Monterey CA Tender Dock - Public Tours

[John99]

Monterey CA Tender Dock - Public Tours

Retired couple will be in Monterey October 3^rd on the Star Princess from 8:00am to 5:00pm. 

Do they have tours in the tender dock area you can sign up for?  We're looking at three tours.

17 Mile Drive

whale watching 

Carmel city tour 

Any suggestions?

Thanks, John

 

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

We visit Monterey 2-3 times a year for the last +50 years.  We use to ride the Harley three hours just for lunch at Old Fisherman's Grotto.  

 

The cruise ship tenders to the end of Fisherman's Wharf.  There are at least four whale watching tours that leave less than 200 feet from where you will dock.  We like  http://www.montereybaywhalewatch.com/   We went one day to take the grandson and they told us it was very rough and if you get sea sick don't go, we didn't.  They could have just as easily taken our money and watched us barf.   You can track the sightings on their www site to determine if it's worthwhile or not to even go out. 

 

If you want to see Carmel then just UBER over, walk the town, and UBER back.   Seventeen Mile Drive is interesting but wouldn't be top of my list; unless I was spending the night, enjoying the sunset and bagpiper at Spanish Bay.     

 

The amount of time you have I would do the whale watching and maybe walk downtown Carmel.  Maybe walk Cannery Row and/or visit the Aquarium.  Whale watching can take several hours so you might not have much time left over.  There is also a nice plaza area just a short walk from the pier if you are running short of time.  There's a nice brew pub Peter B's attached to the Monterey Plaza Hotel.

 

Old Fisherman's Grotto on the pier is a great place to eat.  It's our go to spot.  We have experimented with other places but are always disappointed.   

[John99]

Thanks for the information.

We’ll check our Monterey Bay Watch and others for sure.  The weather will be factor if we decided.

 

I goggled Old Fisherman Grotto and it looks like a winner.  DW really likes fish.  The photos of menu items look great.  If time allows we’ll give it a try.  What are San Drabs “fresh from the bay”??

How far is the Monterey Plaza Hotel from the pier?  We may take a walk over there to check it out.

John

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

Sanddab is a flatfish that mostly lays flat on the ocean bottom.  They usually cut the meat into rounds that remind me of scallops.  It's been awhile since I ate any but I recall they are tasty.  It's a super sustainable fish.   Calamari is our go to food at OFG.  When in season the squid boats fill Monterey Bay at night and make it look like a big lighted mall parking lot.

From the foot of the pier to the plaza is maybe 350 yards of easy flat ground.  There's plenty to stop and see on the walk.  There's the Old Customs House.  Monterey was the first capital of CA.  There's some nice art galleries along the way, including a nice Dali gallery.  If it's the weekend there's always some sort of event happening on the plaza.    I just Google Mapped it and there's a huge tent covering the plaza so there must have been something going on that day.   

 

    

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

The local AM news just ran a story that there are so many sharks in the bay they are running shark watching tours in addition to whale.  They showed the sharks coming right up to the boat.  The segment was shot on one of the Stagnaro boats.    

Edited July 12, 2019 by ATSEAMYLIFE