Top Santa Cruz activities
Top Santa Cruz landmarks
Beyond Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz trip ideas
  • Top Santa Cruz landmark tours
Top Santa Cruz landmark tours
Santa Cruz

Cool things to do inSanta Cruz

Welcome to Santa Cruz

On the Central California coast 75 miles south of San Francisco, Santa Cruz sits on a crescent of beach carved out of the scenically rugged northern edge of Monterey Bay. First settled by the Spanish in 1791, present-day Santa Cruz is a small college town and surf mecca known for its many coffee shops, breweries, and unique cafes, redwood-forested mountains with great hiking and biking trails, and a classic 1907-vintage boardwalk amusement park that is California’s oldest. Part of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the offshore water teems with life including sea lions, otters, dolphins, and whales. Santa Cruz is famous for farm-to-table food, especially artichokes from seaside fields to the north.

Read More
Recent Santa Cruz traveler reviews
Free Cancellation
You'll receive a full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours in advance of most of our tours.
Verified Reviews
Book with confidence with millions
of verified traveler reviews from
Cool Destinations and TripAdvisor

Frequently Asked Questions

The answers provided below are based on answers previously given to customers' questions.