Now here's my super secret top Coast Starlight tip. During a king tide on a new moon (i.e. around noon), hope that the southbound CS is delayed by about 90-120 minutes coming out of San Jose. Alternatively, if the moon is extra close, it can also happen on an on-time train a few days earlier. When the tide is high enough, the tracks at the Elkhorn Slough (between San Jose and Salinas) actually go *underwater*. Since the water is still not very deep, the train actually fords through the water and the train swishes through the water like it's a friggin' boat. You can see sea lions and sea otters swimming around the train sometimes. For safety it goes extra slow while fording, so you get tons of chances for an incredible view from your now-aquatic train!