Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

The Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center is located at 35 Pacific Ave, across from the entrance to the wharf (the address here puts it on the end of the wharf, which is wrong. It is FREE admission whoo-​hoo! Although donations are accepted. Open Wednesday through Sunday, 10am to 5pm.
This place is great — whether you just have ten minutes or a few hours. There are lots of interactive displays including a ROV — a mini submarine for exploring the deep — that you get to play with, as well as a great little video about the Monterey Bay and a Liquid Galaxy from Google. Fun for kids, parents, teachers and visitors, well worth checking out.

This place is really neat. Lots of great free exhibits and info about the area. Don’t try to just go in and use the restroom only because they will make you walk through the exhibits anyways. It’s geared toward children mostly. It’s nicely designed inside, so a nice experience for everyone!

This review is just for a small portion of the sanctuary: the area just north of downtown Capitola along East Cliff Drive. The Sanctuary itself stretches for several miles. I walked a small section with terrific views of cliffs, sandy beaches and the big blue. The area was clean with wide paved walking paths, benches, picnic benches and a small number of interpretive signs.
A great place for a run, dog-​walk, surfing or just relaxing. This was the most chill place I visited while in the area.

Came by here to find a restroom and possibly wander through. No restroom, and the entry isn’t «free» as advertised. It’s $ 10/​adult suggested donation. I can’t stand places that are sneaky about getting your money, so we walked away.

I only got to see the sea lions but it was still awesome. I could sit out here all day. Well, not all day. There is no equipment shade so I’d need an umbrella.

We here in the Bay Area live our lives perched in the front yard of a veritable Blue Heaven, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The presence of this gem right out our windows is a big reason why this area is among the most beautiful and fascinating places to live on the entire planet, and that’s why I selected it for my 1,300^th review.
From Rocky Point 7 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, to Cambria down in San Luis Obispo County 276 shoreline miles to the south, MBNMS protects and nourishes 26 species of marine mammals ranging from blue whales to otters, along with 34 kinds of seabirds, 345 types of fish, over 400 kinds of sea algae, and who knows how many plants, bugs, slugs, and other critters and veggies.
This host of biodiversity is protected, studied, and fostered by the National Marine Sanctuary system, a sort of marine counterpart to our National Park system. NOAA, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, manages this system within the US Department of Commerce. These folks are charged with protecting this treasure on our behalf. Their website offers a host of fascinating information and tools for everyone from the most casual wannabe whale watcher to anyone researching marine biology.
Their mission includes research, resource management, and public education – things I am proud to have my government doing with my tax dollars.
The sanctuary itself comprises about 30 miles of open water from the shore to the depths of the ocean all along the 265 mile coast. Within that chunk of blue is a canyon twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, a big contributing factor to the area’s marine diversity. Down in the briney depths there are 1,276 shipwrecks and the sanctuary also catalogs and protects 718 prehistoric sites.
MBNS has four offices, including one in Santa Cruz and one in Half Moon Bay, as well as Monterey and San Simeon.
Every time you see a seal, glimpse an otter, enjoy the flight or dive of a seabird, admire the tidal pools at a local beach, or take yourself whale watching, please tip your hat to this fine federal organization and thank goodness we live in a country that is willing, at times, to spend our treasure on something more profound than bullets and beer.