUT IN SUMMER AND AT WEEKENDS: book online before you travel.
CANNERY ROW IS THE HERO IMAGE AND THE HONEST VERSION IS WORTH HAVING. Steinbeck's 1945 novel made the name, and the street he wrote about, a working row of stinking fish canneries, is gone: the sardines collapsed in the 1950s from overfishing and a shift in ocean conditions, the canneries closed, and the street is now shops, restaurants and the aquarium. It is pleasant and busy and it is not what the book describes. The author's own line about it, "a poem, a stink, a grating noise", applied to a place that no longer exists, and knowing that makes the walk better rather than worse.
OLD FISHERMAN'S WHARF IS THE SECOND IMAGE, and the working harbour next to it still lands squid and crab. Whale watching boats leave from here: GREY WHALES MIGRATE PAST FROM ROUGHLY DECEMBER TO APRIL and HUMPBACKS AND BLUE WHALES FEED IN THE BAY FROM ABOUT APRIL TO NOVEMBER, so there is no closed season, which is unusual.
THE 17-MILE DRIVE IS A PRIVATE TOLL ROAD AND THAT SURPRISES PEOPLE. It runs through Pebble Beach between Monterey and Carmel, past the Lone Cypress, and A FEE IS CHARGED PER CAR AT THE GATE. CYCLISTS GO FREE and it is a genuinely good ride. Motorcycles are not permitted.
POINT LOBOS IS BETTER THAN THE DRIVE AND IT NEEDS A RESERVATION IN BUSY PERIODS. A state natural reserve south of Carmel with cypress headlands, sea lions and clear coves. Parking inside is very limited and A VEHICLE RESERVATION SYSTEM HAS OPERATED AT PEAK TIMES, so check before setting out.
CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA IS TEN MINUTES AWAY and is an oddity worth knowing about: it has no street addresses, no street lights in much of the town, and a long-standing ordinance requiring a permit to wear heels over two inches on the uneven pavements, which is not enforced and is real.
THE FOG IS THE CLIMATE AND IT IS NOT A SPELL OF BAD WEATHER. Cold upwelling water under warm inland air produces a marine layer that sits over this coast through much of the summer, so JULY AND AUGUST ARE OFTEN THE GREYEST, COLDEST MONTHS, with mornings in the low teens Celsius and the sun arriving in the afternoon if at all. SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER ARE THE WARM, CLEAR MONTHS HERE. Visitors arriving in August in summer clothes are the local joke.
When to Go
September and October. This is the single most useful planning fact about the central California coast: the fog lifts, the water is at its warmest, the light is clear and the summer crowds have gone.
April to June is pleasant with variable fog and the grey whale migration tailing off into the humpback season.
July and August are peak season, peak prices and the greyest weather of the year. It is still worth coming; it is not a beach holiday.
Winter is cool, rainy and quiet, with the grey whale migration at its height and storms that make the coast spectacular.
THE AT&T PRO-AM AT PEBBLE BEACH IN FEBRUARY AND THE CAR WEEK IN MID-AUGUST both fill the peninsula completely, with Car Week in particular sending accommodation prices to several times normal across the whole area. Check both before booking.
Getting There
By road, about two hours from San Francisco and five from Los Angeles on Highway 101, or far longer and better on Highway 1.
By air, Monterey Regional is small with connections through western hubs; San Jose is about an hour and a quarter and San Francisco two hours.
HIGHWAY 1 SOUTH TOWARDS BIG SUR CLOSES, REPEATEDLY AND FOR LONG PERIODS. Landslides have shut it for a year or more at a time and there is no detour worth the name. If Big Sur is in your plan, CHECK CALTRANS BEFORE YOU DRIVE and be prepared to turn round.
You want a car for Point Lobos, the 17-Mile Drive and Carmel, though the aquarium, Cannery Row and the wharf are walkable from each other and a free trolley runs between them in season. The RECREATION TRAIL, a former railway along the water, is the best way to move between them.
Is Monterey Safe for Women?
The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in the United States and no country-level warning. Its guidance concentrates on the practical differences a British visitor meets: entry requirements and ESTA, the cost of healthcare without insurance, extreme weather including hurricanes on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts between June and November, and wildfire and heat risk in the west and south-west.
Monterey is a prosperous, safe tourist town and is comfortable for a woman alone. Car break-ins at coastal pull-outs and trailheads are the realistic crime. Leave nothing visible.
THE WATER IS COLD ENOUGH TO BE DANGEROUS ALL YEAR AND THAT IS THE MAIN HAZARD. Monterey Bay runs roughly 10 to 15 degrees Celsius, which is cold-water-shock territory in any month, and this is not a swimming coast. Surfers and divers wear full wetsuits in August.
SNEAKER WAVES AND RIP CURRENTS KILL PEOPLE ON THIS COASTLINE EVERY YEAR. A sneaker wave is an unexpectedly large wave that runs far higher up a beach than the preceding ones, and it takes people off rocks and from the sand without warning. THE RULES ARE: never turn your back on the ocean, never stand on a wet rock, and keep well back from the water line on steeply shelving beaches. CARMEL BEACH AND MONASTERY BEACH ARE PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS, and Monastery Beach is known locally by a grimmer name for exactly that reason.
THE FOG MAKES THE COAST ROAD GENUINELY HAZARDOUS and it arrives quickly. Slow down and use lights.
ELEPHANT SEALS AND SEA LIONS ARE WILD ANIMALS and the published distance is 50 feet for marine mammals under federal law; otters are protected and approaching them, including by kayak, is an offence.
POISON OAK IS WIDESPREAD on coastal trails. Learn the three-leaf shape before you walk.
EARTHQUAKES ARE A BACKGROUND FACT in California: drop, cover and hold on, and do not run outside.
The Monterey Packing List
Summer fog, cold wind off cold water, strong sun above the marine layer and warm autumn.
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is the correct first layer here in July as much as January, because this is the coast where visitors most consistently underdress: a foggy August morning on the wharf is colder than an English spring day, and the sun can break through by two in the afternoon. Wool handles both ends of that without a change.
A Columbia Fast Trek II fleece, which you will wear most mornings in any month, and a Marmot PreCip Eco rain jacket as a windproof on the boat and a raincoat in winter.
Walking shoes with grip for wet rock at Point Lobos and the Recreation Trail, and Darn Tough merino socks.
A wide brim sun hat for the clear autumn days, when the UV above a lifted marine layer is stronger than the temperature suggests.
Not linked and worth packing: SEASICKNESS TABLETS IF YOU ARE GOING WHALE WATCHING, which is the most useful line in this post, because Monterey Bay is open ocean within minutes of leaving the harbour and the swell surprises people; YOUR TIMED AQUARIUM TICKET; CASH OR A CARD FOR THE 17-MILE DRIVE TOLL; BINOCULARS, since whales and otters are often visible from the shore for nothing; A WARM HAT for the boat; and NO SWIMSUIT EXPECTATIONS. The US is almost entirely card-based and tipping is expected at 18 to 20 per cent.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Monterey
Emergency numbers: 911 for police, ambulance and fire, free from any phone including a locked mobile. Calls are answered locally and dispatchers will stay on the line. For non-urgent police matters many cities also run a 311 information line.
THIS IS MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA, NOT MONTERREY, MEXICO, which is a city of over four million in Nuevo Leon nine hundred kilometres away and is covered separately in this library. THE FOG IS THE CLIMATE RATHER THAN THE WEATHER: cold upwelling water under warm inland air gives a marine layer through much of the summer, so JULY AND AUGUST ARE OFTEN THE GREYEST AND COLDEST MONTHS and SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER ARE THE WARM CLEAR ONES. THE WATER RUNS ROUGHLY 10 TO 15 DEGREES CELSIUS ALL YEAR, which is cold-water-shock territory in any month: this is not a swimming coast and divers wear full wetsuits in August. SNEAKER WAVES AND RIP CURRENTS KILL PEOPLE ON THIS COASTLINE EVERY YEAR, taking them off rocks and from the sand without warning: NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON THE OCEAN, never stand on wet rock, and keep well back on steeply shelving beaches, of which CARMEL BEACH AND MONASTERY BEACH are the most dangerous here. AQUARIUM TICKETS ARE TIMED AND SELL OUT in summer and at weekends. THE 17-MILE DRIVE IS A PRIVATE TOLL ROAD charging per car, free to cyclists and closed to motorcycles. POINT LOBOS HAS VERY LIMITED PARKING AND HAS OPERATED A VEHICLE RESERVATION SYSTEM at peak times. HIGHWAY 1 SOUTH TO BIG SUR CLOSES REPEATEDLY FOR LANDSLIDES, sometimes for a year, with no real detour: check Caltrans before driving. FEDERAL LAW SETS 50 FEET AS THE DISTANCE FOR MARINE MAMMALS and otters are protected, including from kayaks. CAR WEEK IN MID-AUGUST AND THE PEBBLE BEACH PRO-AM IN FEBRUARY fill the peninsula and multiply prices. Poison oak is widespread on coastal trails.
US State Department travel advisory: there is none, and this is not an omission. The State Department issues travel advisories for other countries, not for the United States itself, so no US advisory for this destination exists to link. In its place, the Government of Canada advice for the United States gives an equivalent third-country assessment.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits. The FCDO names no advised-against areas anywhere in the United States. The same advice also covers Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Main hospital: Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula on Holman Highway has a 24 hour emergency department; Natividad in Salinas, about twenty-five minutes inland, is the region's trauma centre. Dial 911 for police, ambulance or fire, and note that AN OCEAN RESCUE goes through 911 to the Coast Guard and the local fire service, which is the right call from a beach or a rock. This is the single biggest practical difference for a visitor: there is no public health system, an emergency room visit without insurance can run into thousands of dollars, and an ambulance is billed separately and is not free. Comprehensive travel insurance with a high medical limit is not optional in the United States, and you should carry your policy number and the insurer's 24 hour number somewhere you can reach them. Urgent care clinics handle anything short of an emergency far more cheaply and quickly than an emergency room, and are the right choice for a sprain, an infection or stitches.
Official health authority: the CDC travellers' health pages, the US federal health authority for visitors. covers the US public health guidance, with the National Weather Service the authority for sneaker wave and high surf advisories on this coast
Embassy contact: the United States is the host country, so there is no US embassy to contact. Your own country's embassy is in Washington DC, with consulates in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Miami and Boston. Find yours before you travel and save the number.
Official tourism authority: Brand USA, the national tourism marketing body. covers Monterey and California visitor information, with California State Parks the authority for Point Lobos parking reservations and Caltrans the authority for Highway 1 closures south of Carmel
Takeaways
September and October are the warm clear months. August is grey.
The water is 10 to 15 degrees all year. Not a swimming coast.
Never turn your back on the ocean. Sneaker waves kill people here.
Book the aquarium before you travel. Check Caltrans before Big Sur.
Solo women safety assessment: Monterey is an easy and pleasant place to travel alone. It is a wealthy, heavily visited coastal town where Cannery Row, the wharf and the Recreation Trail are busy with people all day, a free trolley links them in season, and eating alone anywhere along the water is unremarkable. There is no district to avoid. Car break-ins at coastal pull-outs and trailheads are the realistic crime, so leave nothing visible in a vehicle. 911 REACHES POLICE, AMBULANCE AND FIRE free from any phone; Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula on Holman Highway has a 24 hour emergency department with the regional trauma centre at Natividad in Salinas; and an ocean rescue goes through 911 to the Coast Guard and local fire. THE UNITED STATES HAS NO PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE FOR VISITORS and insurance is essential. THE OCEAN HERE IS THE DANGER AND IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE ONE. The bay sits between roughly 10 and 15 degrees Celsius every month of the year, cold enough for genuine cold-water shock, which is why divers wear full wetsuits in August and why this is not a swimming coast however inviting the sand looks. More importantly, this coastline produces sneaker waves: a wave that runs far higher up the beach than the ones before it, with no warning, which takes people off rocks and off the sand and drowns several every year in California. The rules that actually prevent that are to never turn your back on the water, never stand on wet rock, and stay well back on steeply shelving beaches, of which Carmel Beach and Monastery Beach nearby are the worst offenders. The other thing to prepare for is temperature rather than risk: a foggy August morning on the wharf is colder than most visitors expect and the greyest months here are the ones they book for sunshine.
Reading On
Monterey is the northern end of the Big Sur coast and the Big Sur packing list is the essential companion, covering the Highway 1 landslide closures and the stretch south of Carmel in full, and carrying its own section on Carmel and this town. North, the San Francisco packing list is two hours away and shares this fog exactly, with the Sausalito packing list and the Oakland packing list covering the bay. South, the Los Angeles packing list and the San Diego packing list cover the warmer southern coast. Inland, the Yosemite packing list and the Mammoth Lakes packing list cover the Sierra. And because the names are one letter apart, the Monterrey packing list covers the Mexican city this town is constantly confused with. For the country, the United States travel guide for women carries the transport, the health insurance question and the regions in full. For why wool suits a cold foggy morning and a clear warm afternoon in one shirt, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
