Pt. Lobos and Monterey Bay Program

Pt. Lobos and Monterey Bay

The Pacific Ocean really comes alive for students at this FIELDGUIDES coastal program. Stunning views, crashing surf, rich kelp beds, and marine mammals abound as we tour Pt. Lobos State Reserve on the first day. What a spectacular place to begin studying ocean ecology. A visit to Monterey Bay Aquarium the next day takes the students under the surface to witness the myriad life forms of the bay's tremendously diverse habitats.

Toro Park itself rests on an ancient sandstone seabed and provides many miles of open hills and canyons to explore on a full day hike in small study groups with the instructors. The Youth Group camping area overlooking the Salinas Valley, is private and serene. The camp's lake and white oak-chaparral woodlands are home to birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, even tarantulas!

Camping at Toro County Park near Monterey allows us access to and from the coast by car in about 30 minutes. A popular activity back at camp is drawing a colorful mural of impressions of the ocean gained in the two days' experiences - a memorable piece of student art for the classroom.

Toro Park's oak-chaparral woodlands.

Along with the Aquarium, a Monterey Bay FIELDGUIDES program offers one of the best places for year round whale watching. The Monterey Canyon, rich in exotic marine life, also plays host to humpbacks, grays, orcas, minkes, and even blue whales, the largest animals to ever live on earth. The walk along scenic Point Pinos offers several spots to stop and look for these underwater giants, as well as providing top notch tide pools in the Pacific Grove Marine Gardens Park. A trip along the coastline can end at the Point Pinos Lighthouse, the oldest operating lighthouse on the West Coast.

Fluke offshore from Point Pinos.

Tide pools at Pacific Grove Marine Gardens.

Point Pinos Lighthouse.

Contact us today! FIELDGUIDES INC. (650)969-6325. info@fieldguides.org