Point Lobos
State Reserve

A walk around the Point Lobos State Reserve near Monterey and Carmel provides lots of photo opportunities, especially of the Harbor Seal Birthing Area.

All Photos (c) Donna Dailey and Mike Gerrard

We asked someone in Monterey for some hiking ideas while we were there. 'Point Lobos State Reserve,' he said. 'I always send people there and they always love it.' So, on our way out of Monterey on our last Pacific Coast Highway drive, we slowed down a few miles south of Carmel, and pulled in.

Our Walk in Point Lobos State Reserve

We took the Carmelo Meadows Trail, which led us just a short way through woodland to reach the seashore. And there right below us on the sand, the incoming tide just starting to lick around them, were a mother harbor seal and her pup.

Watch the YouTube video we produced from watching the harbor seals and their pups at Point Lobos.

When to Visit Point Lobos State Reserve

To see the harbor seal mothers with their pups, visit Point Lobos between about mid-April and the end of May

Whaler's Cabin

We walked a while and then on our left was the Whaler’s Cabin, now a tiny but fascinating museum. The cabin was built in 1851 by Chinese fishermen and is now on the Register of Historic Places. The Chinese fishermen and their families sailed directly here to Point Lobos all the way from China in junks. It became the first Chinese fishing settlement in California, and they lived here for almost 30 years.

Harbor Seal Birthing Area

Just across from the museum was a little sheltered beach with a small crowd of people gathered above it, and a docent who had a telescope on a tripod trained on the beach. The reason was that harbor seals come ashore here to have their pups. Down below us were a dozen or more of them, many with pups, a few without, not yet having given birth. 

Lucky Timing

It was a total delight for us, and just lucky timing, as we'd no idea we would stumble upon this wonderful scene. The seals are only here for about 6 weeks, from roughly mid-April onwards. The docent told us that they used to say that April 15th was the official start of the birth season but because of the climate changes they’re now starting a little sooner.

Teaching a Seal to Swim

Taking the North Shore Trail

Point Lobos Photos

Further on a brown lizard runs across the path in front of us, we spend some time watching a hawk in the sky, and try to take photos of a large orange butterfly that dazzles us on this dull day. After a while a side trail led out to a large rocky outcrop where dozens of cormorants sat, looking rather miserable in the mist and the cold wind.

We eventually emerge at another small parking area, and take the short but lovely Cypress Grove Trail, which loops back to the car park. From here it's only a short walk back to our car, taking an inland trail. We continue our Pacific Coast Highway journey feeling elated and fortunate that we were in the right place at the right time. It had been yet another PCH magic moment.

Where to Stay in Carmel

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