On Saturday, Oct. 31, merchants at Old Fisherman's Wharf start handing out candy at 4 p.m., and the costume contest begins at 5. On Cannery Row that afternoon, Monterey Bay Aquarium members will already have been walking through Ocean in Motion / La Danza del Mar for hours. It's the new gallery built around a larger African penguin habitat, and it opens to members at noon that day.
That overlap shapes the next two weeks. Monterey's Halloween events are held in different districts on different days. The last one falls on the first day of the Aquarium's preview window, and the public opening comes one week later, on Nov. 7. A family with young children can plan Oct. 23 through Nov. 7 as one stretch.
The stretch, in order
- Fri. Oct. 23 and Sat. Oct. 24, 7 to 10 p.m. Aquarium Halloween Member Nights. You need a member-night ticket, since general admission isn't sold for these evenings.
- Sat. Oct. 24, 2 to 5 p.m. Trick-or-Treat on Lighthouse in New Monterey.
- Sun. Oct. 25 Pumpkin Plunge and Día de los Muertos Family Evening at the Monterey Sports Center.
- Sat. Oct. 31, 12 to 5 p.m. First Ocean in Motion member preview.
- Sat. Oct. 31, 4 to 7 p.m. Halloween on the Wharf.
- Sun. Nov. 1 through Tue. Nov. 3, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. More member previews, plus an adults-only member preview on Nov. 1 from 8 to 10 a.m.
- Sat. Nov. 7 Ocean in Motion opens to the public.
The first weekend belongs to New Monterey and the Sports Center
Trick-or-Treat on Lighthouse runs along Lighthouse Avenue between Reeside and David. It's free and goes ahead rain or shine. A related free trunk-or-treat is listed at 456 Lighthouse Ave. Because it's a daytime event, younger children can finish before dark.
The next day, the Monterey Sports Center at 301 E. Franklin St. hosts its free Pumpkin Plunge and Día de los Muertos Family Evening. Before you leave, check the time. The event calendar on What's Up Monterey lists 2 to 5 p.m., but the Monterey Bay Parent fall roundup lists the Día celebration as 5 to 8 p.m. The two times may cover separate parts of the day, the pool event in the afternoon and the family evening after. Calling the Sports Center the week of the event is the simplest way to be sure.
The Aquarium's Halloween Member Nights fall on the same weekend, on Friday and Saturday evenings. Three areas are closed during those evenings: Into the Deep, the Aviary, and Seabirds. If a child is set on seeing the deep-sea galleries or the shorebirds, a regular daytime visit works better.
Oct. 31 has two events, and they share an afternoon
The second weekend is the busier one, and its main events have different rules.
| Ocean in Motion member preview | Halloween on the Wharf | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Monterey Bay Aquarium, Cannery Row | 1 Old Fisherman's Wharf |
| Hours on Oct. 31 | 12 to 5 p.m. | 4 to 7 p.m. |
| Cost | Free for members; guest cards honored | Free |
| Reservation | Not required; show member card at entrance | None listed |
| Main draw | First look at the new gallery | Merchant trick-or-treating, 5 p.m. costume contest |
Since the preview runs from noon and the Wharf event starts at 4, a family can do both in one day: the gallery early in the afternoon, then the Wharf in costume before the 5 p.m. contest. Halloween also has the shortest regular preview session, five hours compared with seven on each of Nov. 1 through 3. Members who would rather keep Halloween for the Wharf can wait for the longer weekday previews. No reservation is needed on any of the preview days.
What's actually new behind the Aquarium doors
Ocean in Motion takes the place of the Aquarium's long-running Splash Zone gallery, Hoodline reported in September. The Aquarium's member preview page calls the opening "the return of African penguins," which makes the preview days the first chance for families to see them again.
According to the Aquarium's Sept. 8 announcement, the gallery is bilingual and designed with children ages two to six in mind, though it welcomes visitors of every age. The release describes four main sections:
- Big-belly seahorses. Large seagrass towers rise toward the ceiling for children to hold, followed by a live exhibit of dozens of seahorses wrapping their tails around seagrass.
- Leaping blennies. Shapes on the floor prompt kids to hop from rock to rock, leading to an open-top exhibit at eye level where water washes over the stones and the blennies leap across them.
- Coral community. A 20-foot reef with a custom wave machine, bluespotted ribbontail rays, clownfish in anemones, and a coral-themed play area next to it.
- African penguins. The centerpiece is a much larger habitat with a rocky beach and water for diving, plus digital interactives that invite children to waddle, flap and shake like a penguin.
The labels are written in the style of a children's book, with the animals as main characters, and caregivers are encouraged to read them aloud. In the same release, CEO Jenny Gray described the design goal: "By inviting children to move their bodies like a penguin or a leaping blenny and mirror their behavior we're activating their brain's empathy engine through play." The release also says the primary path through the play area is fully accessible.
Previews or opening day, and what each costs
Previews are open only to members, which matters more this fall because the Aquarium's Monterey County free-admission window has already passed. It ran Sept. 8 to 20 and required advance reservations and proof of county residency.
Standard admission is $65 for adults and $50 for youth and seniors, and children four and under get in free. The Aquarium recommends buying ahead, though its ticket page doesn't describe any special entry rules for Nov. 7. A Family membership is listed at $295 and an Individual membership at $125. Both include a year of admission and special exhibit previews. Next to a $65 adult ticket, an Individual membership costs a little less than two visits, so it adds up quickly if you go a few times a year.
The Aquarium's FAQ says it offers no general admission discounts. It does take part in Museums for All, which provides free admission to an eligible SNAP/CalFresh adult plus up to three guests, and it runs Community Group Visits through nonprofit and government partners.
Getting around the two weeks
Parking. On Sept. 25, the City of Monterey announced that its meter vendor, POM, would stop operating Oct. 1, and that card payments at city meters would be temporarily unavailable as a result. As of mid-October, the city's parking page still listed coins and the ParkMobile app as the only ways to pay, and it hadn't named a new vendor. Setting up ParkMobile before Oct. 31 saves digging for quarters at a Wharf or Cannery Row meter.
Tuesday market. The Old Monterey Marketplace on Alvarado Street, between Del Monte and Pearl, has moved to its October-through-April hours of 4 to 7 p.m., one hour earlier than its summer close. The market falls on Oct. 27 and Nov. 3, and Nov. 3 is also the last day of the member previews.
Gelato. Two shops opened this fall on routes these events already use. Monterey County NOW reported in its Morsels column that Gelato Pazzo had opened at 482 Alvarado St. and Gelato-by-the-Sea at 700 Cannery Row, next to The Fish Hopper. Gelato Pazzo's grand opening was scheduled for Oct. 16. Gelato-by-the-Sea sits on Cannery Row, so it's an easy stop after a preview visit.
After Nov. 7, Monterey's calendar moves to the holidays. The Del Monte Shopping Center tree lighting is Nov. 21 from 5 to 7 p.m., and Cannery Row's free tree lighting at 700 Cannery Row follows on Nov. 27 at the same hours. Downtown Monterey's Small Business Saturday is Nov. 28.
I keep a close eye on what's opening and changing around Monterey, from Cannery Row to Lighthouse Avenue. If you're weighing a move to the part of town where your family already spends its weekends, or thinking about selling a home near these blocks, Mark Cohan is glad to walk through it with you, calmly and with a plan. Schedule a consultation.
