From the Museum half an hour is about the right amount of time for visits to the Cove. From the Campground an hour is better.
Safety first. The Cove is a little isolated. Be sure all children are accompanied. If you are coming from the Campground, walk around the fairway.
Dress warmly enough! The Cove is a natural wind tunnel. The daily westerlies are blocked by the hill on which the Museum sits. They encounter less resistance through the Cove and across the golf course. Also, the air coming off the Bay is about 60 degrees, and there is lots of shade in the Cove. Long sleeves, parka, long pants, and covered shoes are right on most days. If you are a little hot on the sidewalk outside the Museum, you’ll be just right in the Cove.
You
will be looking at a lot of stuff. Put things back approximately where you
got them. Feel free to come back and photograph specimens. Do not take things with you.
The Cove is teeming with living things. But when we go down there, most people don’t see much, at first. After all, 99% of living things are plants; most people look just for animals. Also a lot of the stuff is small or hidden. When we get down there, look for a few minutes on your own. Then ask the docent or other knowledgeable person for help.
Morro Bay is a fascinating and beautiful place. We hope you have a lovely time here. However, we want the people who visit after you do to have just as good a time. Don’t spoil it! “Take only pictures, and leave only footprints.”
Godwits with straight four-inch beaks and curlews with curved seven-inch beaks are interesting birds to look at and locally abundant. They often eat at Windy Cove.
A fine view of them is available by the Museum basement doors. Binoculars help, and the view of them through a telescope is fantastic!
I have often noticed several dozen birds from this lookout. When I get down to the Cove the birds are gone. If your group moves fast and makes noise they will fly away before you can get closer.
The same spot is also a good place to see what is happening at the Rookery. That’s the group of gray trees beyond the Cove at the same height as the Museum. Often there are cormorants, black birds that look a lot like geese, flying over the Cove coming and going from the Rookery.
The same place has a trashcan. On docent led walks there is a trash bucket available. Otherwise, this is the nearest trash receptacle between the Cove and the Museum.
After you’ve visited the Cove if bristle brushes are available, use them to knock the loose sand off your shoes before entering the Museum. Sand is terrible to linoleum.
There are popular spots to photograph the Rock through the trees. Enjoy the statue, and rows of Monterey Cypress adorned with five of lichens. Special salt-loving plants grow along the path, including the uncommon local specialty plant Sea Blight.