Moss Landing Kayaking RV Trip (55)

Monterey and Carmel may be just around the corner, but I’d like to tell you why we love coming back to Moss Landing so much. Sometimes when we visit, we don’t even make it to those other more famous places 🙂 Most people know Moss Landing by the huge stacks of the electricity plant, but there is a certain charm to the area.

There are three areas we like to explore. In the Google Maps photo below, you can see all of Moss Landing. The area circled is the harbor area, with the KOA RV Park in the middle.

From the RV park, you can still hear the sea lions and fog horn, reminding you that you are close to the ocean, even if you can only see the tops of the sail boat masts from the park. The park itself, is clean and the staff friendly.

Here’s a photo of our neighbors visiting the area in their Air Streams in style. 🙂

Just outside the park is the marina, which borders the park on three sides. Several whale watching expeditions start in the harbor.

We enjoy walking through the marina, past the boats and crab traps.

The smell of ocean and fish are strong here, and towards the end of the harbor is the famous Phil’s Fish Market. We stop by there almost every time for great seafood.

Also here are the research facilities of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It’s all business here and no visitors allowed, but they have a great facility for ocean research.

Walking the other way, past the otter crossing, takes you into the little town of Moss Landing and the roadside shops.

There is a good Mexican restaurant here, The Whole Enchilada,

and also a great coffee shop, Steaming Hot Espresso, that features espresso poured over ice cream. I highly recommend it.

Across the street are metal objects de art…not sure why they are there, but they are fun to look at.

Most people know the area by the large fruit stand here, and you can always count on great tasting fruits and vegetables just a short walk away. Artichokes anyone?  This is the artichoke capital of the world!

The next section we love is the walk between the ocean and the slough. I get up early each morning and walk with Lucy here, and it is very refreshing and a great start to each day.

Small dunes separate the ocean from the slough, and while you can hear the waves on the other side, the air is still and quiet on the slough side. You can hear birds call to each other and usually see an otter or two playing in the water. Aside from the occasional jogger, we generally have the path to ourselves.

The third reason we love Moss Landing is kayaking in the Elkhorn Slough. The slough starts at the harbor and extends about 6 miles inland!

We have yet to make it that far, but the kayaking is great and the wildlife is everywhere. By the way, the Elkhorn Slough Safari is a great way to see the slough, too. The safari also  has a marine biologist on board to help you enjoy what you see.

The trick to kayaking here is checking the tide chart and timing your paddling so the tide is going in while you are paddling in to the slough, and then waiting for the tide to retreat, which helps you paddle back to the harbor.

You still get a great workout, but you can explore further this way. You also want to avoid the afternoon winds that pick up and make it difficult to get back to the harbor.

So there you have it! A great weekend at Moss Landing! On this trip, our good friends visited us for the day and kept an important tradition alive, which is a box of donuts on their first visit to our RV. :-))

Lucy would like in on that tradition, but she did get plenty of dog treats.

On to the next adventure in our Adventurer!

Al & Deb