Santa Cruz · Things to do

Seaside amusement park on the sand at 400 Beach Street. Admission is free and rides are paid for individually or with a wristband. Ride hours vary by season and it runs weekends in the autumn, so check the day you are going; the arcade keeps longer hours.

West-side beach at the end of West Cliff Drive with a wave-carved sea arch, tidepools inside a marine protected area, and California's only state monarch butterfly preserve, where around 10,000 monarchs overwintered in 2024. Open 08:00 to sunset, $10 per vehicle; visitor centre 11:00 to 16:00.

Clifftop path running from the boardwalk end round to Natural Bridges, with the Steamer Lane surf break below Lighthouse Point. It is the best free thing in town, on foot or by bike, with sea lions below and grey whales offshore in winter and spring.

5401 Graham Hill Road, about twenty minutes inland: 1890s narrow-gauge steam locomotives on a 75-minute climb through the redwoods up Bear Mountain, plus a weekend Beach Train that runs down the San Lorenzo river gorge to the boardwalk, an hour each way. Tickets are booked online.

UC Santa Cruz's public marine lab at 100 McAllister Way on the cliffs west of town, open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 16:00, with a touch pool, live coastal-science exhibits and views across Monterey Bay. Small, cheap and about an hour's visit.