Holiday to the Pacific West Coast in Aug 2006: Day 11 – Monterrey to Ragged Point

Woke at a decent time in Monterey and we made some last minute changes to our destination (see later).  We wanted to fit in a visit to the Monterey Aquarium which only opened at 10am.  So we kept our journey distance to 80 miles.

The aquarium was really good.  Vick was desperate to see the Sea Otters which were really cute. 

We also saw a Great White shark which was fairly shy!  And some gorgeous South African penguins. 

Overall the aquarium was small and packed with interesting exhibits.  But we finished it off with a visit to Starbucks.

After getting back on the road by midday, we had an early spell of goreous weather, but within an hour or so we were back into the mist and fog, and general overcast nature of the West Coast. 

It’s becoming a bit of a recurring theme of our trip!

We stumbled across a unpublicised path down to the sea on our way which turned out to be a good trek. 

The path ended up with a tunnel through the mountain to a ragged spot – check out the photos!

Changing this route at the last minute saved us having to drive 50 miles away from the coast (and then back again). 

The hotel we ended up with was a bit hit and miss!  We were greeted in a very non-plussed way at the Ragged Point Inn – the guy on reception was less than friendly and less than helpful.

Since we left this to the last minute we got their last room which was in a two storey block of wood type cabins. 

They were very dated from the 60’s and were well below the standard we have become accustomed to.  However that’s life – everyone has to slum it at some point!

We trekked down the hotel’s trail to their own cove about 300 feet below.  It was pretty hairy at times and both Vick and I had thoughts about what we would do if something happened! Thoughts of life assurance policies cannot be prevented from entering your mind! 

Anyway we made it and it was really satisfying reaching the beach below.

We had dinner at the Ragged Point Inn restaurant, which was really good.  The food was excellent, offered a good choice and the staff were very friendly.

Bottom line about this hotel is that if you get into the luxury rooms, then your view of the place will be very positive.  If you get stuck with the basic rooms then it gets dragged down greatly.

Follow the whole story here: Holiday to Pacific West Coast in Aug 2006