Muir woods and Monterey Whale watching

[Brennanhough]

Morning all,

Just wondering if anyone had any recommended company’s for the above trips?

I’ve looked for some online but the muir woods trip seems to be added onto other things which I’m not that bothered about doing. Does anybody have a recommendation for a trip just to Muir woods?

Also we are in Monterey for 1 day on our way down route 1 and want to go whale watching. Does anybody have a recommendation for any company’s? We need an early evening trip as we don’t want to be up against the clock on our way down from San Francisco and with us only been there a day we don’t want to be to pushed for time!

Thanks In advance

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Brennanhough

Morning all,

Just wondering if anyone had any recommended company’s for the above trips?

I’ve looked for some online but the muir woods trip seems to be added onto other things which I’m not that bothered about doing. Does anybody have a recommendation for a trip just to Muir woods?

Also we are in Monterey for 1 day on our way down route 1 and want to go whale watching. Does anybody have a recommendation for any company’s? We need an early evening trip as we don’t want to be up against the clock on our way down from San Francisco and with us only been there a day we don’t want to be to pushed for time!

Thanks In advance

See more...

Sorry not seen a trip just to Muir Woods, I do know that parking spots have to be pre booked for Muir Woods. We went as part of a fab tour with Dylan’s.

When researching whale watching didn’t see an early evening trip either, the trips are around 4 hours so would tend to leave at 9am and 2 pm.

[jocat]

Like Dot, our Muir Woods trip was with Dylan’s tours. You could probably get an Uber there, if you can’t find a trip.

We used Sanctuary Cruises for our Whale Watching, but had an afternoon trip. Don’t think they do an early evening one - it’s just mornings or afternoons. I’d think most companies will be the same, as I’m sure most people wouldn’t want to be out on the water in the evening and risk not being able to see anything if it got dark.

[red cuillen]

Any reason why you want Muir Woods, there are plenty of other state parks with redwoods in on the way down to Monterey. We stopped off at Henry Cowell, inland from Santa Cruz, but you have others, Bug Sur, Big Basin. Have a look on google, see if any are near your planned route.

[jdouds]

Hi we used sanctuary cruises twice and would highly recommend , they are based 20 mins north . For Monterey we would say you have not got enough time to see all that is on offer. Aquarium fantastic ,17 mile drive, Carmel , pebble beach.
What else is on your itinery.

[Brennanhough]

Originally Posted by jdouds

Hi we used sanctuary cruises twice and would highly recommend , they are based 20 mins north . For Monterey we would say you have not got enough time to see all that is on offer. Aquarium fantastic ,17 mile drive, Carmel , pebble beach.
What else is on your itinery.

See more...

Thanks for all your advice so far.

We are picking up the car as we leave San Francisco before driving to Monterey. Hope to arrive at 10am ish. Full day there, hotel in Carmel for the night then make our way down big Sur. We have a room booked in Santa Barbara and one booked in Ventura so not sure which one we will use yet. Plan is to have the full day exploring Big Sur though. Should mention we have a three year old we will have lots of stops!

We are headed to the Garland hotel in LA for two nights before heading to Anaheim.

[the_lemms]

We used Monterey Bay Whale Watching (they do afternoon trips), they are located on the wharf in Monterey. There is a large car park right next to the wharf, Monterey town and Cannery row are a 5 minute walk from here which makes sense if you only have the day in Monterey then moving on.

[Pookle]

Another vote for Sanctuary Cruises, they were fab. Really knowledgeable and amazing with my kids and anyone who was feeling ill etc (take travel sickness pills, even if you don't normally get travel sick...)

[grant_w]

We went with Sanctuary Cruses as well, we had a great trip.

[Olympiad]

Originally Posted by red cuillen

Any reason why you want Muir Woods, there are plenty of other state parks with redwoods in on the way down to Monterey. We stopped off at Henry Cowell, inland from Santa Cruz, but you have others, Bug Sur, Big Basin. Have a look on google, see if any are near your planned route.

See more...

Agree with this. Muir woods is very over crowded and only so popular due to it's proximity to San Francisco.

Obviously still a great destination but there other equally as good redwood parks on the drive down to Monterey. We visited Big Basin and would rate it better than Muir woods.