Santa Cruz · With kids
WITH KIDS
A 1907 boardwalk, a steam train through redwoods and the calmest water on the bay.
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
Free to enter, pay by ride or wristband. The 1924 wooden coaster suits ages eight upwards; a separate kiddie section handles threes and fours.
Seymour Marine Discovery Center
On the cliff at Long Marine Lab, with touch tanks and the skeleton of a blue whale outside. Ages four to ten, an hour or two.
Roaring Camp Railroads
Narrow-gauge steam trains climb through the redwoods from Felton, an hour round trip, or run down to the beach. Ages two to nine.
Henry Cowell Redwoods
The Redwood Grove loop is a flat, stroller-friendly mile among eight-hundred-year-old trees, ten minutes from Roaring Camp. Any age.
Calm water and fog
Cowell Beach and the boardwalk end have the gentlest surf and summer lifeguards. Morning fog burns off around noon, and Capitola suits toddlers better.