Originally Posted by
oc2005
Depends what time of day Friday -- I wouldn't think February would be as bad as summer, but if you hit out of town Friday traffic, I could see it easily adding an hour or 2+ to the drive. But traffic can surprise you (good or bad) -- the worst traffic I've ever hit on a similar route was Monterey to Carmel over a decade ago on a 4th of July weekend (which was the last 4th of July we went to Carmel), but every other trip along that route we've never had traffic like that. We have family both in the bay area and along the central coast, so do similar drives to this a fair amount and fly into all these airports and there are deals to be had on flights/cars at all of them at various times. Personally if I had an option of a non-stop to Monterey and the prices/times worked, I'd snap it up in a heartbeat, but SJC, SFO, and even OAK wouldn't be bad if you time it right and it does give you a lot more flight/car options. Looking in Feb on Alaska the non-stop Friday to Monday into Monterey looks pretty ideal timing but it is only one flight a day so adds a degree of risk if something does go wrong. Or you can fly into OAK but earlier on Friday, say late morning, hopefully you'd beat most the weekend traffic and arrive at Ventana in time for lunch to maximize your time there.
I agree that in February, you probably won't encounter as much weekend getaway traffic on Fridays as you would during the summer. However, you will still have to consider the rush hour traffic on 880 from OAK down to San Jose before heading down towards Monterey Bay and Big Sur.
Originally Posted by
myperks
Monday to catch an 11:45a from Oakland I would plan at least 3 hours on the road to get there. Plus rental car return, I would leave Ventana by 6am. For me it feels rushed. I would drive up to OAK area for Sunday night and cut your stay at Ventana a night. Or return to BLI on Tuesday.
For a Monday morning drive would honestly give it 3.5 hours just to be safe. You'll be traveling in the same direction all the regular commuter traffic up to San Jose, either from Gilroy/Holister area on 101 (multiple lanes but pretty heavy traffic) up to San Jose or up a windy, hilly 17 via Santa Cruz (less traffic, but it's only 2 lanes and any bad accident can essentially close the road). Once you get to San Jose, you'll take 880 up to OAK, and I swear I always hear about a backup or accident on 880 the rush hour traffic reports.