10 Things To Do In Santa Cruz California

 

10 Things To Do In Santa Cruz California

Santa Cruz 

Santa Cruz is noted for its mild climate, natural surroundings, coastline, redwood trees, alternative community lifestyles, and socially liberal inclinations. It also houses the University of California, Santa Cruz, a leading research and teaching institution, as well as the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, a coastal amusement park that has been open since 1907.

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is a California amusement park located on the beach in Santa Cruz. It is California's oldest surviving amusement park, as well as one of the few beachfront parks on the West Coast.

More than 40 rides and attractions are available on the Boardwalk, as well as 26 midway games, two huge video game arcades, an 18-hole indoor mini-golf course, a laser tag arena, 31 restaurants and food outlets, eight beachwear, gift, and specialty stores, and a family bowling facility.

Individual ride tickets, all-day ride wristbands, group discounts, and season passes are all available on the Boardwalk.

From Memorial Day to Labor Day, as well as weekends and holidays in the fall and spring, the rides are open every day. A limited number of rides are available on weekdays from April 1 to Memorial Day. Arcades and bowling alleys are open every day of the year.

The Boardwalk's Cocoanut Grove, which is adjacent to the amusement park, features conference rooms, a ballroom, and the glass-domed Sun Room. Company parties, meetings, and trade exhibitions are held at the Cocoanut Grove.

Natural Bridges State Park

Natural Bridges State Beach is a California state park in Santa Cruz, California, that spans 65 acres (26 ha). A natural bridge spans part of the beach in the park. It's also famous for being a center for monarch butterfly migration. From October through early February, 150,000 monarch butterflies can be found in the Monarch Butterfly Natural Preserve.

Swimming, surfing, hiking, nature hikes, and picnics are all available year-round at Natural Bridges State Beach. The beach is secluded and small. Kite flying and wind surfing are attracted to the afternoon winds. Surfing is permitted on the beach, which is busiest in the winter when huge swells wash up on the shores of Natural Bridges State Beach. The Moore Creek estuary and the Monarch Butterfly Nature Preserve are also accessible via hiking routes. During the fall and winter, guided tours of the butterfly preserve are available on weekends. Tidal pool tours and nature walks are available all year. 

Santa Cruz Warf

The Santa Cruz Wharf is a fishing, boating, and sea lion viewing wharf in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It also offers restaurants, nightlife, and gift stores. The current wharf, the sixth and final on the site, was erected in 1914 and is run by the City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Office. The wharf is located on the west side of Santa Cruz, between Main Beach (which is next to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk) and Cowell's Beach. It is the longest pier on the West Coast of the United States, measuring 2,745 feet (836.68 meters). 

The Santa Cruz Wharf is more than just a tourist trap for shopping and dining; it immerses tourists in the natural beauty of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. You're likely to see seabirds, seals, sea lions, and, if you're lucky, dolphins, otters, and whales if you walk the length of the wharf, which stretches from the beach through an intertidal zone to open sea. Place your quarters in one of the wharf's many powder-blue telescopes and zoom in on the bay's thriving aquatic life.

The Santa Cruz Museum of Art And History

The Santa Cruz County Museum of Art has been succeeded by the art collection (founded in 1982). The Santa Cruz Historical Society's history collection is the museum's successor (founded in 1954). A permanent local history display, research library, and archive are among the museum's history collections. There are nearly 7,000 artifacts in the history collection, which can be seen online along with collection guides.

The Abbott Square community square, as well as Evergreen Cemetery, Davenport Jail, and the Octagon Building, are all operated by the Museum. In Santa Cruz County, many community programs are created by, with, and for the people.

Santa Cruz Surfing Museum

The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum was founded in May 1986 with the goal of documenting the history of surfing. The museum houses a historical narrative of surfing in Santa Cruz, California, with collections dating back to the earliest years of surfing on mainland United States.

The museum's exhibits trace the history of surfing in Santa Cruz, from its beginnings in Ancient Hawaii to the present day. Surfing was first introduced to the Santa Cruz community in 1885 by three Hawaiian princes who surfed the mouth of the San Lorenzo River on plank boards. In April 2010, the princes David Kawnanakoa, Edward Abnel Keliiahonui, and Jonah Khi Kalanianaole (later a delegate to the US Congress) were honored with a plaque.

Surf culture has reflected and responded to popular culture throughout its history. From idyllic summers spent at the beach in the 1930s and 1940s to hipster beach parties in the 1950s, surf rock in the 1960s, “soul surfing” in the 1970s, neon in the 1980s, and the rebirth of classic long-board riding in the 1990s, photographs document the evolution of surfing culture in Santa Cruz.

From the massive hollow paddle boards and oak planks created and ridden in the 1930s and 1940s to early foam and fiberglass boards, and speedy short boards used to create radical new surf tricks beginning in the 1970s, samples of surfboards from each era are on show.

From the massive hollow paddle boards and oak planks created and ridden in the 1930s and 1940s to early foam and fiberglass boards, and speedy short boards used to create radical new surf tricks beginning in the 1970s, samples of surfboards from each era are on show.

West Cliff Drive

West Cliff Drive is a famous tourist attraction for both locals and visitors. From Natural Bridges State Beach to the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, a two-mile wheelchair accessible “mixed use bicycle path” runs along the gorgeous Santa Cruz Coast, including a stop at the Lighthouse, which is now the Santa Cruz Surfers Museum.

At Steamer Lane, look for surfers and the famed “To Honor Surfing” longboard surfer statue, which is often adorned with fresh flower leis. Its beach, located across from Lighthouse Field, is a dog-friendly play area for canines and their people.

The Boardwalk and municipal pier are within walking distance on one end, while Natural Bridges State Park is on the other. Bring your binoculars, camera, and the entire family, even your dog (leash required on path). Walkers, cyclists, skateboarders, and joggers can all enjoy the path along this spectacular stretch of shoreline.

Seymour Marine Discovery Center

The Seymour Marine Discovery Center at the University of California, Santa Cruz is an indoor and outdoor natural science museum. The center has an aquarium with tanks containing rockfish, jellyfish, and even a shark touch pool. The skeletons of a blue whale and a gray whale, as well as 45 acres of California coastal habitats, are on display outside.

The indoor tanks at the discovery center are popular with children, according to many recent visitors. Others praised the exploration center's educational focus and praised the knowledgeable docents.

Mission Santa Cruz

The Franciscan order founded Mission Santa Cruz in present-day Santa Cruz, California, as a Spanish mission. The mission was established in 1791 and called after the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, after the missionary priest Juan Crespi, who accompanied the explorer Gaspar de Portolá when he camped on the banks of the San Lorenzo River on October 17, 1769. Mission Santa Cruz, like the other California missions, was used to convert locals, first the Amah Mutsun people, who were called "Ohlone" by the Spaniards, and then the Yokuts from the east. The village was the site of Alta California's first autopsy. The modern Holy Cross Church, which was built in 1889 on the site of the original mission church, is still operational in the Diocese of Monterey. Directly behind the current Holy Cross Church is a fragment of stone foundation wall from one of the mission buildings, as well as a few antique headstones from the mission cemetery. In the 1930s, a smaller "replica" chapel was built near the mission site and now serves as a chapel for Holy Cross Church.

Santa Cruz Museum Of Natural History

The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, dubbed "the Whale Museum" by locals, is one of the state's oldest museums. The Museum's collections developed significantly over time, gaining many Native American and archaeological items, as well as natural history specimens, after it was founded in 1905 with the Laura Hecox collection. The Museum is currently housed in a Carnegie Library, which was built in 1915 with funds from the Carnegie philanthropic foundation.

The Mystery Spot

George Prather opened the Mystery Spot, a tourist attraction near Santa Cruz, California, in 1939. On the short but steep uphill trek and inside a wooden building on the site, visitors can see displays that appear to defy gravity. The Mystery Spot is a prominent tourist attraction known as a "gravity box" or "tilted house" by the side of the road. The location is referred to as a gravity hill, and it was the first of its sort in California.

The popularity of the Oregon Vortex, which opened to the public in 1930, motivated Prather to open the facility. According to a media article, Prather purchased three acres on the hill in 1940 after becoming dizzy while walking and becoming interested in the cause of his dizziness. According to the publication, he discovered his compass jittering during additional inspection of his property. In June 1941, he erected a "crazy house" and opened it to the public. Visitors are led through the attraction by tour operators who perform various demonstrations to demonstrate the site's peculiar effects.

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