Continue your photographic tour along Ocean View Boulevard. This wonderfully scenic stretch of road follows the shoreline of Monterey Bay. There are many large turnouts along the way where you can park. There is also a trail that follows the coast. It is paved to Lovers Point and then from Lovers Point to around Point Pinos it is a bluff top footpath. Along the way, with a long lens, you can easily photograph sea lions and harbor seals on the offshore rocks.
   If you're here during late spring, you'll be treated to brilliant lavender and pink flowering iceplants that grows on the bluffs of Pacific Grove. The best stops for flowers are at Berwick Park (at 9th Street) and Lover's Point (at 17th Street).
    Past Lover's Point Park, at Lucas Point, is a good place to photograph surf crashing against the offshore rocks. Depending on the tides and weather conditions, they may shoot skyward in dramatic fashion, the white spray standing out against the deep blue bay waters. All along Ocean View boulevard and sunset Drive you'll find plenty of opportunities for spectacular pictures of waves crashing against the rocks. If you have a very long lens (400mm or longer), you can take pictures of cormorants bashing on the offshore rocks. Near Point Pinos is a great place to photograph hovering, almost motionless seagulls against the sun. The seagulls here are accustomed to being fed, and if you have food, they'll congregate around you.  

Point Pinos Lighthouse
   Continue along ocean View Boulevard to the Point Pinos Lighthouse. This lighthouse is located in the middle of a golf course and surrounded by chain link fencing. Try taking some distant shots of the lighthouse from the sand dune area to make the fencing less noticeable. The lighthouse is open Saturday and Sunday from 1:00-4:00 pm if you want some closer, unobstructed views. Deer are often seen on the nearby fairways. These deer, even the antlered bucks, are quite small in size. They are used to people and will tolerate photographers at fairly close range. The roadside lagoon here has an interesting collection of coots and other birds at close range.
   Continuing around Pt. Pinos, Ocean View Boulevard becomes Sunset Drive and skirts Asilomar State Beach that fronts on the pacific Ocean. The long, sandy beach is a good place for interesting close-up shots of seaweed strands in ever-changing compositions as they're arranged and rearranges by the ebb and flow of the water. At low tide, you can photograph some tidepool life such as starfish, sea urchins, sea anemones and crabs. From the rocky cliffs that jut into the ocean, you can photograph waves as they crash against the rocks. The wave action here is particularly good after a Pacific storm when the waves might reach 30 feet, but you will want some waterproof protection for your camera. A boardwalk takes you through inland coastal dunes that can be covered with flowers in spring.
   The distance between Cannery Row and Asilomar Beach is only four miles, so you've plenty of time to stop for photos at the many pullouts along the waterfront.
   You now have three choices as to where you want to go from Sunset Drive. Turning left on Asilomar boulevard returns you to Lucas Point, passing near some of the monarch butterfly areas covered below. Turning right takes you to the entrance gate of the famous Seventeen-mile Drive that ends in Carmel (covered below). If you stay on Sunset (which becomes Route 68) you end up on Route 1 between Monterey (to the left) and Carmel (to the right).

Pacific Grove Inland
   Pacific Grove has many Victorian homes. Although you can find them in many areas of the town, most are concentrated on Lighthouse and Central avenues. These can be best photographed by roaming the area on foot.
   Each winter, thousands of monarch butterflies settle in the eucalyptus trees in Pacific Grove. The best place to photograph these butterflies is at the Monarch Sanctuary off Lighthouse Avenue between Grove Acre Avenue and Ridge Road. Monarch butterflies also congregate in Washington Park between Melrose and Alder streets. You can also find the monarch butterflies at Milar's Butterfly Grove Motel on Ridge Road just south of Lighthouse Avenue and Butterfly Trees Lodge at the end of Lighthouse Avenue but this is private property.
   You will want to arrive at a butterfly location in the morning. That is when you will find the butterflies clustered together in masses in the trees. Once the sun warms them, they start fluttering around and leave the area in search of food.

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