Review of shorebird 55 (Let me begin by saying that this review was submitted to At the Dunes…read morerental agency but never posted on their site.) Pros: *excellent beach access * lovely ocean view Cons: *furniture, towels, sheets in generally rundown condition *master bedroom has 1 bedside table and 1 lamp. I ended bringing in a small corroded outdoor iron table and moving a lamp from the second bedroom. * one floor lamp in the entire living room. Generally poor lighting. *Peeling paint in bathroom *mold in bathroom corners *uncomfortable living room furniture-outdoor wicker, way past it's comfort usage. No support. *unwashed sheets in second bedroom, unwashed towel in master bath. ( the rental agency was very responsive about this) In this time of Covid, these discoveries made our stay uncomfortable. Was this place really sanitized before our arrival? My point here is that a rental at the beach, for $400+/ night, should be comfortable in all aspects. This was not. For a total of $1800 for four nights, I would have expected much more.

Is this someone's negected bequest? Pajaro Dunes Shorebirds #115 review (through VRBO)…read more We love Pajaro Dunes and have fond memories of our friends' lovely condo. This one in comparison--meh! Would definitely not stay there again. The property was clean enough but not stocked with minimal kitchen staples (like flour, cooking oil, aluminum foil). With VRBO you expect better. The patio furniture was so torn, cracked and ripped, our adult daughter had a huge blood blister after sitting on a green plastic chair. (See photos) This is not acceptable. Nor is the master bathroom door where you had to close the door completely in order to use the toilet. It was so cramped--and I'm only 5'1. Do not stay here if you are used to comfort, cooking, or a patio where you can sit out and see the sky. For $2000 for three nights, we expected a lot more than Shorebird #115.

Best of Dunes properties do not disappoint! In September, my husband and I hosted a group of…read morefriends for their first trip to Pajaro Dunes. 84 Puffin was a perfect fit for our group of six couples, everyone with their own private room in comfortable King Beds. We then enjoyed our annual Family Vacation in 59 Avocet. This spacious home is perfect with the most incredible views of the Pajaro shoreline and Monterey Bay. 84 Puffin and 59 Avocet are both incredibly clean and well appointed. They offer plenty of bedrooms with cozy beds. The kitchens have everything you could possibly need and each house offers a variety of beach supplies! Thank you Stacey for all of your help in coordinating each of these vacations. Looking forward to our next visit in 2026!

I have stayed at this property many times. This time I was disappointed. I accidently left two pair…read moreof shoes under the bed in a gym bag. They said housekeeping was unable to find them. (Where did they go?) This is dishonest at the least. They say they are not responsible for any items left. I certainly would not worry about small items but this was just dishonest. The properties are not inexpensive and though this is small compared to the cost of the stay I will no longer rent from this facility.

I love Pajaro Dunes! Beautiful location! Love hosting work events here. Pajaro Dunes team is great…read morewith communication and helping with room preparation.

What a great place to chill. We're from chicago and needed 5nights away from the city and the 95…read moredegree august weather. Perfect. A constant 65 and if you need some heat just drive up to San Jose for a warm up. It was 80 up there. Or drive over to Gilroy. Accommodations could not have been better. Our unit S4 was nice in the living areas and the bathrooms were awesome, in particular the shower. Couldn't have asked for a better vacation. I'll be back.

Local Bay Area Getaway!…read more I recently found out about this spot during my friend's bachelor party. It's a very secluded neighborhood with a security gate for entrance. The unit they rented was had 4 spacious room. Upon entering, the first thing I noticed were these huge windows overlooking the Salinas River State Beach. I could not believe the view. The window view literally felt like I was staring at a Computer Screen Saver off a 8 feet x 4 feet monitor. It was amazing. It was September, so the weather was a good 55 at the lowest and 77 at the highest with a constant sea breeze air hitting my face. The best part of this place is getting up to the sounds of the waves gently crashing to the shore. I definitely have to come back and share this place with the fam. I know they'll love they'll love this little escape as much as I did.

I just wanted to amend my original review. My father passed away a few weeks ago not long after I…read morewrote my original review. Sadly, I'm not certain that we'll be coming back to Monterey Dunes (it might be a little hard to come without him)- but I'll never forget the family memories we built here on our family vacation every year. It's a great place to come for a relaxing and bonding time. I've added a picture of him and me at the beach from around 1994 (my aunt is in it too). I have great memories of coming here! Please read my original review to see what my family found so great about it.

Beach condo located right by the beach. The owners provided all the kitchen and beach essentials we…read moremay need. The kitchen had a glass top cooking range, oven & microwave, every type of cooking ware. They also had extra storage that had things that maybe useful for the beach such as boogie boards, beach chairs. The only thing that the condo did not have was central air. We opened our sliding door and windows to let the air flow through.

I came here with my boyfriend's family for a one week getaway. It was a nice break from the outside…read moreworld, especially since the house was right by the place we were staying at! It was a 3 minute walk to the beach which is amazing. The house itself was wonderful and had amazing views. The neighbors and staff were very nice as well, which made the environment more welcoming. It was nice knowing that there are carts to haul your stuff to your place or car because the uphill climb is a bit tougher if you have to make multiple trips to your car. They also have pickleball, basketball, and tennis courts. I loved that they had a storage for the recreational area where you can borrow equipment. They also had a ping pong table which we loved. overall, I would definitely come back!

This is a great vacation rental company to go through if you are planning a trip to the Monterey…read morePeninsula for either the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the 2010 US Open or any of the races at Laguna Seca. They rent out condos at the Monterey Dunes Colony near Moss Landing. If you can book #210, its got its own hot tub and sleeps 9 people! The prices are reasonable because many of the 4 bedroom units sleep 8 to 9 people. I take a yearly trip with some friends to the Pro-Am every year to watch our friend PGA golfer Parker McLachlin play in the tournament. Every time I go there I am amazed by the views and its proximity to everything in downtown Monterey and in Carmel. In the winter months there are few people around so you can have the place virtually to yourselves. Parking is never a problem and they offer a pool, saunas, communal hot tub, volleyball court, basketball court, and tennis courts as well!

Do not ever do business with this company. He has a horrible reputation in the area and stole…read moremoney from his clients. He has no morals or scrupples and will cheat you if he gets a chance. Since the amounts are so small he knows that you cannot get the money back through the court system so he will especially cheat you if you are out of state. DO NOT SEND HIM ANY MONEY from another client Take a second look at Monterey Dunes, we were given the keys to a home (#194) when I went to the Moss Landing building to pick up my keys. (this was instructed by the papers sent to me via mail). The lady passed the keys over to me and then took them back and put a sticky note on the papers that said to dial 500 at the gate and it would be opened by her. All went as planned but getting into the room early evening and looking around it struck me that this was a "bait and switch" home. The one I ordered on line was much more clean and modern. I left a message Friday night but no one called me back. I called two more times on Saturday morning long after opening hours. I then received a call back about 10:30 that morning in which I was told to get out of the 194 place because another family was moving in that afternoon. That was a surprise, i was then told to move to #260 where the keys were on the table and the place was unlocked. I was never told to go to this address, much less told that the keys were on the table and the place was unlocked. I had even mentions that I only needed two car passes for parking, as there were 3 given to me. She said that was OK, keep all of them for now. We proceeded to Monterey Dunes and after entering the gate, I said to my daugher driving that the lady had never told me the number of the house we were to occupy. My daughter told me the number was on the car hanger for parking, which was #194. Ok, I thought everything was fine until I noticed the home was not the same I saw in the pictures. It was dirty, had ants in the kitchen, the funiture was old, ripped, stained and the high ceilings were full of cobwebs and spiders, which made the first night miserable. When I was told to move the next morning, our plans were shot, it was my daughters bachorlette party and we were planning to have breakfast in Carmel but spent the the whole morning moving, I had my neice with me from Norway with her 5 month old son. Do you know how hard it is to move a baby and 5 adults to a new place?????? It took us all morning. The lady offered to give us the money back from the first night, I have not have any confirmation on this except she told me over the phone and also told my neice from Norway the same thing. That was Sunday morning, I have yet to hear from her, the office manager about anything. Beware of this company, if I do not get my money back from the fiasco, I will post this on every site I can, no one should have to go through this for 1,248 dollars for two nights. Mary B

We loved our weekend here, kayaking with otters, walking to beaches, and soaking up the history and…read moreprivacy in this cute historic inn. The location and views are unbeatable. We stayed in the newer Boathouse, in the Castaway Room on the right end, ground floor. The privacy and quiet were fantastic! The couples shower feels amazing and overlooks the river. We saw lots of birds and a gorgeous sunset and sunrise colors. Nature sounds enveloped us, as well as the sage fragrance of the garden. The bed was super comfortable, good support, and new. The center room looked like it had slightly more view and the bed was lower to the floor. Being on the end gave us more privacy and zero noises from other rooms. We liked being higher off the ground because we could see a little farther from there. The caretakers came on site to take care of the gardens and kitchen and checked in with us to make sure our stay was flawless. The main building is an old historic building and garden so expect quaint and period details. The nautical artifacts were amazing. There is a fantastic coffee shop called The Power Plant 5 minutes away for coffee, smoothies, avocado toast, beer and snacks, so we didn't mind having just the basic coffee and tea in the room. For us, the quiet, the views, the energy and location were perfect! If you stay at Captain's Inn, you can walk to the coffee shop, visit the shops in town, eat at the fantastic marina fresh seafood restaurants, and walk to the two touring places that take you to see the otters on kayak. We used Kayak Connect with was great, very easy and great guides. This is the closest and best place to stay to see the otters.

Inn Charge Stayed…read morehere for a one-night stay on a quick weekend getaway and we paid $180/night for the "Sail Away" suite--but bear in mind that's offseason pricing, so it may increase during the summer. There's two levels of rooms at this hotel with some in the main building (decent views) or the back house (amazing views) and our room was fortunately in the latter, but did cost extra. The Good: *Amazing views of the Salinas River hugging the edge of the ocean from the back rooms. *Community Patio deck to enjoy *Contactless check-in where they email you the door code the day-of. *HDTV w/ full compliment of channels *Keurig-like coffee maker in room *Fireplace for heat and romance The Meh: *They claim there's food in the main building for breakfast, but all we found were old expired granola bars. *I guess if you want a bottle of some alcohol waiting for you in your room, then you can let them know at least a day in advance--but ofc they don't tell you this until the *day of.* We spoke to another guest who had the same beef, but it's whatever I guess. *Wifi was abysmally slow but Carissa was able to stream a show before she went to bed, so put that in your pipe and smoke it. *Back house rooms have bathtubs only and we're not fans...0_o The Ugly: *Bed was incredibly rock hard and elevated 2' into the air so you need a stepstool to get on and off. My back was in shambles the next day. Conclusion: Honestly the views are almost worth coming back here for despite all the complaints, but the terrible bed would have me thinking twice...

Hidden gem tucked away unexpectedly!…read more Parking situation is small but then again, no one knows about it so a win-win for all. Came here horseback riding and only saw a few guys out fishing. Unsure why ppl keep saying it's a dog beach when the parks department says otherwise. "DOGS are not permitted on the beach or dunes." Maybe take another look - https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=572.

Free beach! It's a California State Parks Beach but there is no entry fee. Very small parking area…read more Very rough road to get in. But very few people there, mostly people fishing. It's a wide open, sandy beach. You can see south to Monterey and north to Santa Cruz.

River Failure Due to…read moreits "prime location" along the Pacific Flyway, this area (±367-acres) was founded in 1973 to preserve the wetlands for migrating flocks. The Good: *±1.25-mile loop trail that's fairly flat and easy to walk on. *Lots of protected species in the area so a good place for bird watchers. *Beach access *Bike rack at the foot of the beach access trail (which is very soft sand) *And speaking of the parking lot, it's not large but probably plenty big enough for this park. Oh, and it's free! My favorite price. :) The Meh: *Hunting in certain parts of the park, so be aware where you are located. *Not the most exciting beach. I mean yes, it's still a beach, but there are much more scenic ones around. But if you live close-by then it's probably just fine. *No restrooms The Ugly: *Have to drive in on a dirt road that I'd imagine gets pretty muddy during the winter. So if you don't have an AWD, and it's rained lately, then maybe best to skip out on visiting. Conclusion: Cool place for bird watchers, but not much else.

Wow, we came here to see the beach near Monterey. This amazed us since the beach trail is a direct…read morepath through the marsh lands. You get a great view of all the shore birds where fresh water meets salt water. There are fields of brush and rabbits run through freely. Unfortunately, there are no bathrooms and entrance is blocked so you must walk from parking lot to beach. Still, it's worth to see part of the lettuce fields as you come in and then the sand dunes at the end. Get there early and you can see the fishermen try their luck with shore fishing. A must for bird watchers and nature enthusiasts.

Andril's was a yearly visit for the family for a long while. With life and the loss of some key…read morefamily members, visits became farther apart, and this past November, when we lost our mother, her final wish was that we revisit the old cabin, bring family and friends together, and celebrate being together. Both my sister and I stayed at Rancho Reposo in the late 70's as kids, and some of the other cabins in the 80s as teenagers. All that remains are faded photos and a ton of memories, so this past weekend was full of nostalgia. We introduced people to someplace new and flooded a few memory banks with new adventures and walks on the beach. The rental process was super easy, the accommodations were all that we remembered, and our pup loved it too! The house was pretty well stocked with supplies, so a quick trip to the local grocery store got us everything else we desired. This was truly a flawless weekend away and was exactly what our mom would have appreciated. I think we're all committed to returning every year, as we did as kids.

We stayed 5 nights and were very pleased. The staff are personable and helpful, our 2 BR 1 Bath was…read morewell appointed, very clean, spacious and well stocked with necessities in the kitchen. Nice private patio. Parking is easy. The outside common areas are also very nice and facilitated our group picnic dinner. A short walk to beautiful Asilomar Beach. We will be back.