San Francisco and Monterey tour advice

flossdaisy · 29 Jan 20, 10:30 AM

Hi Dibbers,

I'm currently planning our tours for our West Coast trip in August. On the advice of fellow Dibbers I'm looking at a Dylans tour - bike the Golden Gate Bridge and shuttle to Muir Woods, however the website says their standard bikes are for 12 years and up. My daughter will be 11 when we go (12 in November) and I'm pretty sure she would manage the route. Has anyone done this with a similar aged child and can you please advise? Would we need to provide proof of her age to Dylans (she looks at least 12!)?

I'm also keen to book whale watching in Monterey and have been recommended Princess Tours, however I note that this is three hours. I wonder if this is too long? My daughter has a limited attention span and does get a little travel sick. Can anyone recommend a slightly shorter tour, if there is one? Is it a real must-do?

Thanks everyone!

flossdaisy · 29 Jan 20, 10:50 AM

Also, any recommendations for where to book Alcatraz tickets for a daytime tour? Thanks.

JoB · 29 Jan 20, 11:17 AM

This is the official site to book tickets for Alcatraz-
alcatrazcruises/tour-options/
We did the Dylan's tour over the bridge and to Muir Woods. My daughter was the same age and loved the tour. We saw people pushing their bikes up the hills on our way to the bridge and were glad we hadn't done it. Instead we caught the ferry over and back to Sausalito later in our trip.

jdouds · 29 Jan 20, 05:51 PM

Hi bike the bridge to Sausalito is easy even for the unfit. Ferry back is very good. For whale watching we used Sanctuary cruises, fantastic, 3/4 hours. They have a marine biologist on board which is great for some info and he also doubles as a look out. With sanctuary cruises for those who might suffer from motion sickness they hire out pulsing wrist bands which negates the motion sickness.
Must do⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

**cornishfrogboy** · 29 Jan 20, 10:07 PM

Originally Posted by flossdaisy

Hi Dibbers,

I'm currently planning our tours for our West Coast trip in August. On the advice of fellow Dibbers I'm looking at a Dylans tour - bike the Golden Gate Bridge and shuttle to Muir Woods, however the website says their standard bikes are for 12 years and up. My daughter will be 11 when we go (12 in November) and I'm pretty sure she would manage the route. Has anyone done this with a similar aged child and can you please advise? Would we need to provide proof of her age to Dylans (she looks at least 12!)?

I'm also keen to book whale watching in Monterey and have been recommended Princess Tours, however I note that this is three hours. I wonder if this is too long? My daughter has a limited attention span and does get a little travel sick. Can anyone recommend a slightly shorter tour, if there is one? Is it a real must-do?

Thanks everyone!

All of the above is covered in the trip report in my signature. in addition, you will see images of the bikes we used and a shot of my son, who was only 11 at the time. No ID was reqd.

The Dylans tour is great, because it also covers Muir Woods plus our driver, Adam talked a lot about Marin as we drove through it. He was also very insightful on the drive back to San Francisco.

Monterey. We used Monterey Whale Watch. Again rthe commentary by the Oceanographer was excellent. You go a fair way off and this transit accounts for some of the time spent. Commentary is continuous and makes the time go quicker. As you will see in the trip report, we saw a lot of the great whales as well as hundreds of Dolphins.

Alcatraz Tickets are available exactly 90 days out and from one location who hold the franchise on getting there. another poster has provided detail.

Hope it helps.

**smithlane** · 30 Jan 20, 08:42 AM

We went with Princess Monterey last year and can highly recommend. I don't think there are any tours less than 3 hours as it takes about an hour to get far enough out for the best chances of seeing the whales. We then spent about an hour maybe a bit more watching them then obviously the travel back.
Your daughter can sit inside if she�s getting bored, maybe pack a few games or iPad? I really wouldn�t let that put you off booking though, it was one of my highlights of our whole trip

flossdaisy · 30 Jan 20, 04:11 PM

Brilliant, thanks everyone! That�s really helpful.