During our weekend stay at Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel our day at the Monterey Aquarium proved to be a special delight.    We alternated between looking at exhibits like  the three story living Kelp Forest to wandering on the open decks that front on the waters of Monterey Bay.  It was an overcast day  and the whole expanse of the Bay from Monterey to Santa Cruz offered a marvelous view with the added drama of darkening clouds.
The exhibit of  'Jellies: Living Art'  is a place to watch with fascination the grace of these creatures.  This exhibit has become so popular that the Aquarium  extended it.   Viewing these most unusual life forms is a special treat.
The Aquarium  is a great place for children with the walk through wave crash and hands on exhibits in the family activity room.  There is also the Ocean's Edge galleries that not only feature the ocean life of Monterey Bay but also the human connection and the need to preserve this unique world for future generations.  Here on view are varieties of sharks, rays and schooling fishes including the famed Monterey sardine which for a time made Monterey the nation's top fishing port.  Then overfishing changed Cannery Row  into  the tourist attraction it is today.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is world famous and is acclaimed as the best in the U.S.  Since opening in 1984 millions of visitors have enjoyed its exhibitions and educational message. It is located on famed Cannery Row in Monterey, California's most historic city. And indeed the original building for the Aquarium was once a cannery.
The Aquarium is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and in summer and major holiday periods from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on Christmas Day.  For more information call 831 648-4888 or on online at www.montereybayaquarium.org.  The Aquarium website is full of interesting information, not only on the events being held but also on the studies and research that is continually being done.
We returned to the Hyatt Regency for lunch  to try its oven toasted pizza in the lounge bar area overlooking the golf course.
Then spent some time on Cannery Row and  revisited Carmel Valley resisting, for at least one day, stops at winery tasting rooms.