Recreation

Outdoor Activities

• • Santa Cruz is a quintessential beach town. It is particularly famous for surfing.

  • Natural Bridges State Beach is a public beach facing a naturally formed arch (the one pictured above). It is also attached to a small natural history museum, some hiking trails, and a monarch butterfly preserve (note there may not be monarchs in mid-October).

Restaurants and Bars

• • Santa Cruz has several restaurants, breweries, etc. particularly throughout the "Westside" and "Downtown" areas. Click here to see Eater's top 14 spots.  The area south of Mission St. surrounding the intersection of McPherson St. and Fair Ave. has a particularly large number of places to eat or drink.

Cafés

• • Notable cafés include Cat & Cloud, Verve, and 11th Hour Coffee, each of which are chains with locations both Downtown and in the Westside. There are also several smaller coffeehouses scattered throughout Downtown.

The Wharf

• • This is a wharf that juts into Monterey Bay. It hosts several businesses, including some restaurants and even a Tiki bar. This is also a great spot to sometimes see the many aquatic animals (usually sea lions, whales, and sometimes surfing sea otters) that live around the bay.