Museum of Handcar Technology — Attraction in Marina

Wow! If you are visiting the Monterey area, You NEED to do this! My wife and I did a Friday morning tour ($10 off on Fridays). What a great experience! We did the electric assist tour for two, and it was much easier than we expected it to be. All said we did about 45 minutes of actual biking and there is a small break in the middle which is when the track is closest to the ocean for a cool view. The business is family owned, the owner gave the welcome and safety brief. It's clear they are very passionate about this and it really helped to make the experience fun! We will be back in a few weeks to bring some visiting family. The only down fall is that children need to be five and older for the electric bikes and ten and older for the manual hand carts. It would be cool if they add a children seat in the back to allow little ones to enjoy it. All said, it was a very cool experience and we are glad we did it. Well worth the money!

Edit: Came back a few weeks later with family to try the hand cars. We really enjoyed the hand cars, definitely better than the bike cars but it's a close call, so I recommend both. My mom, my sister and myself were able to do the hand car. The first hill was the hardest part and after that we were able to get cruising. It was a lot of fun and our calves and arms are sore the next day but we got the cart moving pretty fast. We really enjoy it and enjoy talking with the staff who are all family members and are quite passionate about what they do! We will be back with other family members and...

Overall, a fun and thrilling experience but I deducted 1 star due to the very rude group on the 4-person handcar behind us. I had found out about the Monterey Handcar Tours via Instagram, and decided to bring my husband and older parents. Well, unlike the 2-person handcar that comes with electric assistance, the 4-person handcar strictly requires manual labor—and I must admit, some parts of the trek was very difficult for us (and hence, making us on the slower side). Apparently, the group behind us did not like it and kept making snide comments (“hurry up”, “push faster”, “don’t be so slow”, etc) and eventually bumped our handcar multiple times (even when it had already been established during the safety briefing that bumping handcars would not be allowed). Once we got to the summit, the group was adamant about switching handcars, even though the guide had mentioned “There might not be any point since going down doesn’t require any manual labor”. Ultimately, we obliged but the joke was on them as we all ended up back at the starting point at the same time. Hah! Besides this, the experience was great! Check this out if you are ever in the...

This was such a splendid surprise and a fun thing to do while in Monterey! It’s a family business and it all started with a 12-year-old who built hand cars, now they are all handbuilt. It’s a really fun experience and don’t worry if you don’t think you can do it for 6 miles they have electrically powered ones as well, where you can still pedal if you want to go faster, but if not, it will take you along! The top of the Mountain View was the best. I highly recommend going first because I feel like we had more time up there. But I’m sure everyone’s timing is the same. I feel like we had about 10 to 15 minutes to take pictures and videos. If you’re thinking about doing this, definitely do it sooner than later. Dress appropriately, they do have two porta potties so use the bathroom before and after you get there somewhere if you don’t like porta potties, and plenty of parking! They are also very nice and welcoming as well. And you get a fun little intro beforehand too so...