Our day started again with a fantastic breakfast in glorious sunshine. Then we packed our suitcases into the car and off we went to... Highway No. 1. We drove around the bay towards the coast. However, this took longer than we had expected, and when we finally caught sight of the ocean… we didn't see much except fog and a bit of sea.
We drove straight onto the highway and immediately noticed that, despite the fog/clouds, the coast was beautiful. We stopped at various viewpoints, where parking was mostly prohibited, to take photos of the cliffs. Suddenly, a police car pulled up right next to us. I thought we were in trouble because we were parked illegally. But no, they were more concerned about us, because the prohibition wasn't there for no reason: the cliffs It's apparently very unpredictable and could crash. So we decided to continue driving.
Mavericks Surf Spot – Highway No. 1
Our first scheduled stop was Mavericks Surfspot. We parked a little way off the highway and walked for 15 minutes along the Half Moon Bay around a military base. When we arrived at the beach, we discovered that the fog was still stubbornly clinging to the coast, and the sun was only shining inland. The waves weren't high enough for surfing, so there wasn't a surfer in sight. A shame, but the short walk was lovely nonetheless!
Pigeon Point Light Station - Highway No. 1
After that we drove to Pigeon Point Light Station. There is also a youth hostel here, next to the old lighthouse. The rest is a small museum and a gift shop.
From a small wooden terrace, you have a fantastic view of the cliffs. If the clouds drift by, some sunshine even reaches this idyllic lighthouse. Definitely worth a stop!
17 Miles Drive – Highway No. 1
On our way to 17-Mile Drive We drove through Moss Landing. We had originally planned to stop there, but due to the late hour, we left this fishing village behind. Monterey After passing by, we headed towards the 17-Mile Drive. We paid at the entrance booth (10 $) and off we went.California's most beautiful coastal stretch.
The grounds and the drive are private and dotted with truly elegant houses. Unfortunately, the weather thwarted our plans. The clouds rolled in again, and fog clung to the coastline. Inland, the sun was still shining, but here it looked like it was about to rain, though thankfully it didn't. Even so, the scenic drive was worth every penny! It doesn't lose any of its beauty, even in this weather.
We stopped at all the viewpoints marked on the map (which we got at the entrance building). At one of them, the smell was so incredibly strong – fish, toilets, and all sorts of other things – that we thought was coming from the toilet block in the parking lot. But no, there were hundreds of sea lions lying on the rocks off the coast, which we only spotted after several minutes. They were so far away that we couldn't really see them, but we could smell them. They really should take a shower. ;)
The houses along 17-Mile Drive were quite large and expensive, not always particularly attractive, but that's a matter of opinion. The entire private estate is essentially a huge golf course. We watched a few older gentlemen putting. We imagine many wealthy Americans have their retirement homes here. Among all the upscale houses, there was also a very cute little one, like a witch's cottage.
A beautiful feature of this coast are the cypress trees, which bend under the storms and thus take on very interesting shapes. We only know them from Tuscany, tall and pointed. Some trees were so deformed by the storm that they had neither leaves nor needles nor bark. Like the Ghost Tree, for example, which must look eerie in the fog.
More impressions
Carmel – Highway No. 1
We continued on to Carmel, which is considered Artists' Place It's well known that it's very expensive here, and all we could find were luxury shops. But we weren't interested in those; we wanted to go to the beach. We parked right in front and walked a little way. If the clouds hadn't been so thick off the coast, we could have seen a romantic sunset. That was my plan, but oh well, you can't have everything.
Our hotel for tonight is located in Marina, just before Monterey, and is the Ramada Marina. Not the prettiest hotel, but it was clean. We had a huge Domino's pizza and garlic bread for dinner. We were stuffed! :)
Are you still looking for a suitable hotel in Marina?
You can find a hotel to suit your budget via various online travel agencies such as Agoda, Booking.com, ebookers.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, lastminute.com, otel.com or Venere.com.
The next day we continued along Highway 1 from Marina to Morro Bay. You can find the post here. here.
