Sea Lion Caves

1-16-2010

One thing you may not know about my husband Justin, is that he likes to do things unplanned and at the last minute. His favorite thing to do is go to new places and take the most scenic route possible. So I wasn't at all surprised when he woke up one Saturday and said, "Let's go to the Sea Lion Caves!" 30 minutes later with minimal grumbling from Jaco, we hit the road. The Sea Lion Caves is home to hundreds of sea lions and is the largest sea cave on earth. During the winter months, the large creatures usually stay in the cave while in the summer they tend to sun themselves outside on the rocks. Supposedly there were 500+ lions in the cave the day we were there. To get to the viewing deck, you ride down 200 feet in an elevator. When the door opens you are greeted by noise and a stench that only 500 sea lions can create! It was pretty cool but a little dark; after all it was a cave! Pictures and video were really hard to take. It was rainy and windy so the lack of sun made the cave even darker. Still pretty amazing to see, hear, and maybe not so amazing to smell!
Mass of bodies swimming into the cave. Horrible lighting in the cave and no flash photography was allowed so it was nearly impossible to get a good picture.

This was just outside the big cave. If you look closely, the little brown spots in the water are sea lions.



The cave!

After going to the cave, we checked out a lighthouse nearby. Supposedly it is the most photographed lighthouse. It was getting dark and raining when we went for our little hike which in a way made the lighthouse even cooler to see. I don't know if the kids agreed.


On our way to the caves, we stopped at a beach to let the girls explore and the boys checked out a golf course. La-La had sprained her ankle two days before but you wouldn't know it the way she climbed, explored, and played. Her foot was quite swollen by the time we got home and it hurt but she was such a trooper.