Familiar
the Wonders of Nature in Santa Cruz, California
Our Santa
Cruz Hotel is located conveniently between San
Jose, CA and the Monterey Bay; The Santa Cruz
Mountains are your vacation oasis! Explore miles
of spectacular sandy beaches, world-famous attractions,
golf courses, trendy shops and boutiques, restaurants,
cafés and microbreweries to suit every
taste.
Click to jump
to a different attraction :
Roaring
Camp Railroad Felton, California
The Roaring Camp steam train through the
redwood forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains
is an amazing California experience! This
historic train ride through a preserved
old growth forest of coastal redwoods
harkens back to the steam locomotive days
of the 1880s, when these Santa Cruz forests
were part of an active logging region,
and the steam railroad cars were used
to haul trees to the mills. The Roaring
Camp steam train ride passes through towering
redwood groves and up a winding narrow-gauge
grade to the summit of Bear Mountain.
[Top]
Santa
Cruz Beach Boardwalk
400 Beach St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060; (831) 423-5590
California's oldest amusement park is about
as original--and memorable--as boardwalks come.
The only major seaside amusement park on the
Pacific Coast, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
blends old-time nostalgia with modern thrills.
You can buy a bag of salt-water taffy, get your
fortune told in the old-style arcade, take a
road rage-releasing ride on the bumper cars,
or test your mettle on the giant wood-framed
roller coaster. [Top]
The Giant
Dipper, whose unforgettable dips rival any extreme
adventure in new theme parks. The Santa Cruz Boardwalk
features a carousel and little cars and airplanes
for the kids as well. Bring a swimsuit and a towel,
as you'll be inches away from a sandy, swimmable
Santa Cruz beach. The Boardwalk is open daily
Memorial Day through Labor Day, and on the weekends
fall through spring. [Top]
Monterey Bay Aquarium
The largest aquarium in the US, the Monterey
Bay Aquarium is internationally acclaimed for
its interactive marine life exhibits. Probe
the deep wonders of Monterey Bay from this Cannery
Row attraction as you tour the matchless near-shore
and coastal exhibits that explore the habitat
of the tide-pools. Venture to the Outer Bay
exhibit, showcasing hammerhead sharks, schools
of sardines, enormous sunfish and green sea
turtles. Check out their newest resident - a
Great White shark. [Top]
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Main Office: 299 Foam
Street, Monterey, CA; (831) 647-4201 Spanning 276 miles of shoreline between
Marin and Cambria, this 5,322-square-mile marine
sanctuary is one of the world's most diverse
ecosystems, with the heart of it all lying in
the Monterey Bay. Numerous mammals, seabirds,
fishes, invertebrates and plants make their
home here. Endless opportunities to take advantage
of the Sanctuary's resources abound in Santa
Cruz, including kayaking, hiking, whale watching,
fishing, sailing, surfing, scuba diving and
much, much more. [Top]
Santa
Cruz City Museum of Natural History
1305 East Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz CA; (831)
420-6115
Tour the many habitats of Santa Cruz simply
with a stroll through the exhibit area; visit
woodlands, chaparrals, grasslands, and a variety
of marine environments. Pound acorns the Ohlone
way, excavate sand dollars, tickle a sea star,
or get up close and personal with a living bee
hive. The Museum of Natural History is great
for all ages. The children particularly enjoy
climbing on the cement whale, which is located
on the front lawn. [Top]
Santa
Cruz Mystery Spot
465 Mystery Spot Rd., off Branciforte Dr., Santa
Cruz, CA; (831) 423-8897
The Mystery Spot might be the manifest source
of Santa Cruz's odd behavior. Practically unchanged
since its opening in 1939, the promotional literature
still says things like, "It's Unusual,
It's Amazing, It's Wholesome, Interesting Entertainment."
This campy spot is open every single day of
the year and draws visitors from all over the
world. [Top]
Santa
Cruz Surfing Museum
West Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz CA; (831)
420-6289
The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum is housed in the
small, brick Mark Abbon Memorial Lighthouse
overlooking Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz's internationally
established surf spot, as well as Santa Cruz
and Monterey Bay. Focusing on Santa Cruz's surfing
history, the Surfing Museum displays unsinkable
redwood plank surfboards, photographs of sets
and breaks from the 1930s on, and sells books,
T-shirts and other Cowabunga gear.[Top]
This property
is managed by Santa Cruz Hotel Resort, LLC, a licensed user of certain proprietary
trademarks & service marks of Choice Hotels International, Inc.
