Marinas & Anchorages Reviews Pt. 4 - Morro Bay, Monterey & Santa Cruz: Spring 2026

We are here at the end of our review series. I hope it helped at least a little bit. All places have their pros & cons. But as long as you don’t have to go to Moss Landing, you’ll be fine. 😂

Morro Bay Yacht Club Dock

Amenities:

Bathrooms/Showers - Bathrooms are clean!!! Nice & bright. There is one huge shower with a bench, 2 shower heads & tons of hooks. -Nice hot water with good pressure too! I don’t know if you could ask for more.

Laundry - There is 1 washer & 1 dryer. I think each is under $3. They also use an app but I forget which one, since apparently there seem to be so many laundry apps!

Other - Friday nights they have a potluck dinner upstairs & invite any visitors to come & join them.

Dock: Very nice. You are on a side tie. Anywhere from 2 huge boats to about 6 tiny ones are able to fit along here. I think most of the time there are around 4. However, if they have a sailing event, you will probably be asked to move to a mooring ball for the time being. There is water & electricity at the dock. I don’t even think that they charge for it.

Staff: I don’t even know if you can really call anyone staff. Everyone has different responsibilities at the Yacht Club & a different person handles the reservations each day. Everyone is super friendly & helpful!

Pricing: It’s $1.00 per foot per night! I don’t think you can beat that anywhere!

Location: You can walk to a lot of places from this place. Unfortunately, none of those places are a chandlery. But there is a wonderful market that’s on the healthy side that is around a 1o minute walk. -Sunshine Foods! And it’s a pleasant walk too. There are a ton of restaurants & a ton of cute little shops that someday I would love to go into & spend time looking at stuff & buying it. 😄 You can walk one way to the natural history museum or the other way to the maritime museum. -Which is in the direction of “The Rock” & a big huge beach! Just a fun place in general to walk around & explore.

Monterey Bay Boatworks Marina

Amenities:

Bathrooms/Showers - They have both. We didn’t use them this time because we have our own. But last time I checked they were clean & sufficient.

Laundry - N/A. I’m not sure where the closest laundry is.

Dock: Pretty standard. You’ll be on a side tie. -Unless for some reason they have a open slip. There aren’t a lot of spots. So make a reservation by calling as soon as you know you will be staying there. The number is (831) 373-7857.

Staff: Very pleasant staff.

Pricing: It’s $1.50 per foot per night! Fairly decent.

Location: It’s a lovely area to walk around - going in any direction. However, you won’t be able to walk to anywhere very useful. So groceries & boat stuff do need some type of transportation to get to. But if you want to snorkel, the water is usually pretty clear & cold & you can hop in almost anywhere to see sea life. Cannery Row is right there. The Aquarium is a 10 minute walk at the most. There is a pier there with shops & restaurants. Just look up what to do as a tourist in Monterey & it is all within walking distance. So take the time to have fun there is you can.

Santa Cruz Harbor

Amenities:

Bathrooms/Showers - Need updating. Water pressure good & hot for showers. But if we had time, I think we’d volunteer to fix them up a little. They need some love. But they are clean.

Laundry - N/A. Unfortunately there is no laundry very close by. The one that is the closest, is about $8 to wash & $8 to dry. Welcome to the Bay Area! I would suggest just dealing with your own stink until you either make it up to San Francisco or down to Morro Bay.

Docks & Slips: They have been fixing them up for the last several years. So most of them are in good shape. There aren’t a lot of guest slips -meaning end tie spots. And you can’t make a reservation. So get there early & cross your fingers.

Staff: The best! All of them are so helpful & so friendly. Santa Cruz also has probably the best Harbor Patrol. I don’t think there is a safer marina to be in. They are on the clock & alert all day & night & very productive.

Pricing: For a boat our size it’s about $60 per night.

Location: It is a really pretty marina. I think maybe the only marina that might have it beat in California is Dana Point. But it could be a tie. You do feel like you are surrounded by nature. It’s small & there aren’t really a lot of useful places for boaters here but if you are here walk around. There are beaches on both sides!

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I keep guard of Mommy’s purse. Don’t worry, I give it back to her after the treats come.

Thanks for watching & reading. Who knows what we will have in store for next week!