June 25 is the day of the Pride Parade. I guarantee you exciting photos of people in costumes. Plan to watch it.

When you mentioned kayaking in Elkhorn, did you mean Elkhorn Slough near Moss Landing? It's a brilliant place: sea otters and birds galore, whales can often be seen offhshore.

If you enjoy wildlife, you might want to take a whale watch trip. Whale watching off the California coast is excellent, though the sea can be rough. Dolphins and seabirds are also plentiful.

You mentioned driving from Carmel to Yosemite to Lake Tahoe. Your plan says you will spend one night in Santa Cruz. Then you will drive from Santa Cruz to Carmel to Yosemite?

I'm one of the "locals" that hates the Wharf & Pier 39. When I choose a place to stay in NYC, Paris, London, etc I want to be close to non-touristy restaurants I can walk to, close to unique & interesting shops I can browse through, I want to be surrounded by as many local residents and as few tourists as possible, and I want to be close to good public transportation. With these requirements in mind, the Wharf gets a 0 out of 10 rating from me, and the Embarcadero at the foot of market gets about a 8 rating. I would only go to the Wharf for 1 reason - to get away from the Wharf and:
1. ride the cable car to Union Square
2. Catch a boat to Alcatraz

IMO, the only attractions at the Wharf are the Musee Mechanic, Maritime Museum, and the Jeremiah O'Brien Liberty Ship.

Here is something I wrote awhile back about the Wharf;

I'm not a fan of the Wharf at all. I advise vacationers to visit other spots instead. The Wharf is OK for a place to stay, but IMHO it's the tackiest place I've ever seen (I vacation in Europe & other places 2-3 months each year). I was down there recently for a survey. It's worse than I remember from my last visit (I’m a SF native, and have lived in SF or very close by, for 42 of my almost 70 years). The storefronts were loaded with bracelets, hair bands, key chains, placards, etc with people’s first names on them. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I claim that more than 50% of the shops are T-shirt stores. On the main “Boardwalk” (on Jefferson between Leavenworth & Taylor) there are the trinket shops, the T-shirt stores, a McDonalds, In-N-Out Burger, Hooters, Wax Museum (featuring a wax statue of Brittany Spears out front), a Ripley’s believe-it-or-not , a place called “Rainforest Café” that looks like a theme restaurant but when I looked in, all I could see was t-shirts. I’m not just “cherry picking” the most “gawd-awful” places and describing them – what I just mentioned accounts for probably 85% of the stores along the Wharf Boardwalk. I did not make it over to the Ghirardelli Sq – I hopped on a cable car & got away from the Wharf as fast as possible. Also, there seems to be a lot more parking lots right in the middle of the Wharf than I remember – not very scenic at all. I drove down the Wharf about a month ago on a Saturday, and it was mobbed with tourists – and this is the off season.

Here is something I wrote many years ago and I call it "alternatives to the Wharf":

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...mendations.cfm

Stu Dudley

But with a 16 year old, the wharf area may be more fun.

Thanks for all the extra comments.

@Diamantina

yes that is right ..

So far I've only actually done three things :


19th June Elkhorn Monterey Bay Slough 2.5 hour guided tour

26th June - Extended Special Edition tour of Alcatraz (includes night tour)

That's it.

Plan is

18th - Fly in at 2pm get hire car,
drive to Santa Cruz, via the check out the boardwalk etc stay over
19th - Kayaking at Monterey Bay
20th - Drive to Yosemite and stay over
21st - Drive to Lake Tahoe
25th - Drive to San Francisco
28th - 7.30-pm fly home

Looking to book/do :

22-23 - various things around Lake Tahoe (mostly from advice here)
27th in the evening - go see the Giants play

The rest is 100% flexible.

I will go read Stu comments ...

@S7307 - thx for the LT recommendation

@Janisj - you sound like me re London. I am a born and bread South East London lad and it drives me crazy that people go to the middle of London and think that is all there is .. :-) , So I really appreciate you taking the time to advise me here.



Les

@michelleY - exactly .. Giants game, and Alcatraz .. and a look at these steps .. lots of eating. he's 6' 5" and a rower. He eats like a horse. He's actually 16 in the summer .. lol

also in SF

- bike ride
- Segway (am I mad) tour????
- Steps
- Coit Tower
- Cable car and lazy walk back down Lombard street

I'm going to be busy I think .. lol

OMG Stu Dudley - you have written an book .. I need to go hide and read this.

I don't like riding a bike in the city because of traffic, but lots of people do it. You might want to rent bikes and ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, into Sausalito, then take the ferry back.

I was thinking a bike tour over the bridge and into Sausalito .. would that better controlled?

https://www.getyourguide.com/san-fra...iew_position=2

I agree - ride bikes through the Presidio and across the bridge -- not through the city.

As for what to do at Lake Tahoe -- the things in my first post will pretty much fill your 3 days there >>Sand Harbor, Emerald Bay (walk down - not just view from up on the highway), the Heavenly Valley Gondola from southshore, the MS Dixie from Zephyr cove, a day or half day trip to either Virginia City or Truckee, drive up to the top of the Mount Rose road from Incline Village . . . << and so on.

In between these places there are just tons of places to hike. The only thing you may want to pre-book is the MS Dixie but you can do that by phone the day before or that morning. Definitely pre-book if you plan to do it on the Saturday.

Janisj - thx

Just bike along the beautiful Crissy Field boardwalk to Ft Point. Then walk or ride the bikes up to the GG Bridge SF-side outdoor Bridge museum (very interesting), then across the GG Bridge to Sausalito, then ferry home. Do this on a week day if you want to ride your bikes on the San Francisco "view" side of the bridge - which you can only do on week-days. Do it in the afternoon for the best views of San Francisco. Friday June 23 would be the best day to do this because the interior of Ft Point is open Fri-Sun. https://www.nps.gov/fopo/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Stu Dudley

I recommend either a bike ride in Monterey or Yosemite or both. My teenage children enjoyed that greatly.

I took my 16 yr old daughter last year on this tour, she just thought it was great - there was a teen boy on the bus, same age, he enjoyed it as well:
http://sanfranciscolovetours.com/san...o-night-tours/

I am also someone who does not particularly care for the wharf area but it might interest a 16 yo, especially with the sea lions. My favorite hotel in San Francisco is also there at the Fairmont Heritage Place in Ghirardelli Square. The Hyatt in Embarcadero is ok, just a typical large 4 star hotel. I also prefer Monterey/Carmel to Lake Tahoe, perhaps stay there instead of Santa Cruz? Would be nice if Tioga pass were to be open by the end of June but who knows this year? Going over the top and down to Nevada through the pass is quite scenic and a good way to go to Lake Tahoe from Yosemite. Dim Sum at Yank Sing is quite good but boy has it gotten expensive over the years!