Exploring Point Lobos

The recent storms turned my weekend ski trip into a last minute scramble to find somewhere to go.

Enter Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. (Check out that rain in the distance)

South of Monterey and a little past Carmel, it’s a pretty beautiful place and with a lot of things to see for the nature lover. The loop we did brought us through amazing coastlines, headlands, coves, tidepools, and forests where we saw a lot of wildlife (harbor seals, sea birds, a ton of otters) and plant life (so many mushrooms). There’s a lot of diving spots around here too, for anyone into that.

You can’t quite see it, but there were a lot of otters hanging out here at Whaler’s Cove:

Whaler’s Cove was once home to a successful whaling (and later on) abalone industry around the 1800s. A chinese fisherman built a cabin at the cove which was later converted to a cultural history museum, complete with a whole section with all sorts of tools they used for whale hunting back in the day. Outside the museum werehuge vats which they used to boil whale fat, and there are a bunch of whale bones strewn about. The coast where whale hunting ships used to dock is now a parking lot.

I stepped inside the museum for a while, and the guide in the museum was very knowledgeable. She went through all all parts of the museum, taking time to explain everything. I could’ve easily spent more than an hour in there, but we had to finish the loop we were on before the sun started to set.

Who knew abalone has 400PSI suction? I didn’t.

The weather was overcast during our visit, but the landscape was still beautiful — any time the sun shined through the clouds, the color of the water would turn an a sparkling turquoise blue. I can only imagine what it looks like on a sunny day.

Into the wooded area we go:

I spent too long admiring the view I got from the bridge onto the Bird Island lookout:

A particular part of the loop has tidepools. Check the low tide schedule if you plan on dropping by to look into them. We were passing by just as a heavy rain cloud was passing over us, dousing us in rain and strong wind gusts. Luckily we had all our rain gear, so we stuck around and explored. We found a lot of hermit crabs, some starfish, and sea anemone.

Right after the rain has passed over us:

At the end of our loop, I found a different lone cypress:

I was pretty bummed that I couldn’t try my hand at skiing this weekend, but this was a pretty awesome tradeoff.

Opening Hours:
8am - 5pm
Last entry at 4:30pm (may vary depending on season)

Remember to always practice Leave No Trace!