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).