While we were staying at Carmel-by-the-sea last summer, we took a day tour ventured out to Fisherman’s Wharf at Monterey. It only took a short 12 minutes drive north from Carmel-by-the-sea to Monterey Bay.
If you are visiting Carmel, this is definitely one of the things to do near Carmel.
Old Fisherman’s Wharf of Monterey is full of history. According to SeeMonterey.com, fishermen from Portugal, China, Japan, and Sicily immigrated to Monterey in search of some of the finest seafood in the world and it used to be an active wholesale fish market into the 1960s. It is now a historic tourist attraction selling fresh seafood, clam chowders, candy and chocolate stores, souvenirs… Tourists can also join the whale-watching tour depart from the wharf.
Entrance to Old Fisherman’s Wharf
Almost every restaurants offer free tasting of their clam chowder to attract patrons. In fact, clam chowder from different restaurants tasted quite differently
Huge King Crab displayed in front of the restaurant to attract attention!
End of the wharf – took 10 minutes short stroll to the end.


We had our lunch there at Crabby Jim’s Seafood Restaurant.
Apparently, Crabby Jim’s chowder has won the best chowder in 2015. Not bad! 👏
Lovely view from Crabby Jim’s Restaurant.
It was a great afternoon strolling down the Old Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey.
Just take things slow, enjoy a nice seafood lunch, seals and whale watching, buy some souvenirs and take some photos. Lovely day!
Also, check out my other blog post when we spent a half day visiting Silicon Valley.