Pacific Grove

Best scenic spots on the Monterey Bay Peninsula

The Monterey Peninsula is strikingly beautiful. You might even say it’s a photographer’s dream. If you like to take pictures, here are some of the very best places to do so as well as the most scenic and beautiful locations on the peninsula.

Carmel Beach

Carmel Beach is a mile-long crescent of white sand that begins at ocean Avenue and runs alongside Scenic Road (appropriate name) which has a place to park and stairs leading down to the beach. Anywhere along this stretch will get you a great shot of the crescent-shaped shoreline wrapping around the ocean.

Lone Cypress Tree

The Lone Cypress Tree which sites on a rock off of 18-mile drive in Pebble Beach, between Cypress Point and Pescadero Point, is a very famous tree that you will recognize as soon as you see it. The tree which is the official symbol of Monterey County, sits far enough off shore that it can be photographed with the ocean as the perfect backdrop. Point Lobos, which is a few miles across the bay, is also a great background for this photo.

Victorian Homes

The famous Victorian homes in Pacific Grove are wonderful photographic material. Many have been turned into restaurants or bed and breakfast inns. Not only the outside is beautiful, but the furnishings inside many of these century old treasures are simply breathtaking. (I recommend peeking inside the Seven Gables Inn on Ocean View Blvd).

Sea Life

Sea Otters are abundant in the waters of the Monterey Peninsula and although these playful critters are tricky to photograph, you will find many opportunities do so.

At Cypress Point the parking lot is closed in the late winter and early spring months and the shoreline is blocked by a plywood wall, due to the fact that the harbor seals are having and nursing their pups on the beachers. However, if they are disturbed, the mother seals will abandon their pups. There are however, peep holes in the wall that you can peer through, quietly and possible capture a photo or two.

Lover’s Point

Lover’s Point in Pacific Grove, is surrounded by ice plant that blossoms into a beautiful purple carpet in the spring, which you will recognize in many Pacific Grove photographs. North of Lovers Point about a mile towards Cannery Row, is a rocky shoreline that is one of the best views on the entire peninsula. There are a series of small sandy coves between rocky enclaves which offer endless photo opportunities.

Asilomar State Beach

Asilomar State Beach, on the Southern border of Pacific Grove, will offer you a fantastic sunset. Covering 107-acres along a one-mile section of beach and rocky shore is part of the Fish Garden Refuge and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Point Lobos State Reserve

Point Lobos State Reserve, just south of Carmel, is another beautiful coastline. There is a nice walking trail alongside and you can walk out on the points to take pictures of the coves along the rocky shore.

Conclusion

The Monterey Bay Peninsula is full of scenic spots just waiting for you to explore and find. On your next vacation on the Monterey Peninsula, be sure to take the time to take in the unique natural beauty that this area has to offer.