Monterey Bay Pelagics - Best time (1 Viewer)

C

Curt Powell

Member

• Apr 5, 2016

• #1

Hi,

Say i can come any time in sept. and take a few boat trips, What is my best bet? Looking at the Debra Shearwater schedule, if i went mid Sept: I could hit 4 different trips in 7 days: albacore grounds 9/10, Monterey Bay, 9/11, and i could hit Seavalley 9/15 and half moon bay 9/16. Is that the best itinerary for diversity/numbers? Is it overkill? I have never been out on the Pacific.

Also will be looking for cheap accommodations, and also shorebirding, etc. for the days in between.

Thanks

Curt

 

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albatross02

Well-known member

• Apr 30, 2016

• #2

Cheap accomation is a tent.
Even though I have money for B&B or hotel, I prefer tent, because in the morning bird sound will wake up me.
I did the same in California some years ago.
I was there in June, so I can not say how is the situation in September.

Maybe check here

http://www.shearwaterjourneys.com/
or
http://www.oceanwanderers.com/Calif.html

 

J

Jim M.

Member since 2007

Supporter

• Apr 30, 2016

• #3

Curt,

September is good. However, when I was there in September I went on a Half Moon Bay pelagic and then one out of Monterey Bay. I did not see any new bird species on the second Monterey Bay trip, though I did get some much better looks at some of the species. So I would say that four trips in September is probably overkill.

I would also encourage you to at least look at other pelagic operators. I found the Debbie Shearwater trips to be overcrowded, and the volunteer bird spotters were of widely varying abilities. I know Alvaro Jaramillo runs some trips out of Half Moon Bay, for example.

 

Jos Stratford

Eastern Exile

Staff member

• May 1, 2016

• #4

The pelagic operators' websites have accounts of all the pelagics from past years, so you could read through those for whichever dates you can potentially visit and then get a flavour of what you could see on any particular dates, though I'd say the earlier in the month you can, probably the better.

Given that there will usually be variation between days, I would be quite happy to 'overkill' if I had the opportunity, so I personally think your idea is good.

If looking for cheaper accommodation, one option is to stay at Salinas - motels certainly cheaper than on the coast and about 20 minutes by car to the boat docks.

 

Last edited: May 1, 2016

wimvdam

Well-known member

• May 1, 2016

• #5

Another thing to consider is that pelagic birding has a steep learning curve. Did you do pelagics elsewhere? It definitely took me a few trips to get somewhat comfortable with Storm-petrels. No amount of armchair reading will prepare you for the challenge of discerning the "distinctive wingbeat" of a far-away small dark bird while standing on a rocking boat. It's also tremendous fun so if I could I would go for four.

Wim

 

njlarsen

Gallery Moderator

Opus Editor

Supporter

• May 1, 2016

• #6

Monterey Bay Travelodge was cheapish and worked great for us.

Niels

 

J

Jim M.

Member since 2007

Supporter

• May 1, 2016

• #7

Jos Stratford said:

Given that there will usually be variation between days, I would be quite happy to 'overkill' if I had the opportunity, so I personally think your idea is good.

Click to expand...

I think that supports the idea of doing more than one, and the more you do the greater your chances of running into a rarity. But four in a week is a lot unless you are a pelagic birding enthusiast. I guess it depends on how bummed you are going to be if you spend 4 days and c. $1000 and get no new species on two or three of the trips. If that is going to be a major downer, then he may want to cut down. I think the Monterey Bay trip is one of the most likely to be redundant.

 

Last edited: May 1, 2016

Jos Stratford

Eastern Exile

Staff member

• May 1, 2016

• #8

Jim M. said:

I think the Monterey Bay trip is one of the most likely to be redundant.

Click to expand...

Yep, if looking to drop one from the itinerary, I would probably agree with that.

 

cassowary

Well-known member

• May 11, 2016

• #9

Sometimes camping can be the nicest option - I have camped on the big sur -see photo.... as you can imagine it is often fully booked.

 

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albatross02

Well-known member

• May 29, 2016

• #10

Camping can be fully booked in high saison in main tourist areas like Yosemite.
I never had problem for camping on Califormian coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco, even in peak saison.

I like camping, because You will waked up by birds in the morning.