Discover 15 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Monterey (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Monterey Bay Aquarium, Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo, and Museum of Monterey. Also, be sure to include Fisherman's Wharf in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Monterey (California).
Table of Contents
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Sprawling marine life attraction. Monterey Bay Aquarium is a nonprofit public aquarium in Monterey, California. Known for its regional focus on the marine habitats of Monterey Bay, it was the first to exhibit a living kelp forest when it opened in October 1984. Its biologists have pioneered the animal husbandry of jellyfish and it was the first to successfully care for and display a great white shark. The organization's research and conservation efforts also focus on sea otters, various birds, and tunas. Seafood Watch, a sustainable seafood advisory list published by the aquarium beginning in 1999, has influenced the discussion surrounding sustainable seafood.
Early proposals to build a public aquarium in Monterey County were not successful until a group of four marine biologists affiliated with Stanford University revisited the concept in the late-1970s. Monterey Bay Aquarium was built at the site of a defunct sardine cannery and has been recognized for its architectural achievements by the American Institute of Architects. Along with its architecture, the aquarium has won numerous awards for its exhibition of marine life, ocean conservation efforts, and educational programs.
Monterey Bay Aquarium receives around two million visitors each year. It led to the revitalization of Cannery Row, and produces hundreds of millions of dollars for the economy of Monterey County. In addition to being featured in two PBS Nature documentaries, the aquarium has appeared in film and television productions.[1]
Address: 886 Cannery Row, 93940 Monterey
Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo
Cathedral in Monterey, California. The Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo, also known as the Royal Presidio Chapel, is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Monterey, California, United States. The cathedral is the oldest continuously operating parish and the oldest stone building in California. It was built in 1791-94 making it the oldest serving cathedral in the United States, along with St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only existing presidio chapel in California and the only existing building in the original Monterey Presidio.[2]
Address: 500 Church St, 93940-3209 Monterey
Museum of Monterey
Museum in Monterey, California. The Museum of Monterey - Stanton Center, also known as the Monterey History & Maritime Museum, tells the history of Monterey and the surrounding area through the lens of its connection to the sea. Free to the public, it houses thousands of artifacts. It includes permanent exhibits on the USS Macon disaster off Point Sur, the Ohlone and Rumsien tribes that once lived in the area, the Spanish exploration of the California coast and the Monterey sardine industry. It is operated by the Monterey History and Art Association.[3]
Address: 5 Custom House Plz, 93940-2430 Monterey
Fisherman's Wharf
Fisherman's Wharf is a historic wharf in Monterey, California, United States. Used as an active wholesale fish market into the 1960s, the wharf eventually became a tourist attraction as commercial fishing tapered off in the area.
Fisherman's Wharf is technically known as The Old Fisherman's Wharf, to distinguish it from the current commercial wharf (known as Municipal Wharf #2).[4]
Address: Wharf No. 1, Monterey
Colton Hall
Museum in Monterey, California. Colton Hall is a government building and museum in Monterey, California, United States. It was built in 1849-49 by Walter Colton, who arrived in Monterey as the chaplain on Commodore Robert F. Stockton's vessel. He remained and was named as Monterey's first alcalde in the American Period. Colton Hall originally contained rooms downstairs for a public school and government assembly hall upstairs. It was the site of California's first constitutional convention in 1849.[5]
Address: Pacific St btwn Madison and Jefferson Sts, 93940 Monterey
Golden State Theatre
Theatre in Monterey, California. The Golden State Theatre in Monterey, California, opened on August 6, 1926.[6]
Address: Monterey, 417 Alvarado Street
Chris' Fishing and Whale Watching
Dolphin and whale watching, Tours, Outdoor activities, Boat or ferry, Piers and boardwalks
Address: 48 Fishermans Wharf, 93940-2429 Monterey
Monterey Peninsula College
Community college in Monterey, California. Monterey Peninsula College is a public community college in Monterey, California. Established in 1947, it is a part of the California Community Colleges system. There are two additional MPC campuses located in Marina, and Seaside. The current interim college President is Dr. Mark Zacovic.[7]
Lake El Estero
Lake El Estero is part of the building blocks of Monterey, California and has been classified as a citywide park. Originally a salt-water lagoon, its outlets to the bay were cut off because of over flooding. The 24.7-acre park has become an estuary to many migrating birds and ongoing improvements have been made into preserving the park. Today Lake El Estero not only draws in many eager adults for its beauty and history but attracts kids for its baseball diamond, skatepark, and world-famous Dennis the Menace Playground.[8]
Monterey State Historic Park
Museum in Monterey, California. Monterey State Historic Park is a historic state park in Monterey, California. It includes part or all of the Monterey Old Town Historic District, a historic district that includes 17 contributing buildings and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970. The grounds include California's first theatre, and the Monterey Custom House, where the American flag was first raised over California.
The park is a group of restored historic buildings: the Custom House, the Larkin House, California's First Brick House, Colton Hall (City Hall of Monterey), Old Whaling Company, the Stevenson House, the First Theater, the Pacific House Museum, the Interpretive House, Casa del Oro, and Casa Soberanes. These houses display the cultural diversity that guided California's transition from a remote Spanish outpost in Las Californias province, to an agricultural Mexican Alta California territory, to U.S. statehood. These influential adobe houses made up California's earliest capital and were the site of the state's first constitutional convention.
Today the historic buildings retain their rich heritage, preserving an important part of Californian as well as Spanish, Mexican, and American history. Added to the adobe houses is the park's Interpretive Center and the Pacific House Museum. The park provides tours of the historic houses and museums for the general public. The 'Secret Gardens of Old Monterey' are part of the open-air museum for visitors. The Monterey State Historic Park Association (MSHPA) is the non-profit association that works to support the park.[9]
Monterey Museum of Art
Museum in Monterey, California. The Monterey Museum of Art an art museum located in Monterey, California. It was founded in 1959 as a chapter of the American Federation of Arts. The Monterey Museum of Art collects, preserves, and interprets the art of California from the nineteenth century to the present day. Notable holdings celebrate the heritage of Northern and Central California, and especially for early California images from the Carmel Art Colony.
The museum operates two facilities, one at 559 Pacific Street and the other at 720 Via Mirada (La Mirada). The Pacific Street location has eight galleries and houses the administrative and curatorial offices, and the Buck Education Center consisting of classrooms, a library and the Youth Gallery. In 1983, the Monterey Museum of Art acquired the historic estate of La Mirada, whose history reflects the heritage of the Monterey area. La Mirada was expanded with modern galleries and is used to present traveling exhibitions from other institutions, highlights of the museum’s permanent collection that include masters of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and significant emerging artists of today such as Ingrid Calame.[10]
Address: 559 Pacific St, 93940-2805 Monterey
Dali17 Museum
Museum, Art museum
Address: 5 Custom House Plz, 93940-2430 Monterey
MY Museum - Monterey County Youth Museum
Museum, Specialty museum
Address: 425 Washington St, 93940-3023 Monterey
Presidio of Monterey Museum
Museum, Military museum
Address: Corporal Ewing Rd, Bldg. 113, 93944 Monterey
Pacific Biological Laboratories
Museum in Monterey, California. Pacific Biological Laboratories, abbreviated PBL, was a biological supply house that sold preserved animals and prepared specimen microscope slides, many of which were of maritime aquatic species, to schools, museums, and research institutions. It was located in a building on what is now Monterey's Cannery Row on Monterey Bay in Monterey County, California.
The building, activities, and business were fictionalized as "Western Biological Laboratory" by John Steinbeck in his novel Cannery Row, as was a character based on one of its founders, Ed Ricketts. After a 1936 fire Steinbeck invested in the laboratory and owned half its stock.[11]
Address: 800 Cannery Row, 93940-1023 Monterey