Seeing Monterey Bay from a plane
A near-perfect crescent bay between Santa Cruz and Monterey, hiding a submarine canyon as deep as the Grand Canyon. Look for the smooth curve of beach and dunes linking the two towns.
18 of our routes pass it. California · rated 6 of 10
The easy pick
Los Angeles to San Francisco: sit on the right, on the way down.
Which side, by route
| Route | Side | When |
|---|---|---|
| Austin to San Francisco | Left | on the way down |
| Boston to San Francisco | Left the other side is usually better on this route | on the way down |
| Chicago to San Francisco | Left | on the way down |
| Denver to San Francisco | Left | on the way down |
| Honolulu to San Francisco | Right | on the way down |
| Las Vegas to San Francisco | Left | on the way down |
| London to San Francisco | Right | on the way down |
| Los Angeles to San Francisco | Right | on the way down |
| Minneapolis to San Francisco | Right | on the way down |
| New York to San Francisco | Left the other side is usually better on this route | on the way down |
| Newark to San Francisco | Left the other side is usually better on this route | on the way down |
| Portland to San Francisco | Right the other side is usually better on this route | on the way down |
| San Diego to San Jose | Left | on the way down |
| San Diego to San Francisco | Right | on the way down |
| San Francisco to Los Angeles | Right the other side is usually better on this route | 12 min after takeoff |
| San Francisco to San Diego | Left | 13 min after takeoff |
| Seattle to San Francisco | Right the other side is usually better on this route | on the way down |
| Washington to San Francisco | Left the other side is usually better on this route | on the way down |
From the real paths of every nonstop on these routes in the last 10 days, at the usual time of day.
Questions
Which side of the plane do you see Monterey Bay from?
It depends on the direction: the left on most of our routes (10 of 18). The table lists each route's side.
When can you see Monterey Bay from a plane?
Near the airport, on the climb or on the way down, and mid-flight on longer routes: see the table for each route.
Do clouds matter?
Yes. These answers assume a clear day. Within 3 days of your flight, pick your exact flight in the app for the cloud forecast.
More
San Jose Big Sur coast Apple Park Moffett Field and Hangar One Googleplex Austin (AUS) San Francisco (SFO) Boston (BOS) Chicago (ORD) All routes