A sea otter floats on its back between the masts, busy cracking open a shell on its belly: welcome to Monterey. The California bay is a nationally significant marine sanctuary, and ships remain at anchor; tenders land passengers right downtown, at Fisherman's Wharf or the neighbouring municipal wharf. Rarely does an arrival put wildlife on the program so quickly.

A Shoreline Teeming With Life

Before any visit, the show plays out at the water's edge: seals sprawled on the rocks, noisy sea lions beneath the pilings, kelp forests swaying below the surface, squadrons of pelicans skimming the waves. Monterey Bay owes this abundance to a deep submarine canyon that brings rich offshore waters up to the surface. Whale-watching outings leave right from the wharves; grey whales parade along the coast in winter during their migration, humpbacks dominate the warmer months, and dolphins sometimes number in the hundreds at any time of year.

Cannery Row, From Sardines to Literature

From the wharves, a waterfront trail follows the coast to Cannery Row, about a fifteen-minute walk. In the 1930s, this smoky street canned sardines for all of America; John Steinbeck immortalized it in the novel of the same name, published in 1945. The canneries closed long ago, but the tin and wood buildings remain, converted into shops and restaurants. You walk in the footsteps of Steinbeck's characters, one eye on the shop windows and the other on the bay sparkling between the old factories; busts and plaques recall the writer and his friend Ed Ricketts, the marine biologist who inspired the novel's "Doc."

The Aquarium That Changed Everything

At the end of the street, housed in a former cannery, the Monterey Bay Aquarium ranks among the most renowned marine institutions in the world. Its living kelp forest, as tall as a building, its hypnotic jellyfish and its resident otters alone justify the entire stop; the institution has also played a pioneering role in protecting the bay and rehabilitating orphaned otters. Allow at least two hours, more with children; tickets are ideally bought in advance in summer. In summer, a free trolley links downtown, the wharves and the aquarium, handy for saving your legs.

The Scale of a Successful Stop

Everything fits into a small area: tenders dock downtown, Cannery Row is just over a kilometre away, the aquarium a kilometre and a half. No coach is needed to fill the day, and that is a luxury. The most curious will add the historic district and its adobe buildings dating from the Mexican era, when the town was the capital of Alta California; the old Custom House, considered one of the oldest public buildings in the state, still stands guard facing the Wharf. A chapter that the Gold Rush made people forget too quickly, and one that can be explored in a few quiet streets.

At return time, the tender passes back over the kelp forests and everyone watches for one last otter. Monterey will have offered what few ports of call bring together: a wild shoreline, world-class aquarium tanks and a bit of American literature, all within walking distance. Steinbeck wrote that Cannery Row is "a poem, a stink, a grating noise"; the stink is gone, the poem has stayed.