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Carmel-by-the-Sea
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Photo by Laurens R. Krol, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Best time to visit Carmel-by-the-Sea

United States · North America

All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.

The year in Carmel-by-the-Sea

Tap a month for its page

  1. Carmel-by-the-Sea in January: ok
  2. Carmel-by-the-Sea in February: good
  3. Carmel-by-the-Sea in March: good
  4. Carmel-by-the-Sea in April: sweet spot
  5. Carmel-by-the-Sea in May: sweet spot
  6. Carmel-by-the-Sea in June: good, busy
  7. Carmel-by-the-Sea in July: good, busy
  8. Carmel-by-the-Sea in August: good, busy
  9. Carmel-by-the-Sea in September: sweet spot
  10. Carmel-by-the-Sea in October: sweet spot
  11. Carmel-by-the-Sea in November: good
  12. Carmel-by-the-Sea in December: ok
  • Sweet spot
  • Good
  • OK
  • Avoid
  • Busy
Go in Apr, May, Sep or Oct — these months score within a whisker of each other; 19C max, 1 rainy day. Aug is the next best.

Things to do in Carmel-by-the-Sea

  • Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo One of the 21 California missions established by Father Junipero Serra along the coast of California.
  • 17-Mile Drive A famous scenic drive through one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in Northern California.
  • Tor House Carmel Point, just to the south of Carmel Village.
  • Forest Theater The historic outdoor Forest Theater presents community theater performances in a sort of natural amphitheater nestled in a pine forest.
  • Carmel River State Beach The quieter Carmel River State Beach adjoins an estuary that provides perfect bird-watching opportunities.

Tours and tickets in Carmel-by-the-Sea

Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank

Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Carmel (California)), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.

Month by month

No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.

MonthMax °CRain days HumiditySun h/day VerdictWhy
Jan 15° 8d 77% 7.5h ok 15C max, 8 rainy days
Feb 15° 8d 75% 8.8h good 15C max, 8 rainy days
Mar 15° 10d 79% 9.6h good 15C max, 10 rainy days
Apr 15° 4d 81% 10.8h sweet spot 15C max, 4 rainy days
May 15° 2d 83% 11.9h sweet spot 15C max, 2 rainy days
Jun 17° 0d 84% 12.2h goodbusy busier than usual
Jul 17° 0d 87% 11.6h goodbusy busier than usual
Aug 18° 0d 87% 11.0h goodbusy busier than usual
Sep 19° 1d 84% 10.9h sweet spot 19C max, 1 rainy day
Oct 19° 2d 76% 9.9h sweet spot 19C max, 2 rainy days
Nov 17° 5d 76% 8.8h good 17C max, 5 rainy days
Dec 15° 8d 77% 7.4h ok 15C max, 8 rainy days

Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.

Weather read at the village: ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.

A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.

How busy it gets

Busiest from June to August; quietest in January, April, October and November.

Then and now

Carmel-by-the-Sea's October days now average 19.3°C, 1.7°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 4 of 12 months are clearly warmer.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
1981–9013.4°13.6°13.8°14.7°15.1°16.7°17.8°18.3°18.5°17.7°15.2°13.3°
2017–2614.8°14.5°14.6°14.7°15.3°16.7°17.1°18.4°19.5°19.3°16.8°15.0°
Change+1.4°+0.9°+0.8°-0.0°+0.2°-0.0°-0.7°+0.1°+1.0°+1.7°+1.6°+1.6°

The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.

Getting there

Fly into Monterey (MRY), then drive. The flights under Where to book are to Monterey.

Monterey (MRY) the drive is not measured yet
San Jose (SJC) the drive is not measured yet
San Francisco (SFO) the drive is not measured yet

The drive from each airport is the road's, from openrouteservice.org by HeiGIT: typical, not a schedule.

How far Carmel-by-the-Sea is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.

Before you go

Type A and B plugs at 120 V. Drives on the right. The currency is the United states dollar. No UK Foreign Office advice against travel. Everything for United States: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.

Being there

On arrival

  • Paying — Cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay work almost everywhere, though a few small places take cash only. Keep some $1 and $5 notes for tips; Venmo and PayPal are for locals.
  • UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
  • Tipping — Expected: 15–20% in sit-down restaurants (18–20% is standard in New York) and 10–20% for taxi, Uber and Lyft drivers. Large groups may find it already on the bill.

Getting around Carmel-by-the-Sea

  • Apps — Rides: Lyft, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: Text messages (SMS), WhatsApp. In San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and some other cities you can also book a driverless Waymo in its own app.

There are no street numbers for homes or businesses in the main part of the town. Directions are given by street name and the nearest intersection. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Carmel (California), written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Help

  • Emergency — 911 (any emergency).
    TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.

Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 7 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.

Sources (50)

Carmel-by-the-Sea in pictures

Carmel by the Sea Coastline (Unsplash)
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Chris Leipelt cleipelt, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Carmel by the Sea World War I Memorial Arch
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Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Carmel by the Sea
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Greghenderson2006, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Zan 376 The Unique Shops of Carmel by the Sea, California
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Alexander J. Stark, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Carmelite Monastery, Carmel by the Sea, Cal
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Unknown, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

What Carmel-by-the-Sea is like

Carmel-by-the-Sea, often called just Carmel, is a beautiful oceanside town on California's Highway 1, complete with dramatic views, white beaches, friendly locals and great food. More on Wikivoyage

Worth seeing
Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, 3080 Rio Rd (bus 24 from Monterey or Carmel). One of the California missions established by Father Junipero Serra along the coast of California. More on Wikivoyage
Worth doing
Architecture. Stroll through the town and admire the incredibly diverse architecture. The quintessential "Carmel cottage" abounds but contrasts, sometimes wildly, with the assortment of surrounding homes. More on Wikivoyage
Getting in
By Highway 1 south from Monterey or northwards via Big Sur. Monterey-Salinas Transit. Take a bus 1, 2 or 24 from Monterey. $2.50/adult, $1.25/concession. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Carmel (California), written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.

Around Carmel-by-the-Sea

Also in United States

Nearby

Kind of place

Carmel-by-the-Sea is in United States, North America. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.

Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book through one, at no extra cost to you. That does not affect the scores on this page, which are computed from climate and fare data before any link is built.