Whale Watching in Monterey & 17-Mile-Drive

Wednesday, 10/10/18:

6.00 o'clock..... and my first thought: 'Damn, 1 cider too many the night before'. Nevertheless, we managed to be at Old Fisherman's Wharf No. 1 at 8.15 o'clock to pick up our tickets for the whale watching tour. We had been looking forward to this tour for a long time and hoped to see many whales. The trip started at 9.00... out of the harbor, past seals sunning themselves on the rocks, out into the Monterey Bay.

The bay stretches with a diameter of 40km from Santa Cruz in the north to Monterey in the south. Mostly only 30m deep, in the middle is the Monterey Canyon... up to 3,600m deep, it extends 150km into the Pacific. The gorge is home to up to 70m long kelps and is a paradise for 1000 species. We hoped to see one of them today.

We have already been able to observe seals several times on our journey... but it is always fun to watch the animals in their natural environment.

After a while, the first humpback whales also appeared. They waved with their fins, clapped them on the water and even jumped out of the water. Unbelievable!!! We would have loved to see them up close, but even from a distance it was an incredible experience. Everyone stared at the water with anticipation and again and again a whale emerged somewhere.

In addition, whole herds of sea lions and dolphins were swimming and jumping around. We were all thrilled.

After 3 hours we were back in the harbor - happy, but totally frozen (at least I was). So I warmed up with a portion of clam chowder.

After a short rest - we were reeeeally tired - we went out again. We had a quick bite to eat and then went to Carmel to take a ride on the 17-Mile Drive. There were so many views, bays, beaches... that were beautiful despite the unfortunately rather cool weather and grey sky.

In the evening, we only stocked up with some food from the supermarket and ate in our room, which is called 'Jennifer's Room' by the way. We were extremely tired. We were so tired all day, like never before on this vacation... possibly a combination of being woken up at 6.00 for almost 4 weeks, the fresh sea air, the slightly shorter night, and the cider... which tasted like apple juice, but hit harder than a beer... :)

Regards, Steffi