Monterey Bay is a beautiful city along the Pacific coastline. Around 120 miles from San Francisco and with it’s beautiful coastline and amazing food, it makes a perfect vacation spot or a day trip if you live around the San Francisco bay area. Not just the adults kids can have an amazing time visiting Monterey.
Today I am sharing five things to do in Monterey Bay while traveling with kids. While it’s great to travel with kids, managing your itinerary for the day could sometimes be challenging. So, I am keeping the list limited to Monterey Bay by not including things to do in the nearby cities. This is a one day itinerary but if your are visiting Monterey for more than a day you can visit the nearby cities which are just as amazing. In fact, I would recommend spending at least 2 days in the Monterey county. I will briefly mention what can you do on your second day later in the post.
But now, let’s get to the five things in Monterey Bay that I would like to talk about.
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of the best aquariums I have been to so far. It’s huge with lot of exhibits and it’s a beautiful way to see the underwater life without diving into the ocean. The colorful fishes, interesting jelly fishes are a treat to your eyes. You can easily spend 2-3 hours of your day enjoying the marine life. Their tide simulator is one of my favorite experience in the museum.
Monterey Bay aquarium is located on the cannery row and the address is mentioned below.
886 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA 93940
Cannery Row
After your visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, it might be a good idea to take a stroll down the Cannery Row. With unique stores and amazing food it’s a perfect spot to take the feel of Monterey. On a hot summer day, be sure to stop by the Ghirardelli store for some ice cream that you can enjoy by the beautiful Pacific ocean.
Fisherman’s Wharf
Fisherman’s wharf is another attraction that you cannot miss to actually experience Monterey’s history. There is a custom house that you can visit or just walk down the street full of stores and restaurants. Look at the blue waters from the public view deck for some amazing views.
It’s so fun for the kiddos to just walk down the wharf climb up these structures, pretend to be a pirate and also practise tying a sail knot.
Beaches
This can go without saying, when you are traveling with kids to the bay you have to hit the beach. Monterey has some of the most beautiful beaches along the pacific coast. When we are traveling we don’t take any of our sand toys, we just want our daughter to explore the beach/nature to the fullest and not limiting herself just to playing with the toys from home.
The San Carlos beach at the cannery row is one of the beaches we like to go while we are in Monterey Bay .
The low tides reveal the wonderful rocks and the marine life forming on the rocks.
Just keep in mind beaches in this area can be chilly and foggy at times. Make sure to pack a layer for warmth.
Dennis the Menace Playground
Dennis the Menace playground is a perfect place to end your day and let the kids burn off some energy post dinner. It’s a beautiful playground with unique play structures that every child will enjoy. This playground is designed in such way as to have enough room to run around and make playtime more interesting with massive rock climbing walls and mazes to get lost. I guess this is one of those playgrounds where the moms and dads can bring out the inner child in them and enjoy with the little ones.
Here’s the address to Dennis the Menace Playground :
725 Pearl St, Monterey, CA 93940
On our Monterey bucket list, we have going on a whale watching tour still unchecked. If you have older kids you can go on one of the whale watching tours. Most companies don’t allow kids under the age of five. Make sure to check that information before booking tickets if you have younger kids.
Where we stayed:
Monterey Bay Inn
Monterey Bay Inn is located on the Cannery row right by the ocean. They have beautiful ocean front rooms that you can choose from. One of the advantages of being in this hotel is its proximity to the San Carlos beach and downtown. The free breakfast delivered to the room included mini sweet croissants, some fruit and packaged yogurt plus coffee/tea. It was kind of a disappointment for us as everything was sweet and we would have liked some bread or cereal with milk.
242 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA 93940
Where we ate:
Namaste Indian Restaurant
We ate dinner at the the Namaste Indian restaurant at the Monterey downtown. The food and service were both amazing and the ambience was just perfect. The only downside was there weren’t many vegetarian entree options to choose from.
If you are craving for some Indian food this place might be worth trying.
538 Lighthouse Ave, Monterey, CA 93940
Favorite Bakery/Cafe in Monterey:
Paris Bakery
It’s a cute little cafe and one of our favorite cafes in Monterey. They have delicious sweet treats and coffee. I really enjoy their almond croissant.
Here is where to find it:
271 Bonifacio Pl, Monterey, CA 93940
These are some of the things you could do on your next trip to Monterey Bay, CA. As I said earlier if you are staying for more than a day then definitely add Pacific Grove, Carmel by the Sea and drive to Big Sur to your itinerary. They are all near by cities and are just as amazing as Monterey and they will perfectly fit into a 2-3 days itinerary.
I hope this post was helpful and gave you some ideas on planning your next vacation to Monterey, California.