Marina Dunes is home to a environmentally
sensitive habitat, strong waves that pound on shore, windsurfing and
Marina Dunes Resort where you are
issued a golf cart to drive to your hotel suite or room upon check-in. Scenes from Marina State Beach Marina is an oceanfront city, located on the Monterey
Bay north of Seaside and Sand City and south of Moss Landing. Not
far from Monterey, it is perhaps the closest location to the former Fort
Ord Army Base which was closed some time ago. Known for its fabulous dunes
where hang gliders depart for their aerial journeys on the cliffs above
the Pacific Ocean, there's fishing, surfing, bird watching and whale watching
activities to keep you entertained. This ecologically sensitive region
overlooks one of the largest marine sanctuaries in the Monterey Bay and
caution is advised on several fronts. Not only do you need to respect
signs for dune habitats, but warnings are posted in some locations for
swimming in this region. There are strong ocean currents that pound the
shore here and would drag a non-swimmer or child offshore in a blink of
the eye so caution is advised.
What's not widely publicized are Marina's hotels that
are ideal for lodgings during the artichoke festival in nearby Castroville
and Moss Landing antique shopping. 10 miles north of Marina, Moss Landing
is a quaint city with numerous shops, fishing excursions and boat rides
along the Elkhorn Slough where guests can watch birds in their natural
habitat. There are scant lodging in Moss Landing and Castroville
while back at Marina, you can chose from a luxury Marina Dunes Resort to
a high rise Embassy Suites, with great accommodations and easy access to
the smaller cities and towns you want to explore.
Marina has several small restaurants, plus a very popular
AJ Spurs where the wait can be 2 hours, Denny's, McDonald's and nearby
convenience shopping such as K-Mart and Costco (membership store).
