Going whale watching was one of the highlights of the trip for me. I'd always wanted to do this, even back in Boston, but we were in the dead of winter when MJ and Meg arrived and the season had closed by then. And when spring came, we didn't manage to get round to it. We were in for a surprise because whale watching in the Pacific ocean happens all year round while it only opens from spring to October in the East coast. I had moderate expectations about actually seeing whales but when we got to the Monterey Bay Whale Watching Center, one of the two more well known whale watching groups in Monterey, we saw a sign that said the group that went out the day before had seen about 70 whales! I couldn't believe it, that it's possible to see so many whales in one outing! Just as my hopes were climbing, the guide said that the whales can disappear overnight, just like that. So even though the group before us saw 70, we might see just a handful if at all, or we might see more or none... it's hard to predict. We ended up seeing 100 (so they say) but I only saw about maybe 40! I wasn't looking out at sea all the time so I missed many. They count every spray from the whale's blowhole even if it's miles away if they can see it. That's how they get the 100 figure. Well they did spot the whales! Some of them came so close to our boat, it was just breathtaking. We mainly saw Humpback whales, no gray whales as we were a little early in the season for them. The 4.5-hour outing came and went too quickly and even Emma, who was initially a little angsty about the cold got quite excited and enjoyed watching the humpback whales glide along the surface of the water and the sea lions and seagulls swimming alongside and above them. It was quite a sight (and smell!) that everyone should experience at least once in their life. I'm so grateful we got the opportunity to do so.
We started off our journey with a sighting of a school of Risso's dolphins. Their fins looked like shark fins! This species of dolphins is one of the larger members of the dolphin family. They are grey in colour with extensive white scarring caused by bites or parasites.
I strongly recommend going with this group, the Monterey Bay Whale Watching Center. Their guides are very passionate and even though they take people out twice a day, their enthusiasm is still high and you can tell that they love whales and want to share that with you. It costs usd$49 for adults and usd$39 for children. It's free for kids under 3. We managed to get a $4 discount off each ticket as Uncle Jim found some coupons in his yellow pages telephone book at home. Check out http://www.montereybaywhalewatch.com
They have a sign on their door which states what they saw on the previous outing and another board has the number of whales they sighted.
We woke up slightly late in the morning and ended up rushing to fisherman's wharf to try to catch the morning boat. They recommend that we arrive half and hour before they set off to register and get tickets.
Kind Uncle Jim drove us there to drop us off so that we didn't have to park for half a day, saving some money.
We went out on the Sea Wolf II.
Kids below a certain weight had to put on the very stiff and inhibiting life jackets. Em's head couldn't turn after she had the jacket on, and had to turn her entire body if she wanted to turn her head!
Locked in safe and tight!
On this day, Meg had seven layers on her: a short sleeved t-shirt, a long sleeved t-shirt, a thick knitted sweater, her purple gap jacket, her Costco purple down windbreaker with another layer of lining inside and the life jacket. It was windy and extremely cold when we set out but when we got to the whale watching area, the sun came out and it wasn't as cold.
It's a good thing she is thin or else she'd look like the Michellin man with all those layers!
Taking refuge from the blistering cold wind.
A colourful Emma.
And the whale watching adventure begins....
The seagulls and sea lions follow the whales wherever they go, making it easier to spot the world's largest animals.
The whales swim below the water's surface most of the time, and we see their body and tail more often than their head.
They occasionally breach, meaning they will jump out of the water, Free Willy style, but I didn't manage to see nor photograph that. You have to be looking in the right direction and with a little bit of luck, catch the split second breach.
Some of them came so close to the boat, it was breathtaking!
Their blowhole sprays are another indication of where and how to spot them.
They often swim in a group, and sometimes we are lucky enough to catch something like this.
Twin tails.
I was shooting with a compact camera, with a very low zoom factor. To have caught them like this shows that they came really close to the boat!
Look at the size of that tail!
I'm not sure if this is a breach, but it was one of the few times we managed to see the whale's head out of the water.
It's amazing that we only see their tails and rarely their heads!
This shot clearly shows how close they were.
This was a lucky shot of a whale spraying a rainbow. It's the angle of the light against the spray that causes this. It only happens for a few seconds then its gone! Nature is awesome and humbling!
Another close up sighting.
Needless to say, everyone was extremely thrilled!
Everytime a whale emerged close to the boat, there would be a loud 'woah' in unison!
The cold and the excitement got to her in the end...
The saying goes that all good things must come to an end, so after four hours out at sea, we headed back to Monterey Bay. Along the way, we saw another two groups of whales and the captain went towards them and spent probably another half hour observing them. I was impressed that they didn't say we were running out of time and had to get back. Instead, they wanted us to see as much as we could, even if it meant that we would overrun the allotted time!
We got back to fisherman's wharf at around 2pm and called Uncle Jim who came to pick us up again.
After we got back from an exhilarating adventure, we headed back to Uncle Jim's place for a quick lunch before heading out to Carmel before the sun set. This quaint little town, whose claim to fame is probably having actor Clint Eastwood for mayor from 1986 to 1988, has really nice but expensive houses that cost millions of dollars, just because it's really a beautiful town and a few steps from Carmel beach. Pebble Beach golf club is also very close by and the entire place is very scenic and attractive. We only spent about two to three hours there, hardly any time at all so it's on my 'must come back here one day' list.
There is a lookout deck at the end of Ocean Avenue, with this vast panoramic view of Carmel beach.
We didn't have time to go down to the beach, but we will next time! ;o)
The deck which offers a bird's eye view of the beach.
Old friends linking arms and helping each other manoeuvre the slight decline down to Carmel beach.
The long shadows cast by the setting sun made for nice photos.
Nice colourful scene.
Trying to see as much as we could before the sun set at around 4.45pm each day.
The shops cater mostly to tourists, but there were several galleries there too for the art lover.
The evening light was beautiful, something that we don't often see back home.
Million dollar houses like these off Ocean Avenue, one of the main streets in Carmel which connects the shops to the beach. These houses are set quite a way off the street because numerous tourists (like us) walk past their homes daily. Many of them have signs that say private property and such.
A quaint town with quaint cars!
What a clever name for an oyster bar!
I'm not sure what they were doing exactly, but I think it has something to do with balancing. Hehh.
We ended our visit to Carmel with hot chocolate at Carmel Bakery. They have nice cookies and cakes and it was a great way to end a wonderful day.
