John Fitzsimons
The next time you are in San Francisco and have some time on your hands, instead of heading north for Napa give a thought to travelling south to Monterey to do some ocean kayaking to get away from the frenzy of the city. Unlike a lot of places on the Pacific coast, because of its semi protected nature you can actually kayak on the ocean at Monterey Bay without fear of giant waves and with easy access from numerous sandy beaches. And the water is relatively warm by Pacific Ocean standards, although you’ll still need a wetsuit. In past I had confined my Pacific Ocean kayaking to inlets where the school bus size of the rocks comprising the local jetty provided some sense of the size and power of the waves that can be encountered by the ocean.
I have been fortunate to attend a few fisheries conferences in the Monterey area even though the sardines that made the setting for many of John Steinbeck novels famous are long since gone. In contrast to the systematic hauling away of sardines in tiny cans during the last century, the area, thanks to a number of acts passed in the 1970s and high biological productivity, is now brimming with abundant natural resources including seals, sea lions, sea otters and the occasional whale. It’s quite easy to kayak amongst 400 kg barking sea lions that inhabit the supports underneath the many fishing piers. Don’t be surprised to turn a corner under the wharves and be confronted by five or six of them; other than their great bulk they seem relatively harmless. On one trip, the inner harbour was overrun with pups that reportedly were so numerous that they sank some of the boats they hauled out on. Although they gave the sit atop I had a look on several occasions, fortunately they gave it a pass and I paddled out to less travelled waters.
Sea otters, a species that was decimated up and down the Pacific Coast by fur traders during the 1800s and 1900s, are relatively numerous in Monterey Bay where they are associated with the extensive kelp beds slightly offshore of Monterey Bay and Pacific Grove. In the area, sea otters represent a keystone species by eating sea urchins and other invertebrates that can graze so heavily on kelp forests as to destroy them and the habitat opportunities they provide for fish species in the area. When approaching a sea otter on the bay it’s not hard to see how they were so readily exterminated by hunters as they seem incredibly docile and naïve and will allow kayakers to approach so close as to be able to touch them, although this is not advised as there are heavy fines for harassment.
For surfing enthusiasts, by paddling northeast from Monterey Bay, paddlers can access swells of increasing size without the need to paddle through large surf. There are numerous kayak rental outlets in the Monterey Bay area renting all range of kayaks, although enclosed kayaks seem to come with the need to show some evidence of proficiency. Rates are quite reasonable by southern Ontario standards and usually include a wetsuit.
Eateries are numerous along the shoreline of Monterey Bay and Pacific Grove where all manner of take out facilities are accessible merely by pulling out on a nearby beach. Paddlers can also view from the water the Monterey Bay Aquarium, one of the finest in North America, which houses a three story high aquarium and some of the most stunning jelly fish exhibits anywhere, all housed in an old cannery building.
o get on the water early in the morning you can stay at one of the many hotels in the Monterey area or camp, although local opportunities for camping are quite limited. I stayed in Big Sur which is just south of Monterey Bay past Carmel-by-the-Sea, a town whose architecture is truly unique and which Clint Eastwood presided over as mayor some time back. The redwood trees of Big Sur, which you are able to camp beside, are truly humbling in their size, with the origin of many dating well back into the 1800s. All in all, it is well worth a visit.