Cannary Row is a very enjoyable tourist area with reasonable entertainment value. The wharf is the same. Lots of great little restaurants all over.

There are many small art galleries around. Monterey is a good size to spend a couple days walking around and seeing things.

If you like things historic, there used to be a fort up at the presidio. There were also a couple historic display buildings close to the waterfront.

If you have access to transportation, Assilomar and Pacific Grove are both beautiful. There is a park in Pacific Grove where the monarch butterflies mate. I can’t remember the time of year.

You could also drive around 17 mile drive, abutted directly to the famous Pebble Beach golf course. Many homes of the rich and famous and spectacular views.

Carmel is a short hop away and has a wonderful downtown area that could account for a day or two as well.

And finally, if you can drive a bit further, Big Sur is just down the coast and has some of the most beautiful, natural sights many people will ever see, especially if you make it to Pardington Cove.

I really enjoyed Carmel. It’s nice to drive around or walk to see the beauty it has in store for pass thru-ers. Point Lobos State Reserve has beauty and history.
Salinas River State Park is a hiking trail really a place you must go and experience yourself.
Monterey is nice for yes the fishie attration, but there is Garrapata State park another park that needs to be experienced yourself. fishermans wharf, there should be some lihthouses in the coastal area, thats all i can really think of right off the top of my head.

Hi Justin, since I responded to your NZ question, I thought I’d take a look at your other travel interests. I lived on the other side of the Monterey Bay in Santa Cruz for 10 years. There really isn’t that much to do in Monterey that isn’t touristy or in Santa Cruz either. But if you are into nature then there’s a lot more things to do: explore the ocean, forests, etc. Being from LA, going to school and living in a smaller beach town did me a world of good. There was some song (by Nada Surf?) about tips for a good life or healthy life and they mentioned to live in New York for awhile but not too long or you’ll get hard and to live in California for awhile but not too long or you’ll get soft. That definitely made me laugh because there’s truth to it. Central/Northern California is a different vibe than Southern California and it will soften you up if you are hard but also expand your mind a bit. In high school I noticed from media outlets that Northern Californians do not like Southern Californians. CA is at least 2-3 different states. Different way of talking and living. I don’t know specifically how good CSU Monterey Bay is since it’s new and I never went there or know anyone who did but the general rule of thumb is that UCs are better than CSUs. Unless you have a specific major in mind or are going to one of the Cal Polys, that is. Plus, sadly public education is getting worse every year in this country and that includes higher education. I worked at UCSC after attending and the standards dropped, budgets have been cut, etc. I’ve talked to people who have gone to CSUs over the years and the situation seems to be worse at CSUs which is why I recommend a UC first. Personally, I wanted to go to college in SF but there is not an undergraduate UC in SF and big schools like UCB and UCLA make me sick. I liked the mindset of UCSC at the time I chose it but it has changed since then. UCSC and CSUMB are going to be similar for the environment since they are in the same bay. If you don’t have a particular area of study in mind, then visit campuses and see if you like it in general. Plus you might want to think about transportation. Can you get around in that town if you go there? Is there a bus system or campus shuttle system? Or else you might be stuck to campus and tagging along with those with cars if you don’t have one. I don’t know about Monterey but Santa Cruz has buses (free with UCSC ID) and a campus shuttle system, including one which only makes trips to the off campus supermarket. Also, think about how to get to the airport closest to whatever school you choose for visits home or school breaks.