03 October 2012

Kayaking in Monterey Bay

One weekend while I was in California last month, my parents, myself, and my future sister-in-law hopped in the car and headed up to Monterey to visit my brother at his University.  The timing couldn't have worked out more perfectly since I was already planning on heading up North for a blate with miss Hayley and to help send Mckenzie off to the Peace Corps.


We arrived in Monterey late Friday afternoon to the most beautiful sunny weather!  My mom and I enjoyed a nice jog along the ocean that evening and then the five of us headed out for a delicious dinner at Montrio Bistro.  The following morning we were up early and ready to take advantage of another gorgeous day and after enjoying a huge breakfast at First Awakenings we hopped on over to the beach to rent kayaks.

My parents and I jumped into a three-seater kayak and my brother and Robyn chose a two-seater.  We paddled our way out past the harbor and into a little bay filled with a kelp forest.  On the way we passed a ton of sea lions with many of them swimming right next to the kayaks in order to scope out all of the action.  Super cute, but also super smelly, ha!  

Once we had navigated our way into the bay itself we were excited to see a few otters floating on their backs in the kelp beds.  At one point we even spotted a little baby otter swimming after its mother, although I wasn't quick enough to snap a photo of it!  After about an hour of drifting around the bay, we decided to slowly make our way back to the beach and call it a day.


Overall the experience was a ton of fun and something I would recommend to anyone visiting the Monterey Bay area.  Although this wasn't my first time ocean kayaking, it was my first time kayaking in Monterey and definitely ranks as my best kayak experience yet.  Being able to get so close to otters in their natural habitat was really neat and definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

The only thing that was a little bit scary for me at first was the fact that there were a ton of jellyfish everywhere.  I happen to be absolutely terrified of jellyfish, so knowing that they were just a "tip" away took some getting used to!  For the first 15 or 20 minutes I just kept repeating "This is really fun, but it's also really terrifying!"  After awhile I forgot about them though, and just started to enjoy all of the other wildlife and scenery ;)

If you're a beginner or are hesitant about getting out on the water on your own, Monterey Bay Kayaks also offers group tours led by a guide which looked like a lot of fun!

16 comments:

  1. You heart must have melted, I freaking love otters. At least you guys didn't have crocs and hippos!

    Now I miss kayaking all together! Maybe we should join a kayaking or rowing club here? What about the one in emmarentia?

    Were you stiff the next day?

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  2. This looks so awesome! And I'm terrified of jelly fish also.

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  3. so awesome! I loved monterrey when I was there, and I remember there being SOOO many sea lions! So seeing the pictures brought me right back :)

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  4. I have yet to kayak although I would really like to try it! I'm a bit scared of (deep) water and the thought of tipping gives me heart palpitations! I imagine that if I could just get over the anxiety, it would be a really cool experience!

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  5. how fun! my husband has been wanting to go kayaking in monterey bay for so long! you got some great pictures.

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  6. Wow seems like you had a lot of fun!

    http://johced-ourjourneytoeverywhere.blogspot.com/
    xxx

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  7. Beautiful pics Jen! And no worries, I would also be petrified of the jellyfish - those stings are not fun :(
    x

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  8. So fun! Kayaking is one of my favorite things to do.

    I'm hosting a link party all about traveling and experiencing different places. This post would be perfect. So come link up! :)

    http://letbirdzfly.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-places-youll-go-travel-party-10.html

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  9. This looks like so much fun and the sky was so blue the day you went! Definitely going to have to do this when we go back to Monterrey one day! xoxo

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  10. wow!! i totally wanted to do that when i went there! you guys had beautiful weather!

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  11. that would be totally fun!!! and yah, i think the jelly fish would be a downside!

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  12. I live in Monterey! You were in my town! :) Next time you're here, check out the Crown & Anchor...a great pub with REALLY good food.

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  13. I have a few unfortunate "tip the boat" stories. Of course it was in a canoe and of course there's nothing more to be afraid of than a boyscout laughing because I've sunk the canoe, while still on shore, and an occasional catfish. Hello, Texas.

    Looks like fun though! The pics are great!

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  14. That looks like so much fun! And you managed to get some great shots of the otters too!
    The kayaks kinda look like bananas in one of the photos! :)

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  15. Australia Kayaks! The two just go together, don’t they? Kayaks for fishing, does a man need anything else?

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Thanks for the love!