Sea Kayaking With Monterey Bay Kayaks In Monterey, CA

I was able to sea kayak twice while we were in California. The first was part of a Christmas gift from my in-laws and the second was a gift from my own parents.

Both ended having rough weather that affected the route we were able take, but that’s the risk of sea kayaking in January and February I guess. The first one was still nice, but the second was very memorable since we were able to see so much wildlife.

The kayak with Monterey Bay Kayaks is designed to see the sea lions and sea otters that live along the coast, but we weren’t sure we’d be able to see the sea otters with the rough seas. We did see them though and other marine wildlife as well.

It was only me and another family, so with our guide, Vince, we headed out to brave the waves and find the animals. The entire staff at Monterey Bay Kayaks tried to be optimistic about the sea otters but were also clearly trying to be realistic about our chances. There was a lot of “It’s pretty rough out, but you never know, they might come in to the harbor too.” With Vince at our helm though we were not disappointed.

We started paddling out towards the marina. We needed to be careful since the wind was strong, making paddling out more challenging than it might normally be. After making our way under the pier, we picked our way along the sea wall looking for whatever we might find.

We managed to see a beautiful large orange starfish. You’ll see it in the video of our adventure at the end of the post from 0.23-0.33 seconds. One mistake I made was remembering to bring my GoPro but using the handheld mount rather than a chest or helmet mount so my videos didn’t turn out well. It’s incredibly hard to paddle AND hold your GoPro. *face palm*

As we made our way around the curve into a very calm part of the marina we saw our first sea lions. Most were playing and swimming while a few others rested on the boats and docks nearby.

Sea lions can regulate their body temperature. They stick one flipper out of the water sometimes. The capillaries are close to the surface of their skin and so the sun warms their blood more easily when it’s out of the water, causing their own body temperature to rise.

As we made our way out to the larger part of the marina we finally saw our first of three sea otter sightings. It was a mom and pup, then two solo otters. Sea otters are solitary in general, so when you see more than one together it’s likely a mom and pup.

Sea otters are an endangered species so they’re protected. You can’t get very close to them which made photographing them in the kayak more challenging. Most of the wildlife was easier to photograph from the shore and so later that afternoon I went back with my camera along with Stephen and Truffles. Those images can be found at the end of the post.

The magical part of the kayak isn’t getting to photograph them though. It’s getting to be on the water near them so you can watch their natural behaviors. Like this little otter who floated, scrubbed their face and floated lazily by.

We made our way towards the shore and stared out into the distance. Vince said there was wildlife to be seen. We looked. And looked. I asked if he meant birds. Nope. We looked. Then we were like… wait are those really rocks? Nope. Harbor seals! Just like the sea lions, you can get a better view from above – for the harbor seals you want to go to the walking and biking path along the shore.

We moved through the marina to the jetty where the sea lions and cormorants hang out. The cormorants were nesting and we could see them bring sea grasses to make their nests. They also use their poop to create a paste that will harden and keep their nest intact. They sometimes have to fight off the several hundred pound sea lions, who are flopping around on the rocks looking for a place to relax, to protect their nests.

Finally it was time to head back to shore. On the way back, past the pier, we encountered a large group of sea lions. They were closer than this picture appears and a few even swam under my boat leaving a trail of bubbles underneath me.

One thing I appreciated about using Monterey Bay Kayaks is they didn’t make us “surf” the kayaks in like the previous tour we’d done. Vince waded out and met us in the waves guiding us safely to shore.

Finally we were all back on shore. Monterey Bay Kayaks brings your kayaks out and back for you, so you just bring yourself and your paddles. We were able to use wet suits which was great on a cold and windy day like we experienced. They have a fun feet washing station which was much appreciated after our return to the sandy beach.

A few things to note – the prices were very fair for the experience we got. It was given as a gift, but the tour I did was 2.5 hours for ~$65. About 1 hour and 45 minutes of those 2.5 hours were on the water, with the other 45 minutes spent changing and getting the orientation. Make sure you bring money to tip your guide and to pay to park. Finally, they have a great gift shop to get a few fun souvenirs from your adventure, so plan accordingly.

What an experience. I highly recommend using Monterey Bay Kayaks at either location for seeing wildlife in Monterey Bay on the water. Vince was really knowledgeable, kept the animals safe while making sure we got to see as many as possible and took his time with us on the choppy, windy water. We had a great time and I’d happily do it again.

Here’s the video I made of our experience:

As I mentioned above, Stephen, Truffles and I went back in the afternoon and I got a few more pictures of the marine wildlife of Monterey Bay using my zoom lens.

These are the sea lions we saw in the large group at the end of the pier. They’re best seen at the end of Municipal Wharf #2 (you can find it here on Google Maps).

The harbor seals were best seen from the Monterey Peninsula Recreational Trail -it’s a biking and walking path. Here’s the GPS coordinates for the approximate location of the seals (36.605531, -121.894554)

One unexpected surprise was this sea bird. I could see he had something in his beak from a distance, but wasn’t able to make it out. We speculated that it was a starfish or a crab. We settled on crab. Boy were we surprised when I looked at my photos on the computer!