The Monterey Peninsula is a truly amazing place to visit and live. Operating the Martine Inn for 28 years has been a challenging wonderful experience. We are located on the water front of the deepest bay in the United States. Its depth exceeds the depth of the Grand Canyon. It has wonderful sandy beaches like the Monterey Beach that you can literally walk for miles on, and it has small intimate beaches tucked between cliffs, like Lovers Point Beach. It has rocky coastline areas like the area immediately in front of the Martine Inn that is developed as a city, and it has similar rocky coastline that is totally untouched as you find in Point Lobos State Park.
Depending on the season you chose to visit us you will see calm rolling waves that wash the shore with what seems like a machine regularity. At other times you can see 20 foot waves crash against the rocks and fly 30 feet into the air. Be very careful walking along the edge of the water or crawling on the rocks as the waves are really unpredictable. They can wash you away so quickly you never knew what hit you. At Point Pinos you can see amazing tide pools teeming with sea life. Snails crawling around the seaweed, sea anemones opening and closing with the water rushing over them, starfish and abalone.
Campfires on the white sands of Carmel Beach are a tradition of many years. You can ride horseback on the beaches on Andrew Molera Park. Kayaking on the bay is very popular and you can get pretty close to the otters, seals and dolphins. I had a great time kayaking and did not get wet until a wave caught me getting out of the kayak, as I landed on the beach.
Whale watching boat tours leave every day from Fisherman’s Wharf and you may see Grey Whales, Hump Back Whales, and sometimes even the gigantic Blue Whales. We had several Blue Whales in the bay this summer. Sport fishing boat tours also leave daily from Fisherman’s Wharf and you are guaranteed a catch. Sailboat and motor boat rentals are available on Wharf #2.
The vistas looking at the bay from the Martine Inn change every moment. The water can be battleship grey one moment, green another and crystal blue another minute. It can be so foggy that you can hardly see the water and 15 minutes later you can see the coastal mountains and the top of Mt Madonna 50 miles across the bay. I have lived on Ocean View Blvd. in Pacific Grove for over 50 years and every day the view is different and fascinating.
