Day 5 – Monterey Bay Whale Watching // Monterey 2024

Isaac Church — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 03:30:57 +0000

Today is a very exciting day, as we’re doing something unlike anything we’ve ever done before! Faith and I are headed on a whale-watching tour. We are leaving Walker at the house to play with his cousins, since the boat company doesn’t allow children under 3 (they actually don’t technically allow pregnant women either, but we talked them into it).

Breakfast

After feeding Walker breakfast, Faith and I headed to Captain + Stoker to grab some breakfast and coffee. Faith got a flat white, I got a pour over, and we got a couple pastries (vanilla cream filled bun and an orange-cinnamon morning bun) to split, plus a little something for later.

Captain + Stoker

The coffee was just as excellent as before, as were the pastries..

Captain + Stoker

Monterey, CA

Excellent coffee, pastries, and atmosphere. My only complaint is the shortage of seating.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Fisherman's Wharf

We arrived at the marina, only to find out that boarding had been delayed until 10:00 due to [rough seas, I think]. The guides advised us to go ahead and take two Meclizine (Dramamine) to get it active in our system to prevent seasickness, especially for Faith since she’s pregnant (we had cleared it with her midwife beforehand). To kill some time, Faith and I walked around the Old Fisherman’s Wharf, observed some of the Monterey Car Week exhibitions, and explored more of the waterfront area.

Fisherman's Wharf

There were an immense amount of sea lions, which were both extremely loud and smelly. We stopped in a public restroom on the wharf – it was definitely the loudest restroom I’ve ever been in, as there were hundreds of sea lions barking directly beneath me, below the pier!

Fisherman's Wharf

Crêpes-in-Waiting

Monterey Car Week

After walking past several lots full of cars that are each worth more than our house, we came across a French crêperie, and decided to stop in for a lemon-sugar crêpe as a snack.

Crêpes of Brittany

Monterey, CA

Great crêpes in a cozy little cafe. Very good service, and the owners were very nice. A great place to find refuge indoors on a chilly morning, accompanied by some hot breakfast.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

After finishing off the delicious crêpe and filling up our waters, we strolled through more of the car show displays, and slowly made our way back to the boat docks.

Monterey Car Week

A Whale of a Time

Boarding the Sea Wolf II, we sailed out of the harbor and headed out towards open water. First, it’s worth talking about why Monterey is such a big whale-watching destination in the first place. The Monterey Canyon, a mile-deep submarine canyon, is just offshore, and provides ample depth for deep-water species of marine mammals and fish to come very close to the coastline and stay there for extended periods of time.

Monterey Canyon

You can read more on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary’s website.

The ride out to the canyon was very rough on the choppy water. People were getting seasick left and right. I had never been out on the open ocean in a boat this small, but I gathered it’s not usually that bad. The crew offered lots of ginger chews, additional Meclizine, and reminded everyone to keep their eyes on the horizon line. Overall, they were very helpful and reassuring to those who got sick, although some people were clearly not suited for the voyage.

Soon, we got closer to the canyon – far enough out that we couldn’t see land in any direction, and the crew began to talk us through the aforementioned geography. They also reminded everyone of the spotting procedures; we were supposed to call out the location of any sightings using the “clock” system. Soon, we saw lots of birds hovering over the surface of the water, a sure sign there was a whale nearby.

Then, boom! Out of nowhere, a humpback breached out of the water, twice in a row. I was actually the first one to spot it, and called out, “two o’clock”. I managed to fire off a burst with my camera, but unfortunately my lens instantly fogged up when I took the cover off, so my photos are mostly blurry.

Monterey Bay Whale Watch

After a short lull, we saw two more humpbacks working together to corral their lunch. They put on quite the show for us, and would stay nearby for a while.

Monterey Bay Whale Watch

We ran across pod after pod of humpbacks, and some of them got extremely close to our boat. One of them actually went underneath our both, which literally took our breath away! It came so close I probably could’ve reached over the side and touched it as it went by.

Eventually, we got caught in “whale jail”. It’s illegal to run the boat motor when whales are within a certain distance, and we were surrounded by [I have no idea how many, but definitely more than 12] humpbacks at one point. We were at the mercy of the rolling ocean, and the boat was rocking side to side at a greater-than-45-degree angle. This triggered another round of seasickness for some people, but Faith and I had crested the proverbial hill and our inner ears were in great shape by this point. At the end of this post, there’s a video I took towards the end when the boat stabilized and I was finally able to get my phone out without hanging onto the railing for dear life.

Monterey Bay Whale Watch

After breaking out of whale jail, I looked down and noticed some friendly creatures bumping our boat and playing with each other. Our guide told us these were Dall’s porpoises, a lightning-fast marine mammal that can dive over 1,600′ deep and swim at over 36 MPH.

At one point, we saw a blue whale surface very briefly, but I was not able to get a picture of it. We saw lots of other creatures either briefly or from a distance, including a couple other types of whales. Up close, we saw lots of seals, sea lions, and sea otters.

Monterey Bay Whale Watch

Doll's Porpoise

Here’s the official/final list of marine wildlife spotting from the boat company:

17 humpback whales (tail throwing, lunge-feeding)
1 blue whale
5 fin whales
1 minke whale
4 Pacific white-sided dolphins
7 Dall’s porpoises

Land, Ho!

The ride back in towards the shore was much smoother. The Meclizine was really kicking in now, so the gentle rocking of the boat almost lulled us to sleep. We were both thankful for the anti-nausea medicine, otherwise I don’t think we’d have enjoyed the trip at all. We arrived back in the Monterey harbor, greeted by the of US Coast Guard station, docks, fishing piers, and the barking of the sea lions.

Monterey Bay

I don’t give star ratings to activities (just food), but I would recommend this as a must-do experience in Monterey, or in California/on the west coast, for that matter.

Snacks, House, Snacks, House

Quite famished from the deep-sea excursion, we decided to get a bowl of the famous clam chowder from Old Fisherman’s Grotto. It was delicious – definitely the best chowder I’ve ever had. When we ordered, the cashier headed back into the kitchen and brought out a guy who was definitely my doppelgänger, short red beard and all. I should’ve taken a selfie with him. Also pictured below is the final spinach and Gruyère pastry from Captain + Stoker that we ate as a snack on the boat. It was also delicious.

Sitting on a bench, we simultaneously enjoyed our chowder and a view of the harbor, and then headed back to the house for the afternoon.

Old Fisherman's Grotto

Monterey, CA

The best clam chowder I’ve ever had.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

I was struggling immensely to stay awake, and was still pretty hungry, so I decided to run back out for another snack and some caffeine. First, I stopped at Captain + Stoker (again), this time to get a kouing amann (French butter cake pronounced “koon-ya-mahn”) and a Guatemalan pour over. Then, I headed to downtown and got a cardamom morning bun from Ad Astra Bread Co., and a small sample cup of fantastic olive oil ice cream from Revival Ice Cream. The morning bun was fine, but a bit dry and definitely overpriced, while the ice cream was excellent. Best of all, there was no line, and I got a couple pints (bees knees and dark chocolate) to-go for later this week.

Captain + Stoker

Revival Ice Cream

Ad Astra Bred Co.

Revival ice Cream

Monterey, CA

Though expensive, this is excellent ice cream. You need to get the olive oil!

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Back at the house, I chugged my coffee down in hopes that it would wake me up. Instead, I think the caffeine acted as an accelerant for the Meclizine, because I fell asleep (completely zonked) almost immediately on the couch, and didn’t remember anything until William woke me up a few hours later.

Dinner

After a short trip back to the neighborhood park, we regrouped for dinner back at the house – this time having Asian shrimp stir-fry.

Asian stiry-fry

Lamborghini

I headed back out to fill up the car with petrol at a very tight-squeeze station, made a brief stop to take photos of the sunset and another high-dollar sports car at Del Monte Beach, and then returned back to the house.

Del Monte Beach

We all headed to bed early, exhausted from a long day. All our appendices were very sore from stabilizing ourselves on the boat!

Video

Here’s a short video from today’s adventures.

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “the whales lunge feeding”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the clam chowder, and all the pastries”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “the whale going under our boat”.

The best thing I ate today was… “clam chowder”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, we’re headed south on the Pacific Coast Highway.

– Isaac, Faith, and Walker

Monterey Bay Whale Watch

The post Day 5 – Monterey Bay Whale Watching // Monterey 2024 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

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Day 5 – Monterey Bay Whale Watching // Monterey 2024

Breakfast

Captain + Stoker

Monterey, CA

Fisherman's Wharf

Crêpes-in-Waiting

Crêpes of Brittany

Monterey, CA

A Whale of a Time

Land, Ho!

Snacks, House, Snacks, House

Old Fisherman's Grotto

Monterey, CA

Revival ice Cream

Monterey, CA

Dinner

Video

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

Faith

Conclusion