Beautiful beaches on my California trip

Carmel Beach

We visited a string of beaches on our California trip -- from Pismo through Carmel, Monterey, and Santa Cruz. I loved them all, but my favorite was Carmel for its wide soft sandy expanse and its background beauty of cypress trees. We saw a lot of happy dogs on this beach.

Pt. Lobos

The views of the water from Pt. Lobos State Natural Reserve, also in Carmel, are breathtaking, with the water colors ranging from light aqua to turquoise to a deep cobalt blue. In contrast to gentle waves on the sandy Carmel Beach, the ocean here crashes against high rocky cliffs topped with gnarled cypress trees.

Pismo Beach

 

The busiest beach we visited was Pismo -- probably because it was a warm, sunny Sunday. Here we saw surfers, waders, walkers, sand castle builders, even horses.

Santa Cruz boardwalk and beach

The famed Santa Cruz Boardwalk, with its carnival rides and bright splashy colors, was like a ghost town. We had it practically to ourselves on a sunny weekday morning.

We spent hours wandering along the boardwalk and wide beach and watching the shore birds and noisy sea lions.

Later we came back for a fish dinner at Woodie's on the wharf with a great sunset view from our table.

Monterey Bay waterfront

The waterfront here was full of boats and people. A little crowd of us watched these sea otters rolling in the water. 

Sea otter fact: Instead of blubber, sea otters have the densest fur of any mammal, about a million hairs per square inch. An undercoat and longer top coat trap air, preventing water from ever touching their skin. But the otters must spend hours a day grooming their coats to keep it in good condition.

 

One sunny morning we boarded the Princess Monterey for a whale watching trip ...

... only to be engulfed by fog and frigid wind as soon as we headed out to sea. Can you tell we're cold?

But somehow the boat's captain and naturalist found this humpback whale and her baby sleeping at the surface. We watched for quite awhile before heading back toward shore and away from the fog. On the way we got a closeup view of the barking sea lions that blend in with the rocks. Most of the sea lions we saw were males. The females stay elsewhere, according to our naturalist, but I can't remember where.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

This place is amazing! It was my third time there in about 25 years, and it just gets better and better. We spent six hours wandering through the exhibits of everything from sharks to jellyfish to shore birds.

View from a deck at the aquarium.

This shore bird wasn't shy! A favorite spot for me was behind the glass as big waves crashed over me and into a tide pool. I easily could've spent a few more hours there, but it was nearing closing time so we headed out with some good memories.

Have a colorful day