California
Birding At Monterey Bay
Program No. 11812RJ
Discover birding at its best in the Monterey Bay region. Learn about local ecology and habitats from experts while seeking waterfowl, waders, shorebirds, songbirds, seabirds and more.
Participant Reviews
Based on 33 Reviews
SHOWING
Thoroughly enjoyed the birding trip to Monterey California. Group leader was excellent; birds were plentiful and in easily accessible locations. Evening educational programs were excellent and enjoyable. Food was first rate.
— Review left November 16, 2025
This was a wonderful way to experience and learn about this part of our beautiful country. You may want to add a day or two before or after to experience the amazing aquarium and go whale watching.
— Review left September 12, 2025
A great learning experience for all levels of bird-watchers. Beautiful sites and lots of local wildlife.
— Review left May 11, 2025
It was an excellent trip for me as I was a first time birder. Steve Rovell our birding guide was so knowledgable not only about the birds but about the area and its ecosystems, native plants etc. I really enjoyed the experience specially being with other very knowledgable new birders too.
— Review left April 6, 2025
We loved this trip! A great mix of new and experienced birders, and the group leader, birding guide, and lecturers were all top notch. We loved the buffet meals, the lodging setting is beautiful, and the accommodations and bus transportation were clean and comfortable. Every day we saw lots of different birds, in varied ecosystems, and plenty of sea life too. A great way to experience the nature of California! This was our first birding trip with earpieces to hear the guide and it improved our enjoyment and the learning potential immensely. No matter where the guide was, we could hear him perfectly. It was wonderful!
— Review left April 1, 2025
This was a delightful and relaxing birding trip. Rick Fournier is a knowledgeable bird guide and an excellent teacher. We saw many species and learned about the area. This may, however, not be the best trip for avid birders. We birded from 7:45am until 3:30 two days and from 7:45 until 12:00 the other two days. So there was a lot of free time. While the guest rooms were rather sparten the lodge and grounds were lovely. It would be helpful to have a car so you could make use of all the free time. This is an excellent trip for beginning birders.
— Review left April 15, 2024
Terrific birding as well as birding leader in Carmel Valley.
— Review left February 16, 2024
Highly recommend birding in Monterrey. Beautiful setting, phenomenal staff.
— Review left February 16, 2024
This program expanded my life-list of birds seen. Some of the group members were particularly adept and helpful, a characteristic that has been true on all of my Road Scholar programs. The accommodations and food are very basic and unremarkable.
— Review left December 9, 2023
Rick Fournier was a great field trip guide, and really helped us with identifying birds, as we were not from the area. We enjoyed our interactions with him. Overall, it was a great trip!
— Review left September 20, 2023
The Carmel valley site is a comfortable accomodation that is a good get away. The staff and food are wonderful The Monterey birds are stunning. Rick is a great teacher and the sites we visited were great.
— Review left September 17, 2023
Extraordinary trip - it blew my socks off. Saw more birds than I expected, in a wide variety of habits - seashore, lake, dairy farm, fields. Monterey is georgeous in May with its abundance of wildflowers and rugged seacoast. Our group leader was excellent. (Please don't post my name, you could credit it to CT Birder if you need attribution.
— Review left May 15, 2023
It exceeded my expectations and I highly recommend this program.
— Review left April 24, 2023
Excellent leader, lots of birds. Pleasant venue with friendly staff
— Review left March 24, 2023
We saw an amazing variety of birds in a beautiful and dramatic area.
— Review left February 18, 2023
This trip was outstanding. We saw and identified a ton of birds, experienced a wide variety of habitats and geography, and had a very fun experience with other trip participants. The leader was great. The location was special. It exceeded our expectations in terms of both birding and socializing.
— Review left February 18, 2023
The instructor is an expert bird guide and generous with his knowledge. He was so helpful; I learned a lot from him and the other birders. All friendly people and a great experience!
— Review left February 18, 2023
This program exceeded my expectations for the total number of birds seen (116 for me) and the number of endemic species that I had not seen before. Our guide, Rick Fournier, was excellent.
— Review left November 19, 2022
A fabulous experience in bird watching and the biology of the area while having a lot of fun.
— Review left August 30, 2022
This is a great program accommodating both beginner and advanced birders. If there is a particular bird you want to see, I advise having Road Scholar put you in touch with the guide, Rick Fournier. He will be able to tell you which dates to choose in order to have a better chance of seeing your bird. The Road Scholar Office will not know.
If you fly into or out Monterey, beware American Airlines. The day before I was scheduled to fly out, they changed my departure time from 10:45 a.m. to 6:05 a.m., causing me to miss all of the Friday morning program wrap up, and making me scramble to find a way to get to the airport.
— Review left May 23, 2022
Five stars! Wonderful! Snowy Plover a life list bird. Rick Fournier an expert patient leader on the trips explaining to beginners how to find the birds, what their outstanding characteristics are as well as info about binoculars and scopes. For more advanced birders he was a source of more details and so helpful about finding life list birds. Our van was luxurious and driver perfect for stop and go birding. Our accommodations and food were great. A beautiful peaceful setting . Also, getting to Hidden Valley besides the Yellow Taxi, Uber or Lyft are possibilities as well as bus #24 Monterey Transit.
— Review left May 14, 2022
Five stars - what a great trip! The birding outings were well organized and very successful. Rick knew where the birds were, kept us prepared and well informed, and kept a good pace so we could add to our personal and trip bird lists. I enjoyed every aspect and every birding location, in spite of occasional unfavorable weather conditions. The species comparisons Rick did using a phone app were very helpful for discerning the details of similar birds. In the end, I not only added to my bird list, but had better birding skills thanks to having Rick as our trip leader. The food was amazing, the presentations were top quality, and the accommodations were plenty comfortable. Everyone was helpful, welcoming, and caring. Much gratitude - Rick, Jim, Peter, Rene, John, Motbu, and all.
— Review left April 20, 2022
I have done and really enjoyed previous Road Scholar birding programs to south Texas, Colorado and Florida. I would bird again with those trip leaders, any time, anywhere. But, Rick Fournier, trip leader for this program, is the cream of the crop. He knows birds, knows where birds are, knows how to find birds and is a great teacher. I only wish we could've birded more- for example, move the talk we had Monday afternoon to the evening. I highly recommend this program to anyone interested in birding.
My only criticism of this program- it has nothing to do with the birding and it may be beyond Hidden Valley Institute's control- is the inconsistent ground transportation between airports (whether it be Monterey, San Jose or San Francisco) and the Institute. The shuttle from San Francisco and San Jose only goes to their hub in Monterey. The only transportation between Monterey and Hidden Valley is Yellow Cab Co. I certainly hope this can be improved in the future.
— Review left April 20, 2022
Birding in Monterey was such an enjoyable educational experience! I certainly feel rewarded in the variety of programs that were offered. I'd recommend this program without reservation!
— Review left April 20, 2022
First and best, the location for this program is absolutely stunning. The Monterey area is perfect for this type of program, and the group leader, Rick Fournier, really knows his stuff. However, in the current situation with staffing issues affecting almost every industry, the program information concerning transportation to and from the lodging is misleading. The availability and reliability of the shuttle, taxi and/or ride-share services creates a long commute, especially if you fly in to SFO. It currently takes a minimum of 3.5 hours each way to and from the program lodging facility. I would strongly recommend doing your research well in advance to plan your ground transportation for this program.
After the first day, I was ready to complain that the activity level designation of "Outdoors-No Sweat" was way off, but it turned out that the strenuous first day trek was pretty much an outlier, and the rest of the trip definitely fell under that description. Just be sure to have comfortable footwear! Overall, I think the program itself is a good one for even the most avid birder.
— Review left April 16, 2022
My sister and I just completed our first Road Scholar trip, Birding in Monterey. We thoroughly enjoyed the week spent with other birders from all over the country. The birding excursions were led by Rick Fournier, an expert in his field. He patiently shared his knowledge and expertise in finding and identifying as many birds as possible. He knew all the best birding locations to achieve the target birds for each day. Everyone involved in this program was helpful, kind and generous! We learned so much and had a wonderful week!
— Review left April 15, 2022
I would not recommend this trip. I was very disappointed in this trip. I thought we would bird more hours each day. Dseeing ay 1 check in-no birding. Days 2 and 4 less than 4 hours. Days 3 and 5 was less than 7.5 hours and day 6 was 2 hours. This was the actual contact time on bus, with Rick and with birds as object.
Rick taught one participant how to use her binoculars on Day 4 not Day1.
We did not bird in late afternoon or at dusk or in the dark for raptors or owls.
The food was low average and the lodging was ok. My room had lots of hot water.
— Review left March 29, 2022
Fabulous trip with a great leader in a great location!
— Review left March 3, 2022
Highly experienced & helpful guide, well-planned trips (destinations and times), & comfortable accommodations overseen by a gracious host in peaceful surroundings.
— Review left October 27, 2021
This is a great program if you enjoy being outdoors in a variety of environments in beautiful area of California. You can be a serious or casual birder, or also an outdoor photographer. And take advantage of extending your stay at Hidden Valley for a very reasonable rate if space is available.
— Review left September 27, 2021
This was an excellent program (in November 2017) that I was able to enjoy once again with superb tour leader Rick F. We exceeded 100 species and had top quality photo opportunities . Hidden Valley Music Seminars is a great base location that provided, excellent meals, accommodation and transportation. They also offered enjoyable cultural offerings (including lectures, music, poetry & wine tasting.)
— Review left September 16, 2021
Rick was a great guide-he put us on lots of birds, taught about field marks and asked us which birds were important for us to see. He was fun to be with in the field, very experienced and accommodating to those of different physical abilities.
— Review left March 1, 2020
Excellent birding at fantastic location. Observed many new birds to add to my list. Guide (Rick) was expert at identifying and pointing out every sighting ....!!! Bev
— Review left October 12, 2019