Location: Santa Cruz
Top Things to do in Santa Cruz
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The 10 Best Sights & Landmarks in Santa Cruz, California (CA)
The quintessential California beach town of Santa Cruz! It was here that surfing was first brought to the mainland by Hawaiian royalty. Home to the legendary Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, a pedestrian-friendly, tree-lined downtown area, and the historic Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, which stretches out a half-mile into the waters of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Other highlights include UC Santa Cruz, the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum, and nearby redwood forests.
Restaurants in Santa Cruz
1. Westlake Park
2. Cliff Drive Vista Point
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 6 reviews
Reviewed By mini - Fremont, United States
We were in Santa Cruz and took a nice drive to see Cliff Drive Vista Point, There re nice views of the ocean. There are places to sit, walk, and ride bikes. There is a surfing museum and surfer statue One also gets views of the surfers and the wharf area.
3. University of California at Santa Cruz
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 251 reviews
The Santa Cruz campus offers an attractive blend of notable architecture and panoramic views.
Reviewed By K9183SOcynthiag
Very beautiful campus full of wildlife and unique students. Parking sucks though and getting around is hard, but makes you appreciate trees more
4. Abbott Square
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 7 reviews
5. West Cliff Drive
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,319 reviews
Reviewed By CaliforniaBrad - San Jose, United States
The views and stops along West Cliff are amazing. It is a great walk, bike ride or drive from the Boardwalk to Natural Bridges park with stops to enjoy the views, watch surfers at Cowell's or the legendary Steamers Lane and Lighthouse that is home to the surfing museum. Truly one of Santa Cruz's best stretches of coastline
6. Santa Cruz Children's Museum of Discovery
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 9 reviews
Reviewed By racheljl47 - Oxford, United Kingdom
So many different rooms with great exhibits to keep my 15 month old nephew entertained and a fun few hours for the adults too. Lots of big and little people seating available.
7. Kaiser Permanente Arena
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2 reviews
Reviewed By _leeheathorn - Santa Cruz, United States
The building is good, comfortable seats. I love the Santa Cruz g league games, the arena is small enough that there are no bad seats. You can see the athletes sweat and hear their sneakers squeak. Good halftime entertainment.
8. Mark Abbot Memorial Lighthouse
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 66 reviews
This historic lighthouse, rebuilt in the 1960s, is a great place from which to check out the local surfing culture.
Reviewed By mini - Fremont, United States
We took a walk and as part of this stopped to see and take some photos of the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse There are some nice views of Santa Cruz and the Pacific Ocean from there too.
9. Mystery Spot
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 1,119 reviews
The Mystery Spot is a gravitational anomaly located in the redwood forests just outside of Santa Cruz, California. It is a circular area of effect around 150 feet or 46 meters in diameter. Within the Mystery Spot you will be stunned as your perceptions of the laws of physics and gravity are questioned. But don't take our word for it, come and decide for yourself! The Mystery Spot was discovered in 1939 by a group of surveyors and opened to the public in 1940. The Mystery Spot has amazed and perplexed hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world, and many return time and time again to experience these puzzling variations of gravity, perspective, and height. Some speculate that cones of metal were secretly brought here and buried in our earth as guidance systems for their spacecraft. Some think that it is in fact the spacecraft itself buried deep within the ground. Other theories include carbon dioxide permeating from the earth, a hole in the ozone layer, a magma vortex, the highest dielectric biocosmic radiation known anywhere in the world, and radiesthesia. Whatever the cause is, it remains a mystery.
Reviewed By 716sachink - Plainview, United States
Mystery Spot is an interesting place in Santa Cruz. It is at a short driving distance from San Jose. Took the guided tour inside. The tour guide was extremely interactive and made the whole experience interesting. Had a lot of unanswered questions upon leaving this place. It is correctly named as Mystery Spot and world certainly very highly recommend visiting the same to anyone.
10. Mission State Park
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 60 reviews
The park houses a replica of the mission founded in 1791.
Reviewed By mini - Fremont, United States
We visited the Mission State Park in Santa Cruz. There is a nice museum, store, and of course the historic mission to see. The mission was founded on August 28, 1971 by Fermin Lasuen. It is one of the California missions. There is also in this area the larger currently active church Holy Cross Church founded in 1889, In the past we went to a wedding of a friend there. This is a special historic area of Santa Cruz to visit. Suggested donation to visit the site is $5 per person. Parking is free.
