3 Days in Monterey Bay and Big Sur

There are so many places around San Francisco to visit! Sometimes I don’t even know what to recommend first. I for sure know though- Monterey Bay deserves every mile driven and you’re going to fall in love with it.

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Since we had already been to Santa Cruz, this time we wanted to explore the south part of the bay and combine Monterey and the nearby towns with a 1-day trip to Big Sur.

There are a few roads you can take when coming from San Francisco, but with no doubt the most scenic one is State Route 1 a.k.a. Highway 1 or California 1. This drive is considered one of the most beautiful ones in the world and this is totally deserved.

The constant temptation to stare at the view and check out the beaches is turning the driving on Highway 1 into a little bit of a “punishment”- you want to stay focused on the road, but there’s so much to take a look at. Good news is that places to pull over come one after another, so you can stop and admire as much as you want. It’s even easier when you come from the north- all the parking spots will be on your right side and pulling over is stress free.

Day 1

• Driving San Francisco – Monterey

• Old Fisherman’s Wharf

• Monterey Bay Coastal Trail

• Sister City Park

• Driving on Ocean View Boulevard

• Asilomar Beach

• Cannery Row

• Monterey Downtown

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Our Monterey trip started on a Friday morning. We left San Francisco and took south early, so we could enjoy most of the day. Clear skies, high temperatures, and gorgeous views were along with us the whole ride.

Once we arrived in Monterey, we decided to get lunch while waiting for our hotel room to be ready. First stop was the Old Fisherman’s Wharf- a historic wharf with charming restaurants, dessert places, unique stores, and many activities. Here you can try mouth watering seafood dishes (we had lunch at Café Fina and we loved the food!), homemade desserts, salt water taffy, and many more delicious temptations. Whale watching, cruises, sailing, and finishing are also offered.

I love places like Old Fisherman’s Wharf- charming and cute, crowded but with plenty of options to literally take a step and have some quietness and privacy. The view around the wharf is beautiful from all sides, but for a better experience I recommend going up on top of Rockfish Harbor Grill at the end of the wharf.

Check out some tours and activities in the area:

We checked out some shops and found a small beach, right next to the wharf. After taking some pictures, we walked on the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail, which connects Monterey Old Town with Cannery Row. This short and nice trail took us to Sister City Park- a small park with a few benches that provide an amazing view to the harbor.

Before checking in we stopped by at Del Monte Beach. One of the most popular in town with super easy access and clear sands.

The time for check in had come, so we headed to the hotel located on Del Monte Avenue- one of the main avenues in Monterey, which gave us quick access to everything we had planned. Here’s where we stayed. I love this type of accommodation- it really makes me feel like I’m on a road trip. The hotel was nothing special, we just needed the basics and the good location. I recommend it if traveling on a budget, like I do most of the time.

Find accommodation in Monterey Bay here:

Booking.com

Traveling to Monterey Bay and any spot on California’s coast absolutely requires watching the sunset from a beach or some cliffs. Monterey Peninsula offers so many good spots that I was worried we weren’t going to pick on time and we would have missed the sunset.

We decided to drive on Ocean View Boulevard- a route that goes all the way around the peninsula and makes you want to pull over literally every minute and enjoy the breathtaking views. Beach after beach, each one more beautiful than the previous one. It’s the most scenic short drive I’ve been on and it has plenty of places to pull over and take a little break or just admire nature in peace.

That’s how we ended up at Asilomar Beach. Right on time for the sunset, we parked the car up on the street and found a nice spot to observe the orange skies. Asilomar Beach is a great place to walk, sit, and enjoy the sound of the water.

Friday night was approaching so we went to check out Cannery Row – probably the most popular street in town, known for John Steinbeck’s novel that gave it the name. The street was known for its sardine canning factories located there, the last one of which closed back in 1973. John Steinbeck’s book was actually describing part of Ocean View Boulevard in Monterey, but to honor the book this part of the street was named Cannery Row. Nowadays Cannery Row still holds some of the old cannery buildings, tons of shops and places to eat. This place is also home to a large population of California sea lions.

In Cannery Row you’ll find the main attraction of Monterey- the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We had recently visited another aquarium in the Bay Area, so we decided to skip this one and spend more time outside. Maybe next time! However, if you have time I recommend going there. Also walk around, grab a dessert, buy a souvenir, and take a picture of John Steinbeck’s statue on Steinbeck Plaza.

Tickets for the aquarium here!

We couldn’t decide where to eat in Cannery Row, so we headed to Monterey Downtown and the well known Alvarado Street. Here you will definitely find every cuisine for every taste- we had a hard time picking between Mediterranean, sushi, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, burgers, and tons of other options. After the long day we ended up having dinner at Rosine’s Restaurant, which also offers amazing desserts. Check it out!

Day 2

• Big Sur

• Bixby Creek Bridge

• Big Sur River Inn

• McWay Falls

• Pfeiffer Beach

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Many people think that Big Sur is a waterfall, a beach or a designated town. Big Sir is actually a coastal region that stretches between San Simeon on the south and Carmel on the north. Miles of beaches, nature, and untouched coastline, Big Sur is one of the 35 most recommended destinations in the world.

To enjoy this endless beauty for as long as we could, we left our hotel early on a Saturday. After looking up on Yelp for a good breakfast/brunch place, we went to Pacific Grove and The Red House Cafe. The food was delicious, the service was great, and I loved the interior of the place. Stop by and grab some food if you have a chance!

Once we ate, we were ready to hit the road and drove down to Big Sur. We had a few spots we wanted to see and the rest was just going to be pulling over everywhere we wanted to take a better look.

I would recommend getting water and light snacks in advance. There are just a few places where you can get food and drinks from, but they are about 25 miles away from the last store available in Carmel (in case you come from the Monterey peninsula). Cell phone service is kind of bad or missing at some places in Big Sur, so either rely on an offline map or on signs.

Our first stop was Bixby Creek Bridge. Driving down to Big Sur you will see it anyway but, of course, a photo pause is required. Located just 13 miles (21 km) from Carmel (the south part of the Monterey peninsula), Bixby Creek Bridge is one of the most photographed bridges in California. Once it was completed, it was the highest single-span bridge in the world and even nowadays it remains one of the tallest.

Although we took amazing pictures from the right side of the road, we decided to cross and walk up for about 100 feet (30 meters), until we reached the high spot on the left side of the road. This spot is not really visible from down the road, but we read on the internet about it and knew we could go there.

The view from up there is completely different because it goes on the left side. I highly recommend trying this one after you’re done taking pictures from the right side. Please, be extremely careful when you cross the road! This is where the bridge starts and cars are coming non stop, so it’s dangerous!

After enjoying Bixby Bridge for about 20 minutes, we headed south to discover more of this incredible area. We have stopped multiple times, pretty much every time we saw something we wanted to take more pictures of. Which is literally the whole time! Driving on California Coast 1 is enjoyable enough and It is definitely going to be one of the most scenic roads you have driven on. The drivers, however, will feel like they are missing, because they need to focus on the road. The good thing is that even if it’s a highway, people don’t drive too fast here, due to the twisty road. Also everyone wants to enjoy the views, so driving kind of slow and more careful gives a chance to everyone to enjoy the picturesque views.

One of our multiple stops was Big Sur River Inn. It’s about 26 miles away from the trip start point in north- Carmel. Big Sur River Inn has a great indoor and outdoor restaurant, but you can also have a seat on one of the chairs in the river! Great way to appreciate nature and enjoy some silence. This is one of the few options to get food, drinks, souvenirs or restroom break. Don’t miss getting a magnet or a postcard from this iconic region!

Quick break was done and we drove down to McWay Falls- another of the places on our Big Sur bucket list. It’s located in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State park, part of Big Sur. The short trail takes you on the opposite side of the 80-foot-tall waterfall. You can only observe the waterfall from the point across, there’s no access down to the beach. The fee to enter the park with a car is $10. If you don’t want to pay, you can find a place on the road before the entrance and leave your car there.

The third place we really wanted to see was Pfeiffer Beach. Situated in Los Padres National Forest, this beach is popular for its patches of purple sand and the Keyhole Rock. This amazing place looks like it’s from a different world! No wonder it is one of the most photographed spots in Big Sur.

Pfeiffer beach is really popular, but I must say they definitely didn’t do a good job for tourists to find it easy. We missed the exit twice and somehow found it, even without a sign. It’s an almost 180 degree turn and it’s really easy to miss it from the main road. If you don’t know it’s there, you’ll most likely not even see it. Of course, cell phone service was either one bar or none at this spot, so maps were not helpful. A $10 fee is required to enter and note that on a really busy day it might be full, so you’ll probably have to wait until someone leaves and they let you in. The 2-mile drive down to the beach takes about 15 minutes, since the road is pretty twisty and narrow. 

It’s all worth it at the end. There’s something mysterious about Pfeiffer Beach and I felt kind of weird staring at the big whole in the middle of the rocks. We stayed and watched the sunset and it definitely was one for the record books!

Big Sur is one of those destinations where you probably can go without a plan- just pull over multiple times and enjoy the views. Every place will be different and you will find something new to see every time you stop the car. There are plenty or parking spots and spaces for that and this is the beauty of Big Sur. You can literally drive without having a clue what to see and still explore the area.

If you want to at least make a short list of things to see, I recommend taking a look at beaches on the map. Check which one you would like to visit and go find the directions to it. As I said, service is not really good in some parts of Big Sur, so you better be prepared. There are so many places to see there, that if you want to explore more you’ll need to book a room and stay for a few days at least. I really think this is the ultimate 1-day guide for Big Sur, since it combines 3 of the top 5 places in the area to explore. 

After a long exploring day among nature, it was finally time for us to go back to Monterey and grab a bite. Some people we met earlier recommended Hula’s Island Grill, so we headed there for some Hawaiian meals. The food was amazing, big portions, and a great atmosphere!

Day 3

• El Estero Lake

• Carmel-by-the-sea

• Ocean Avenue

• Carmel Mission Basilica

• Driving back home on Highway 1

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The morning when we left our hotel, we decided to enjoy a short coffee break at El Estero Lake in Monterey, before we headed to our last destination. This small lake is located right next to the busy Del Monte Avenue and it’s a great escape from the crowd. You can rent a boat or just sit on one of the benches and enjoy the sunlight on the water. Right across is Monterey Bay Park, with an access to Del Monte Beach.

Carmel-by-the-sea is a small charming town at the south end of the Monterey peninsula, which is known for its galleries, museums, and art shops. This was also our last stop before going back to San Francisco.

Parking in Carmel-by-the-sea was easy even on a Sunday and we got to walk just a few blocks until we hit Ocean Avenue- one of the most popular streets with multiple options to eat and spend money. Plenty of restaurants, shops, galleries, and other cute small businesses.

We had brunch at Tuck Box and went on a walk around the streets of Carmel. 

After exploring the main street, we decided to drive around and enjoy some beach views. The main Carmel beach was super packed, so we couldn’t find a parking spot. Instead, we kept driving and stopped to see the Carmel Mission Basilica.

Taking Highway 1 back home was the best decision, even if we spent a good amount of time in traffic. I still wouldn’t have picked another road. All the way from Santa Cruz to Pacifica you’ll be rewarded with amazing beaches, cliff views, and sand dunes ready to be explored.

Find car rentals for a road trip here:

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Have you ever been to any of those places? What other spots have you discovered in the area? Let me know in the comments below!

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We live on a blue planet that circles around a ball of fire next to a moon that moves the sea and you don’t believe in miracles?

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