Santa Cruz (California)

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Santa Cruz is a small coastal city (population about 55,000) on the north end of Monterey Bay in California, about forty miles south of San Jose. While it gained some tech jobs during the boom, it is still best known for fun weekend tourist attractions like the Beach Boardwalk and the Mystery Spot, and its University of California campus.

	santa cruz (california) Travel Guide : 1 Get in 2 Get around 3 See 4 Do 4.1 Beaches 4.2 Hiking 5 Buy 5.1 Bookstores 6 Eat 7 Drink 7.1 Pub crawl 7.2 Coffee 7.3 Music 8 Sleep 8.1 Camp 9 Get out 10 External links

Get in

Highway 17 south from San Jose is the most direct route when driving from the more populated parts of the Bay Area. It is a winding road over the mountains, shared during the week with heavy gravel trucks, so heed the speed limits; accidents were once common, but the road is much safer since the addition of concrete barriers some years ago.

A much more beautiful, but slower, approach to Santa Cruz is on Highway 1, either from San Francisco and Pacifica to the north (about 65 miles), or from Monterey and Big Sur to the south (about 35 miles).

If you take public transportation, there is a commuter shuttle, the 17x, that runs from the Caltrain station in San Jose 7 days a week. Those are scheduled to transfer with certain Amtrak trains. There are also multiple lines that go east to Watsonville 7 days a week. Greyhound also runs buses to the city. All these lines go to, or next to, the Santa Cruz Metro Center, which is conveniently located in the downtown area.

The nearest major airport is in San Jose, but San Francisco and even Oakland aren't much farther away, and sometimes have cheaper flights. There is a small regional airport in Monterey, but in most cases San Jose is the best choice. Scheduled airport shuttles provide service every few hours to San Jose, and less often to San Francisco. Caltrain also provides a route to the San Francisco airport, through a transfer with BART in Milbrae.

Get around

While driving is certainly an option (there is enough parking in most places), Santa Cruz Metro also runs a very good bus service: http://www.scmtd.com . Practical tips about connecting to/from Santa Cruz by public transit are available at http://iridethebus.org/ . Especially during the summer, Santa Cruz is a wonderful town for bicycling. In and around town and up and down Highway 1 is easy, but roads in the Santa Cruz Mountains are steep and winding and will be challenging for many cyclists.

See

• The Beach Boardwalk. A historical amusement park that has been around since the 1900s, the Beach Boardwalk features one of the oldest wooden rollercoasters still in use in the US as well as numerous modern attractions. Entrance is free, rides cost between $2-4 each (but less than $1 on selected summer evenings!). Day, month, and yearly passes available.
• Mystery Spot. Take Branciforte Drive to the famous ('As Seen on TV') tourist trap, complete with antigravity cabin and amazing hillside of illusion. 1 (http://www.mysteryspot.com/)
• Natural Bridges State Park, Open daily, sunrise to sunset. State beach park with nature trails. Yearly monarch butterfly migration. Entrance free. Fee for parking. From Highway 1, take Swift Avenue west 2 (http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=541)
• Surf Museum Located in the lighthouse at Lighthouse Point, West Cliff Drive. Memorabilia from the origins of surfing in California (a statue (often mistaken for?) Hawaiian Duke is a few yards from the museum) to the present day. Thursday through Monday, Noon-4:00 p.m
• UC Santa Cruz Up on the hill at the north end of town. This is a smaller UC campus (except for the brand new campus in Merced), with about 15,000 students, but it is spread over almost a thousand acres, mostly covered with redwood forests with the occasional stunning view of the bay. There is an arboretum specializing in native plants and plants from Australia. Mountain bike and hiking trails criss-cross the upper part of campus, connecting Wilder Ranch State Park to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park (get a trail map and a parking permit from the kiosk as you enter campus). The Bay Tree Bookstore sells clothes with the UCSC mascot -- the banana slug -- but keep your eyes open for the mountain lions rarely seen on campus.

Do

• Surf
• Walk/Hike
• Kayaking
• Mountain Biking

Beaches

Santa Cruz is a beach town, with a beach to match almost any interest. Main Beach and Cowell Beach attract large crowds to the boardwalk area on sunny summer weekends. Flocks of novice surfers balance on their boards in the quiet waters just north of the municipal wharf, in front of the big hotel that locals still call the Dream Inn. Volleyball nets are strung just south of the wharf. The boardwalk amusement area is adjacent to main beach. Heading north, Steamers Lane isn't a beach, but the famous surf break in front of the lighthouse. In the summer, its sometimes hard to see what the fuss is about, but the winter can bring big waves and spectators line the rail watching the surfers and the sea lions. In the summer, docents are often on hand on weekends to help with wildlife spotting in the Monterey Bay Sanctuary.

North of the lighthouse are a series of little pocket beaches, some that disappear entirely in the winter. The first one, It's Beach, is one of the few places in town that dogs can be run off leash (before 10 AM and after 4 PM only), and often dozens of dogs are chasing sticks, balls, and each other. Mitchell's Cove, just north, also allows dogs. Natural Bridges State Beach, whose famous monarch butterflies are discussed above, is a popular windsurfing beach. The name is misleading: one of the two stone bridges collapsed a few years ago. Just south of Natural Bridges is the tiny clothing-optional 2222 Beach.

Heading further north along the coast, you leave the city limits and pass through agricultural fields for 11 miles before reaching the small town of Davenport, which has a couple of restaurants, a B&B, and a huge cement plant that dominates the skyline. Each turnout along the road marks a beach, many of which are prime surf spots. Wilder Ranch State Park can be reached by a new bike path from just north of Natural Bridges. Its several nice beaches include Three Mile Beach and Four Mile Beach, named after their distances from town. Further north are Red, White, and Blue Beach, a private nude beach (at the red, white, and blue mailbox), Laguna Creek Beach (with parking on the east of highway 1), Panther and Hole-in-the-Wall Beach (connected by a passage that closes at high tide), Bonny Doon Beach (another famous clothing optional spot), and Davenport Beach. For those who want to tour the beaches, Highway 1 has wide shoulders that are generally safe for cycling.

There are lots of beaches south of Main Beach as well, but you'll need another guide for them.

Hiking

Santa Cruz is also surrounded by a great number of open space parks. There's 2 types of parks to choose from -- inland wooded parks like Henry Cowell State Park with redwood groves and swimming in the river and open space preserves built on the coastal hills.

Wilder Ranch is a state park sitting in the hills adjacent to the coast (just west of town on Hwy 1). It has expansive views of the Monterey Bay as well as sweeping views of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The ranch also includes many old historic building, staffed with docents to demonstrate the workings of the historic ranch.

Henry Cowell State Park is located along highway 9 just north of town. This is a heavily wooded park containing many historic redwood trees. The San Lorenzo River flows through the park forming a canyon that makes you feel you are somewhere far away. Make sure to visit Big Rock Hole; a quaint swimming hole with room to splash around and even a rope swing!

The Pogonip is located within the city boundaries adjacemt to the university and accessible from Spring Street and from Highway 9 (via Golf Club). The Pogonip is an old country club which has reverted back to a fairly natural state. It sits on the side of a hill and has great views as well as great natural items. Numerous springs fill the creeks, as well as a special fish pond along the Spring Box Trail.

Buy

Shopping on Pacific Avenue includes surf shops, bookstores (especially the local landmark Bookshop Santa Cruz and the excellent used book and record store Logos), clothing, and gifts.

Bookstores

Some favorite bookstores, ahem Book Cafes that help make Santa Cruz what it is, are worthy of a 'book crawl' quite distinct from your pub crawl:

• Book Shop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave, 831 423-0900, 3 (http://www.bookshopsantacruz.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp). 10:00am-10:00pm daily.

• Logos, 1117 Pacific Ave, 831 427-5100, fax 831 427-5107, 4 (http://www.abebooks.com/home/LOGOS/). Huge inventory of new and used books, tapes, CDs.

• Gateways Books and Gifts, 1126 Soquel Ave, (Between Ocean and Seabright on Soquel near the Rio theatre), 831 429-9600, 5 (http://www.gatewaysbooks.com/). A whole world of inspiration. One of the worlds best metaphysical bokstores including support goods for all the worlds traditions. Yoga mats to incense and candles. Since 1978. Don't miss a really unique experience.

• Capitola Book Cafe, 1475 41st Ave, 831 462-4415, 6 (http://www.capitolabookcafe.com/). Following Hwy. 1 around that northern rim of the Monterey Bay, take the 41st Ave. Exit towards the water, and just past the one shopping mall in the region to a clump of truly deligthful stores. The Capitola Book Cafe has readings, events, and the best carrot soup you ever tasted. Go to the little drugstore next door for a cheap ice cream cone on a hot day, before heading over a few steps to Palace Arts & Office Supply for an art materials fix, or across the parking lot to OSH a hardware store enthusiast's dream and source of Saturday fix-it project necessities.

• Bookworks, 36 Rancho Del Mar Shopping Center, off Soquel Avenue at the State Park Drive exit "towards the mountain side" off Hwy. 1.

Eat

• Asian Rose, (a lunch spot at the end of Pacific Ave, run by the same people who run Malabar). Vegan Californian/Asian food. $1-5 depending on the number of items; much friendlier and laid-back Santa Cruzian scene.

• Costa Brava, 1222 Pacific and 505 Seabright. Mexican and South American flavors. Reasonable prices for a nice atmosphere and good service.

• El Palomar, 1336 Pacific Ave, 831 425-7575, 7 (http://www.elpalomarrestaurant.com/santa/santacruz.html). Open every day for lunch and dinner. Reservations are taken only for large parties on weeknights, and the wait can be very long on weekends. Great Mexican food in dramatic dining room, but not cheap. Brighter cantina in back is a good lunch spot that becomes a bar at night. Lots of seafood specialties. Homemade tortillas are excellent, as are the margaritas. Strolling guitar players some evenings. Kid friendly. Typical entrees $10-$16.

• Il Trullo, 503 Water St, 831 427-0998. Very good Italian food weighted towards heavier, meatier dishes. Be advised that the space is VERY cramped, and may not be accommodating for small children. Generally not veggie/vegan-friendly, although rumor has it that the chef/owner is happy to improvise. $11-$23.

• Joe's Pizza & Subs, 841 N Branciforte Ave, 831 426-5955. A dizzying array of affordable and delicious sandwiches, as well as New York-style pizza, calzone, soups, and salads. Especially good is the club sandwich, lentil soup, onion rings, and meatballs. $5-$8.

• Kianti's, 1100 Pacific Ave, 831 469-4400. This is a great downtown Italian spot. The food is quite good, and it's a very entertaining place to eat. On weekend evenings, you may even get a fully choreographed performance by the entire staff. $8-$10.

• Malabar, 1116 Soquel Ave. Excellent curried mangos and Kofta Joe. The service can be surly, but don't worry about it. Eat and be happy. Sunday night dinner is a fixed menu consisting of naan, salad, various curries and rice (in small amounts) and a dessert; however, the price is determined by what you think it is worth. Only have $5? It's okay. Feel like it's worth $20, that works too.

• Mobo Sushi Innovative sushi and jazz club. Check local listings for music.

• Oswalds, Pacific Ave. near the clock tower. Classy Californian cuisine. $8-25. Reservations recommended on the weekend.

• Pearl Alley Bistro, 110 Pearl Alley (between Lincoln and Walnut streets, downtown), 831 429-8070 (reservations strongly recommended), 8 (http://www.pearlalley.com). Open from 5 PM for dinner every day. A rotating menu, with monthly themes, but mostly southern European home-style cooking. Cozy dining room, upstairs from street, with bar filling center. Entrees $16-$26.

• Pizza My Heart, Basic cheap pizza by the slice, salads. $1-$5. Pacific Ave.

• Saturn Café, corner Pacific and Laurel (the round building). A Santa Cruz institution. A veggie/hippy cuisine in a zany atmosphere. Much to the dismay of many a Santa Cruzian, Saturn Cafe's prices have become a little higher than the average hippy can afford. Burgers and sandwiches will run you around $8. The food is quite excellent, but the service tends to be quite slow.

• Seabreeze Cafe, 542 Seabright Ave, 831 427-9713, 9 (http://www.seabreezecafe.com/). Still often called "Linda's" even though the personable owner sold this cafe to the faithfully reliable chef Tex Hintze a few years ago, check the webcam on weekends to get an idea of how long the worthwhile wait for a table will be. Vegan-friendly, kid friendly.

• Seabright Brewery, 519 Seabright Ave, 831 426-BREW, 10 (http://www.seabrightbrewery.com/). 11:30 AM - 11:30 PM daily (kitchen closes at 10 PM). Updated pub grub, and fresh beer made on the premises. Salmon fish and chips, with beer battered salmon fried in Japanese bread crumbs and served with sesami-wasabi tarter sauce and teriyaki garlic chili sauce is almost too rich to eat. Lots of vegetarian food. Big patio overlooks a busy road, but is a pleasant place to head after a day at the beach. Beer and pizza specials on some weekdays. $8-$12 sandwiches and entrees.

• Shogun, 1123 Pacific Ave, 831 469-4477. Excellent sushi restaurant in a convenient downtown location. The exceptionally fresh ingredients and talented sushi staff make this some of the best sushi available in Santa Cruz County. They offer all the traditional suhis, as well as lots of variations, some of which are veggie/vegan friendly. Of particular interest is the "Karoke," a kind of Japanese hash brown with plum sauce that you won't find in many local Japanese restaurants. Sushi plates are $3-$9. Serves lunch and dinner through the week, dinner Saturdays, closed Sundays.

• Silver Spur Restaurant, 2650 Soquel Dr, 831 475-2725. It's letting the secret out of the bag to tell you that Linda of Seabreeze Cafe fame bought this larger venue to sling her famous fabulous food. Vegan-friendly, kid-friendly.

• Taqueria Vallarta, 608 Soquel Ave. There are many taquerias in town, but this one attracts Mexican-American families, college students, and visitors from up and down the coast who come just for the huge traditional style meals. $1-$6.

• Thai House, 353 Soquel Ave, 831 458-3546. Arguably the best thai food experience in Santa Cruz. The food is quite good, the ambiance interesting and relaxing, and the staff always friendly. Kids will stay entertained by the two large aquariums. $6-$15.

• Xin Noodles. A bastion of pan-Asian noodle-y goodness. An average dish will run around $6-10. The setting is quite casual and relaxed, with low lighting. It's a good place to eat and talk with friends or go on a date. Particularly delicious is the Chili Lime Tom Yum Fun. They also do take-out.

• Zachary's, lower Pacific Ave near the second-hand stores. Fantastic breakfasts featuring homemade bread French toasts, fruit salads, home fries, and more. Finishing Mike's Mess is a worthwhile challenge. Expect a line Saturday and Sunday. $1-$10

A great list made by the local newspaper, The Metro, can be found here 11 (http://www.metroactive.com/dining/santa-cruz/santa-cruz.html).

Drink

For its size, Santa Cruz boasts a large number of drinking establishments from Irish pubs to nightclubs. Many of the bars are located along Pacific Avenue. A serious pub crawl can be done starting at either the Asti (listing below) and ending about 7 blocks away at the Rush Inn or the other way around.

Pub crawl

• 99 Bottles, (half a block off Pacific Ave). Get a free membership card and get a stamp for trying all 99 different beers and win a T-shirt. Good California pub food (fried calamari sandwiches, burgers, salads, etc). Good student hangout.

• The Asti. End your pub crawl here and have a photo of your bare butt added to the lovely collage on the wall. Lots of cheap beer and college students.

• Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave, 831 423-7117, 12 (http://www.thebluelagoon.com).

• Club Dakota 1209 Pacific Ave, 831 454-9030. The most cocktail-lounge-y place on the crawl. Gay/Lesbian friendly.

• Crow's Nest, 2218 East Cliff Dr, 831 476-4560. In the top three annually for "best happy hour" award from the local weekly paper.

• Poet and Patriot, 320 Cedar St, (One block off Pacific Ave). Music sessions and darts games.

• The Red Room, 1003 Cedar St, (One block off Pacific Ave).

• Rosie McCann's Irish Pub, Pacific Ave, 13 (http://www.rosiemccanns.com/). Upstairs pub with all the trimmings -- lamb stew, Irish dance and music, cider and many beers on tap.

• The Rush Inn Friendly little place, bar tenders were voted Most Friendly Bar Tenders 2003 in the Santa Cruz Metro weekly paper.

Coffee

• Caffè Bene, 1101 Cedar St, 831 425-0441. Free WiFi, Excellent coffee, good pastries. Predominantly local clientele.

• Caffè Pergolesi, 418 Cedar St, 831 426-1775, 14 (http://www.theperg.com/). Free WiFi access. To be cool, arrive by motorcycle or Vespa.

• The Union, 120 Union St, 831 459-9876. Free WiFi, nice garden seating.

• Lulu Carpenter's, 1545 Pacific Ave, 831 429-9804. Free WiFi access point, small patio garden in back. Open until midnight every night / cute baristas.

• Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company, 1330 Pacific Ave, 831 459-0100, 15 (http://www.brewbar.com/).

Music

• The Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave, 831 423-1336, 16 (http://www.catalystclub.com/). Large venue with bar/restaurant in the front and music venue in the back. Pool tables. Happy hour. Check local weekly papers for line-up.

Sleep

Santa Cruz offers everything from cheap drive-up motels along Ocean Street to cute B&Bs to one somewhat shabby high-rise hotel on the beach.

• Adobe on Green Street Bed and Breakfast, 103 Green Street, (831) 469-9866, 17 (http://www.adobeongreen.com). Historic adobe lodging three blocks from downtown Santa Cruz, Located in the Mission Hill Historic District.
• Best Western All Suite Inn, 500 Ocean Street, (831) 458-9898, Fax: (831) 429-1903, 18 (http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/productInfo.do?propertyCode=05480).
• Best Western Inn, 126 Plymouth Street, (831) 425-4717, Fax: (831) 425-0643, 19 (http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/productInfo.do?propertyCode=05382).
• Best Western Torch Lite Inn, 500 Riverside Avenue, (831) 426-7575, Fax: (831) 460-1470, 20 (http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/productInfo.do?propertyCode=05120).
• Hinds Victorian Guest House, 529 Chestnut Street, (831) 423-0423, 21 (http://www.hinds-house.com). Weekly lodging in an 1888 Victorian mansion in downtown Santa Cruz. European style lodging with private and shared baths. Full kitchen and laundry.
• Santa Cruz Hostel (HI), 321 Main Street, on Beach Hill, 22 (http://www.hi-santacruz.org). Two blocks from the beach, housed in some of the city's oldest and most famous dwellings (the Carmelita Cottages). Three night maximum stay.

Camp

For our bohemian friends passing through (Keep Santa Cruz Weird!), sleeping on city beaches cannot be recommended. Try the more chill beaches along the cliffs northwest of town, or along the sandy banks of the San Lorenzo, upriver in the gorge, along Highway 9.

• New Brighton State Park, 23 (http://www.santacruzstateparks.org/parks/newbrighton/index.php'). Camping, south of Capitola (the town directly south of Santa Cruz), with some cheaper, primitive sites available.

Get out

Drive down South along the coast of Monterey Bay to the city of Monterey.

External links

• Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council (http://www.scccvc.org/index.html)
• Santa Cruz Downtown Association (http://www.downtownsantacruz.com/) - business directory and events calendar
• Santa Cruz Sentinel (daily) newspaper (http://www.santacruzsentinel.com)
• University of California, Santa Cruz (http://www.ucsc.edu)
• National Weather Service forecast for Santa Cruz (http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/total_forecast/index.php?wfo=mtr&zone=caz074&fire=caz274&county=cac087)

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