South of town the land turns wild at Point Lobos, the granite-and-cypress headland often called the crown jewel of California's state parks, where sea otters raft in the kelp and the surf breaks white against the rocks. Monterey Bay itself is a drowned submarine canyon — deep, cold, and astonishingly rich with life — which is why the old Hovden cannery at the end of the Row was reborn in 1984 as a place to look at the sea instead of empty it. The same water that built the canneries now draws people to watch whales and otters in it.
Monterey is the Adobe Capital of California, and the proof is still standing. The 1794 Royal Presidio Chapel is the oldest building in town and the first architect-designed building in California. A short walk away runs the Path of History, a trail of thick-walled adobes from the Spanish and Mexican decades — the Custom House, California's oldest government building, where the United States flag first rose over the territory; Colton Hall, where the constitution was written; the Larkin House and the Cooper-Molera adobe. The low, deep-eaved Monterey-Colonial style was born here, and it carries the town's name to this day.
Why People Visit Monterey
Monterey rewards visitors who want the original California — the first capital, a town of 18th-century adobes, and a deep, wild bay. People come for the Path of History and Cannery Row, for Point Lobos and the marine sanctuary, and for an easy, scenic stretch of Central Coast where Spanish-colonial heritage and a famous waterfront sit side by side.
