Photos by Garrick Ramirez; Peter Thomsen; Liz Birnbaum / Santa Cruz County; Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times
17 things to do in Santa Cruz, the old-school beach town that makes for a charming getaway
On a spring day in Santa Cruz, visitors have a perplexing opportunity: to see a city thriving and shrinking, all at once.
The thriving is no great surprise, really: Santa Cruz sits on a handsome perch at the northern edge of the Monterey Bay, neighbored by redwood forests. It has been attracting heat-fleeing visitors from inland California since at least 1907, when the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk opened.
That amusement park might still be the city’s most widely recognized attraction. I love the sight of its lights and scaffolding at night, and if you remember the 1987 movie “The Lost Boys,” you’ll recognize it as a hangout for a vampire gang led by Kiefer Sutherland.
If you find your way there, whether it’s summer or not, you’ll see that Santa Cruz is dominated by surfers, tech workers and students at UC Santa Cruz. For good reason, the city carries a reputation as an artsy, woodsy, liberal enclave. Despite the pandemic, ambitious and distinctive restaurants have multiplied in recent years, including Copal (see below), Vim and Bad Animal, a restaurant-bar-bookshop hybrid that I hope to hit on the next trip.
So how is the city shrinking? One of the area’s greatest challenges is coastal erosion, accelerated by climate change. This shows up in frequent road-repairs along West Cliff Drive after winter storms, as waves eat away at the sea cliffs. In the Pleasure Point neighborhood and elsewhere, local leaders have tried to blunt the sea’s force with rip-rap and seawalls. (In Santa Cruz-adjacent Aptos, the state announced Feb. 16 that it would tear down the storm-damaged Seacliff Pier.)
This is a common California issue: On average, one study found, the state’s coast is losing 2 inches per year. Santa Cruz’s share of that erosion just happens to be particularly spectacular.
In other words, the longer you wait to see Santa Cruz, the less of it there will be.
Here’s a look at 17 things a visitor can do in and around Santa Cruz, all of which I’ve tried in recent months.
Showing Places
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Meander the eclectic Pacific Avenue
Santa Cruz Street
Start with Bookshop Santa Cruz, a formidable bookstore and community institution. Then wander more widely on Pacific Avenue and environs. Pacific is the city’s prime shopping street, with plenty of surf shops, boutiques and casual eateries.
For instance: Zoccoli’s deli (family-run since 1948) has hot and cold sandwiches. Artisans & Agency has colorful art, graphics and home goods.
Also close at hand on Front Street is the Abbott Square Market, a food court with coffee, sushi, tacos, pizza, pastries and weekend music that opened in 2017. The Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History is next door.
For instance: Zoccoli’s deli (family-run since 1948) has hot and cold sandwiches. Artisans & Agency has colorful art, graphics and home goods.
Also close at hand on Front Street is the Abbott Square Market, a food court with coffee, sushi, tacos, pizza, pastries and weekend music that opened in 2017. The Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History is next door.
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(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
West Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz County Experience
You can walk West Cliff Drive or drive it. Either way, you get an eyeful of coastal scenery (and hints of erosion as crews repairs roads in the wake of the winter’s storms).
Begin at the Municipal Wharf and follow the road, which runs along the coast, for about 3 miles west to Natural Bridges State Park. This blufftop route takes you past great old houses, bold new houses, erosion damage from January’s storms, Steamer Lane surf break, a handsome lighthouse (which has a little surfing museum inside) and a surfer statue before it ends at Natural Bridges State Park.
Natural Bridges is a tiny park (65 acres) but a well-placed one, with one beach, tide pools, a eucalyptus grove where monarch butterflies gather in fall and an emblematic natural rock bridge. (There used to be another one, but it fell into the sea in 1980.) Day-use fee: $10 per vehicle.
Begin at the Municipal Wharf and follow the road, which runs along the coast, for about 3 miles west to Natural Bridges State Park. This blufftop route takes you past great old houses, bold new houses, erosion damage from January’s storms, Steamer Lane surf break, a handsome lighthouse (which has a little surfing museum inside) and a surfer statue before it ends at Natural Bridges State Park.
Natural Bridges is a tiny park (65 acres) but a well-placed one, with one beach, tide pools, a eucalyptus grove where monarch butterflies gather in fall and an emblematic natural rock bridge. (There used to be another one, but it fell into the sea in 1980.) Day-use fee: $10 per vehicle.
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(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
The Mystery Spot, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz County Attraction
You’ve seen the yellow-and-black bumper stickers. Now feel the “gravitational anomaly” that has kept this roadside forest attraction going for decades. The main attraction is a small cabin that wound up tilted on the slope of a hill in 1939. Seeing the optical illusions it made possible, the property’s owners opened it as a tourist attraction in about 1940, telling tales of strange compass readings, etc. Guides demonstrate tricks of balance and perspective and speculate about mysterious forces. The tall may feel smaller. The small may feel taller. Selfies will be snapped. All will find their wallets $10 lighter.
It’s good, clean, kitschy fun “nature’s black magic”), neighbored by a 30-minute hiking trail amid redwoods, oak and eucalyptus. It’s open daily with tours every half hour, reservations recommended. Besides the $10 admission fee, parking costs $5 per vehicle (cash and checks only). But you do get free bumper stickers at the tour’s end. And the gift shop — it’s as cheesy and extensive as they come. I went home with a tilted coffee mug.
Bonus tip: Unique as it may seem, the Mystery Spot is part of an entire genre of roadside attractions based on optical illusions and gravity and born in the 1930s and ‘40s. Others include the Oregon Vortex (,since 1930 in Gold Hill, Oregon), Trees of Mystery (since 1946 in Klamath) and Confusion Hill (since 1949 in the Mendocino County town of Piercy), and Mystery Hill (since 1958, or perhaps sooner, in Blowing Rock, N.C.
It’s good, clean, kitschy fun “nature’s black magic”), neighbored by a 30-minute hiking trail amid redwoods, oak and eucalyptus. It’s open daily with tours every half hour, reservations recommended. Besides the $10 admission fee, parking costs $5 per vehicle (cash and checks only). But you do get free bumper stickers at the tour’s end. And the gift shop — it’s as cheesy and extensive as they come. I went home with a tilted coffee mug.
Bonus tip: Unique as it may seem, the Mystery Spot is part of an entire genre of roadside attractions based on optical illusions and gravity and born in the 1930s and ‘40s. Others include the Oregon Vortex (,since 1930 in Gold Hill, Oregon), Trees of Mystery (since 1946 in Klamath) and Confusion Hill (since 1949 in the Mendocino County town of Piercy), and Mystery Hill (since 1958, or perhaps sooner, in Blowing Rock, N.C.
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(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Taste mole and sample grasshoppers at Copal
Santa Cruz Restaurant and lounge
This restaurant, opened in 2020, specializes in Oaxacan food, including four flavors of mole. And since you’re there, why not get the $5 dish of chapulines (sauteed grasshoppers) to start?
The chef is Ana Fabian Mendoza, raised in the town of San Martín Tilcajete, Oaxaca. She has been cooking in the U.S. for close to 20 years, but continues to draw on family recipes.
Lunch, dinner, cocktails, beer, wine and selections from a long mezcal menu are served in a dining room that somehow combined industrial and folk art elements. Main dishes $15-$21.
The chef is Ana Fabian Mendoza, raised in the town of San Martín Tilcajete, Oaxaca. She has been cooking in the U.S. for close to 20 years, but continues to draw on family recipes.
Lunch, dinner, cocktails, beer, wine and selections from a long mezcal menu are served in a dining room that somehow combined industrial and folk art elements. Main dishes $15-$21.
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(Garrick Ramirez / Santa Cruz County)
Appreciate pasta at La Posta
Santa Cruz County Restaurant and lounge
I love two Italian restaurants in Santa Cruz, and they’re next door to each other. I was introduced to La Posta a few years ago, then renewed the relationship last fall, when we had an elegant dinner on their back patio.
The restaurant, 16 years old, stresses its pasta made from scratch and local farmer partners (oh, and pizza with house-made sausage). Pastas might include tagliatelle with locally foraged chanterelle and black trumpet mushrooms. Pizzas are often $19-$22, pastas $27-$28, main courses $32-$33. Open for dinner only.
The restaurant, 16 years old, stresses its pasta made from scratch and local farmer partners (oh, and pizza with house-made sausage). Pastas might include tagliatelle with locally foraged chanterelle and black trumpet mushrooms. Pizzas are often $19-$22, pastas $27-$28, main courses $32-$33. Open for dinner only.
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(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Try the lasagna at Tramonti
Santa Cruz County Restaurant and lounge
This intimate Italian restaurant opened in 2012, but I only came across it in January. It stresses organic local ingredients (but the wine list is all from Italy).
I can vouch for chef Matteo Robecchi’s lasagna, and the calzoni (three kinds) were tempting too. Pizzas typically $18-$26, pastas $24-$29, specialties $23-$32. Lunch and dinner daily.
I can vouch for chef Matteo Robecchi’s lasagna, and the calzoni (three kinds) were tempting too. Pizzas typically $18-$26, pastas $24-$29, specialties $23-$32. Lunch and dinner daily.
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(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Grab breakfast at the Seabreeze Cafe
Santa Cruz County Restaurant and lounge
This is a locals’ favorite for breakfast and lunch, not far from Seabright Beach. You’ll find lots of vegetarian and vegan options (and homemade granola for $7). Sometimes known as Linda’s Seabreeze Cafe, the restaurant goes back to 1990.
There are no reservations taken and often there’s a line.
Be sure to note: The cafe is closed Wednesdays, and it doesn’t do credit cards.
There are no reservations taken and often there’s a line.
Be sure to note: The cafe is closed Wednesdays, and it doesn’t do credit cards.
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(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Catch the sunset from Cliff Drive Vista Point
Santa Cruz County Experience
This might be my favorite view of Santa Cruz. At sunset, you see the ocean, Seabright Beach, a little lighthouse to the left and on the right, the lights and silhouettes of the city’s historic boardwalk amusement park.
Photographers: If you hike down from the blufftop point, you can catch the boardwalk’s festive lights reflected in the San Lorenzo River as it empties into the Pacific.
The drawback is that this mini-park’s ragged landscaping and erosion. But the price (nothing) is right. And the rest of the Seabright neighborhood is a pleasure to explore on foot, from the increasingly fancy cheek-by-jowl houses to the casual eateries and bars on Seabright Avenue.
Photographers: If you hike down from the blufftop point, you can catch the boardwalk’s festive lights reflected in the San Lorenzo River as it empties into the Pacific.
The drawback is that this mini-park’s ragged landscaping and erosion. But the price (nothing) is right. And the rest of the Seabright neighborhood is a pleasure to explore on foot, from the increasingly fancy cheek-by-jowl houses to the casual eateries and bars on Seabright Avenue.
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(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Mark an occasion at the Crow's Nest
Santa Cruz County Restaurant and lounge
For more than five decades, the Crow’s Nest has been a reliable stand-by for a drink, sunset views or special-occasion meal.
It’s a two-level operation (officially, the upstairs is the Breakwater Bar & Grill) restaurant and bar with a lighthouse in the foreground of its ocean views. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, surf and turf — and surfboards and old surfing photos on display, of course. The Crow’s Nest has live music Wednesday-Saturday nights and comedy on Sunday nights.
The Crow’s Nest is, however, expensive; main dishes are $26-$64. If you’re looking for a less spendy option, check out the Crow’s Nest’s Beach Market, just a few steps away on the neighboring dock. Open since 2013, it does wood-fired pizza, sandwiches and breakfast burritos. The market also sells, gifts, souvenirs and home goods.
It’s a two-level operation (officially, the upstairs is the Breakwater Bar & Grill) restaurant and bar with a lighthouse in the foreground of its ocean views. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, surf and turf — and surfboards and old surfing photos on display, of course. The Crow’s Nest has live music Wednesday-Saturday nights and comedy on Sunday nights.
The Crow’s Nest is, however, expensive; main dishes are $26-$64. If you’re looking for a less spendy option, check out the Crow’s Nest’s Beach Market, just a few steps away on the neighboring dock. Open since 2013, it does wood-fired pizza, sandwiches and breakfast burritos. The market also sells, gifts, souvenirs and home goods.
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(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Watch the wharf and waves from the Sea & Sand Inn
Santa Cruz Experience
The Sea & Sand Inn is a sleeper, so to speak. It sits, somewhat awkwardly, on a narrow bit of clifftop land next to the far-more-visible Dream Inn. But the two-story, 22-room Sea & Sand has a fireplace in every room, free breakfast and above all, great views of the bay and Santa Cruz Wharf, especially at sunrise. (Yes, because of the orientation of Monterey Bay, the sun seems to rise over the water from here). The wharf and the Santa Beach Boardwalk are within walking distance.
I can’t say it’s cheap. Though its weeknight rates get down to $199, spring and summer weekend prices often begin at $339 nightly. Next door at the Dream Inn (which also has groovy Midcentury style in its favor) the rates can be $100 higher.
I can’t say it’s cheap. Though its weeknight rates get down to $199, spring and summer weekend prices often begin at $339 nightly. Next door at the Dream Inn (which also has groovy Midcentury style in its favor) the rates can be $100 higher.
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(Garrick Ramirez / Santa Cruz County)
Savor chowder and the view at the Jack O'Neill Restaurant
Santa Cruz Restaurant and lounge
First, a word about the O’Neill name. The restaurant is named for the local surfer/entrepreneur Jack O’Neill, whose surfwear is all over the world, and who is often credited with inventing the wetsuit. (O’Neill lived in Santa Cruz from 1959 until his death at 94 in 2017.)
The dining room, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, is an airy space with great views of the sea and wharf.
The restaurant is connected with the upscale Dream Inn and its prices are similarly high. At $15 a bowl, the clam chowder is about 50% pricier than you’ll find in restaurants on the wharf — but mine was really good. Dinner main dishes are $30-$53.
The dining room, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, is an airy space with great views of the sea and wharf.
The restaurant is connected with the upscale Dream Inn and its prices are similarly high. At $15 a bowl, the clam chowder is about 50% pricier than you’ll find in restaurants on the wharf — but mine was really good. Dinner main dishes are $30-$53.
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(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Eat seafood and hear sea lions on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf
Restaurant and lounge
This is a long wharf — 2,745 feet — and it’s a short stroll west from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, just east of the city’s best-known surf spot, Steamer Lane. The wharf includes more than a dozen restaurants and shops. It was built in 1914 and bends toward the west (which once made it easier for ships to pull up). Don’t miss the four rectangular openings in the deck near the pier’s end that allow a view of sea lions lounging and barking.
Among the restaurants, I ate most recently at Makai Island Kitchen and Groggery, where the vibe is South Pacific and main dishes are $16-$24. My dinner was a winner. And there’s this bonus, which you’ll understand if you go there: It’s possible to remain sober and still feel as if the room is spinning.
One more thing about the wharf: Local boosters will want you to know that this is the longest wooden pier in the U.S., but much of its surface, where you’ll be walking or driving, is blacktop.
Among the restaurants, I ate most recently at Makai Island Kitchen and Groggery, where the vibe is South Pacific and main dishes are $16-$24. My dinner was a winner. And there’s this bonus, which you’ll understand if you go there: It’s possible to remain sober and still feel as if the room is spinning.
One more thing about the wharf: Local boosters will want you to know that this is the longest wooden pier in the U.S., but much of its surface, where you’ll be walking or driving, is blacktop.
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(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Soak up some science at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center
Santa Cruz Experience
This educational resource, full of kid-friendly exhibits, stands 50 yards from the wharf. It’s free (donations recommended) and features many displays and short films telling adults and children all about the wonders underwater nearby, including an octopus maternity garden. This is no substitute for the best-of-its-kind Monterey Bay Aquarium (45 miles south at the other end of the bay), but it’s a great resource, run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Stroll Capitola Village
Capitola Experience
This beach zone has been a summertime family travel magnet for generations. It took a hit in the storms of January, which closed the wharf and restaurants including the Wharf House, Zelda’s on the Beach. But some have already reopened, including Margaritaville, and plenty of temptations remain. Anyone who visits this spring will be doing the community a big favor.
The colorful beachfront apartments of Capitola Venetian Court are always good background for a photo or two, and there’s plenty of eating and drinking to be done along Esplanada. Be warned that when weather is warm parking can be tough, and the kitsch factor can get pretty high in the shops along Capitola Avenue and environs. The community is about 2 square miles with about 10,000 residents.
For a special occasion, there’s the Shadowbrook, which began with a log cabin along Soquel Creek in the 1920s, became a restaurant in the 1940s and added a cable car in the 1950s. These days you arrive at street level, then take the cable car down to the restaurant and bar, nestled in the canyon below. The citizen-critics of yelp give it 4 stars and I intend to try it soon. Dinner main dishes $24-$70.
The colorful beachfront apartments of Capitola Venetian Court are always good background for a photo or two, and there’s plenty of eating and drinking to be done along Esplanada. Be warned that when weather is warm parking can be tough, and the kitsch factor can get pretty high in the shops along Capitola Avenue and environs. The community is about 2 square miles with about 10,000 residents.
For a special occasion, there’s the Shadowbrook, which began with a log cabin along Soquel Creek in the 1920s, became a restaurant in the 1940s and added a cable car in the 1950s. These days you arrive at street level, then take the cable car down to the restaurant and bar, nestled in the canyon below. The citizen-critics of yelp give it 4 stars and I intend to try it soon. Dinner main dishes $24-$70.
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(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Bike a trail or join a blacksmith at Wilder Ranch State Park
Santa Cruz State Park
Mountain bikers and hikers love this park, just west of the UC Santa Cruz campus, for many reasons: It includes 7,000 acres and 35 miles of trails. Normally, all of those trails are open to bikes, from the crest of Ben Lomond Mountain (2,625 feet) to the shoreline. But most of the trails have been closed by damage from January’s storms. The Old Cove Landing Trail, a popular 2.4-mile loop, is open. (Be sure to check the park’s website for status updates.)
The historic farmhouse and farm buildings are open. And they’re a kick, because volunteers in 1890s attire often staff them and because there are some farm animals too. We chatted with a blacksmith and a couple of kitchen experts. Admission: $10 per car.
The historic farmhouse and farm buildings are open. And they’re a kick, because volunteers in 1890s attire often staff them and because there are some farm animals too. We chatted with a blacksmith and a couple of kitchen experts. Admission: $10 per car.
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(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Smell the flowers at the Arboretum & Botanic Garden, UC Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Experience
This 135-acre green corner of the UC Santa Cruz campus is full of flora from not only California but Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It began in the 1960s with 80 kinds of eucalyptus trees. Now there are more succulents and conifers than you can shake a watering pail at. There’s a little bit of shopping, too, at Norrie’s Gift & Garden Shop. Open 9-5 daily. Adult admission is $10.
And while you’re at the campus, keep in mind that the 2,000-acre UC Santa Cruz is a fairly remarkable piece of real estate. Once a ranch, the campus opened in 1965. It’s part redwood forest, part meadows, with 10 colleges spread among the trees and fields, including about 19,000 students in all.
And while you’re at the campus, keep in mind that the 2,000-acre UC Santa Cruz is a fairly remarkable piece of real estate. Once a ranch, the campus opened in 1965. It’s part redwood forest, part meadows, with 10 colleges spread among the trees and fields, including about 19,000 students in all.
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(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Grab a snack at the Santa Cruz Westside Community Farmers Market
Santa Cruz Experience
This market runs on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Mission Street Extension and Western Drive. It’s a year-round event and typically includes live music along with vendors of organic produce, artisan foods, beer, body products, tinctures, sustainable seafood, pasture raised meats, flowers and eggs and an espresso bar. It also draws many cyclists on their way to or from rides in Wilder Ranch State Park.
There’s another year-round market on Wednesday afternoons at Cedar and Lincoln streets in downtown Santa Cruz.
There’s another year-round market on Wednesday afternoons at Cedar and Lincoln streets in downtown Santa Cruz.
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