Situated at the northern end of the Monterey Penninsula, Marina is the first City passed on the way to Monterey when traveling from the north. Marina is foggier, colder, and windier than cities to the south. During the summer months Marina may go days without seeing the sun and thick fog is known to envelope the community during the evening.
There are a number of hotels and motels in this City and many visitors choose to stay here for slightly lower prices and more modern lodging properties. Marina is not known for fine dining, but the community has a number of worthwhile places to eat. Main attractions include Handcar Tours that provide human power railroad tours, Skydive Monterey Bay, and Fort Ord Dunes State Park.
Marina Attractions
We are the only rail touring provider offering authentic handcar tours. Our six mile tours travel alongside sand dunes, through cypress and Monterey Pine forests.
There are not many places where a person can jump out of an airplane, but the Monterey Peninsula is one of them. At Marina Airport Skydive Monterey Bay offers a complete skydiving experience for those wanting to check this off their bucket list.
This park frequented more by locals than tourists is one of the peninsula’s gems. The park was once part of Fort Ord and now is a popular State Park that offers trails, ocean access, and contains some of the few remaining sand dunes. It has a paved trail that runs between Sand City and Marina that is particularly good for bicycle touring. If you bring your bicycle this is a good place to ride.
Marina Area Restaurants
El Palmar – 3102 Del Monte Blvd, Marina
This is a full service independent Mexican Restaurant where many of our guests visit after their tour. It is located a block north of Handcar Tours on Del Monte Blvd.
Annie’s House – 204 Cypress Ave, Marina
This is a small independent restaurant that serves both American and Americanized Chinese Cuisine. The owner operates the restaurant with her husband and it is truly a mom and pop restaurant. Ask for the complimentary fried tempura vegetables, a truly unique item.
English Ales and Brewery – 223 Reindollar Avenue, Marina
We strongly recommend this independent brewery restaurant off the beaten path in Marina. This is one of those places that is a local gem and this is our main recommendation for out-of-towners looking for a unique casual sit down place to eat. They make their own ales and have a satisfying food menu too.
Keoki’s Hawaiian Barbeque – 3170 Vista Del Camino Cir, Marina
This local favorite offers take-out only. Food is very good and there is often lots of customers waiting for their orders.
Food Court – The Dunes on Monterey Bay
If you are looking for variety of quick serve food choices then the Dunes on Monterey Bay Center located off the Imjin Parkway Highway 1 exit is probably where you want to go. A lot of our customers visit the food court that offers a variety of locations that include Blaze Pizza, 360 Health Café, Poke Bar, Chipolte, Deli Delicious, MoonScoops Ice Cream, and Smash Burger.