Movies on the Monterey Peninsula

For those of us who hail from big cities, the Monterey Peninsula requires some adjustment where moviegoing is concerned. You won't find a theatre every few blocks the way you will in LA or San Francisco. Apart from film festivals and other special screenings that take place in various locations, a movie-lover on the Peninsula has four theatres to choose from. Fortunately, they're all good choices.

Monterey
Cinemark Monterey 13

Located in Monterey's Del Monte Shopping Center, this is the main spot for mainstream moviegoing for citizens of Carmel and Monterey. A nice, big, standard multiplex with stadium-style seating and a fairly lavish "Café Cinema" for snacks, it shows every major release and fills all of the average moviegoer's needs.

Osio Theatre

A tiny, nonprofit "arthouse" theatre on Alvarado Street in the heart of downtown Monterey. This is the place to go on the Peninsula for foreign films, independent and alternative films, and classic film rereleases. It also offers educational programming in filmmaking and film literacy to community members of all ages. It shares its space with the charming Café Lumiere, so visitors can enjoy plenty of food and drinks besides the standards theatre snacks.

Pacific Grove
Lighthouse Theatre

Citizens of Pacific Grove can enjoy all the major mainstream releases at this small, quaint and comfortable theatre in the heart of downtown, with its iconic peach-pink facade and crowning clock. Its charms have changed little in decades: this blogger still vividly remembers seeing The Muppet Christmas Carol there at age five.

Marina
Century Marina & XD

Another good mainstream multiplex with stadium-style seating, this one serving the moviegoing needs of Marina citizens. In addition to its regular screens, it also features XD, or Extreme Digital Cinema: a wall-to-wall screen with a state-of-the-art projector and surround sound, to make viewers feel as if they're inside the movie.

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El Estero Park Complex & Dennis the Menace Playground

A block from Monterey Bay is the most popular park in downtown Monterey: El Estero Park, home of the famous Dennis the Menace playground.

High Schools on the Monterey Peninsula

For families with teenagers moving to the Monterey Peninsula, or with children who will eventually be teenagers, here's a list of all the high schools in every community. Carmel *Carmel High School (public) (3600 Ocean Ave., Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA, 93923) Carmel Valley *Carmel Valley High School (public) (27335 Schulte Rd., Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA, 93923) Marina *Marina High School (public) (298 Patton Pkwy, Marina, CA, 93933) *Marina Christian School (private, grades 1-12) (160 Seaside Ct., Marina, CA, 93933) *Learning for Life Charter School (public, grades K-12) (3180 Imjun Rd. Suite 110, Marina, CA, 93933) Monterey *Monterey High School (public) (101 Hermann Dr., Monterey, CA, 93940) *Trinity Christian High School (private) (680 Belden Rd., Monterey, CA, 93940) *Santa Catalina School (private, grades K-12, Upper School is all-girls) (1500 Mark Thomas Dr., Monterey, CA, 93940) *York School (private, grades 8-12) (9501 York Rd., Monterey, CA, 9394

Carmel Beach (Carmel-by-the-Sea)

Walk or drive straight down Ocean Avenue, from the Cabrillo Highway to Scenic Road, and you'll find yourself at the glorious Carmel Beach. Stretching from Carmel Point and Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic Walker House on the northern end, to the Pebble Beach Golf Links on the southern end, this mile-long stretch of sand and surf is the chief reason why Carmel has been labeled "One of America's Top Beach Towns." Its size is comparable to big commercial beaches like those of Santa Cruz or Santa Monica, but its atmosphere, with its rocks, driftwood and lush surrounding greenery, is more akin to the countless small rustic beaches that dot the California coast. Both for people who prefer the natural beauty of those rustic beaches and for those who prefer the width, breadth and sheer fun of the big ones, Carmel Beach truly provides the best of both worlds. Picnic, surfing, swimming, volleyball, sandcastle-building, relaxing on towels... anything you can imagi

Monterey Peninsula Sunshine

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