Top 6 Summer Activities In Santa Cruz

By Julia Dunn on July 12, 2016

Are you a UCSC student staying in town to take summer session courses? Or did you find a great summer job in Santa Cruz rather than spending summer in your hometown? Whatever your reason for being here, Santa Cruz is a great place to be in the summertime (if you can get past mobs of tourists milling around downtown).

Here are the six best activities you can’t miss out on this summer in Santa Cruz.

1. Take a walking tour of UC Santa Cruz.

The University of California, Santa Cruz spans 2,000 acres of redwood forest with a view of Monterey Bay. The university features 10 residential colleges all with a different feel, and there are plenty of hiking trails on the outskirts of campus that connect to Pogonip and Wilder Ranch State Park.

Come onto campus to take a photo atop the Porter College “squiggle” sculpture or check out the different departments on campus for a sense of academics at UCSC.

UC Santa Cruz, Porter College “Squiggle” (Image via Flickr)

One notable area of campus is the Jack Baskin School of Engineering, home to a computer engineering Ph.D. program that was ranked first in the nation for publication impact by the National Research Council.

Overall, in 2015-16, UCSC and MIT shared the ranking as second in the world for research influence by Times Higher Education. The campus is one of the most beautiful in California, offering plenty of ground to explore if you’re living in Santa Cruz over the summer. Rest on a redwood bench in the Colleges Nine and Ten meadows or catch an ocean view over at Oakes College, Cowell College or Stevenson College.

2. Visit marine life at the wharf.

If you walk out far enough on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, you can find sea lions hanging out on the rafters below the walkway. If you look out far enough into the bay, you can find sea otters bobbing around on their backs, often holding hands with their babies or knocking a clam shell open with a rock. It’s always fun to stroll down the strip for a full view of the boardwalk as well as the ocean’s horizon!

3. Explore Monterey Bay Aquarium.

If you didn’t find enough sea creatures already at the wharf, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is a can’t-miss attraction if you’re near Santa Cruz. Although it’s not immediately in Santa Cruz (it’s in Monterey, hence the name), the aquarium is world-class and offers a magnificent ocean experience that will get you excited about marine conservation.

The aquarium features anything from vertebrates like sea otters to beautiful jellies, plus penguins and sting rays and so many more creatures you never knew could exist. You can’t miss this haven of oceanic excitement!

Monterey Bay Aquarium (Image via Flickr)

4. Get fresh ice cream downtown.

Between Mission Hill Creamery, Penny Ice Creamery, and many more cute ice cream shops sprinkled across town, there’s no way to run out of frozen treats in Santa Cruz. Most local ice cream shops make their ice cream fresh, so flavors are always being created for customers with a sweet tooth.

Mission Hill Creamery ice cream is artisan, organic, and unique because their small batches mean new flavors are always being invented! You can even request marshmallow fluff as a topping for your ice cream, and a staff member will torch it so it tastes like a s’more.

Penny Ice Creamery is also known locally for their creative flavors that change seasonally, incorporating locally farmed and organic ingredients. The ice cream is made from scratch in-house, and you can also get toasted marshmallow fluff here!

5. Window shop.

Santa Cruz has a ton of boutiques and nice clothing stores along its main downtown street, Pacific Avenue. In summer, many of the stores offer sales or sidewalk events that can be fun to check out. Even if you’re not looking to spend much money, it’s still fun to wander through fancy clothing stores and try things on just for the sake of taking a picture or laughing with your friends.

6. Visit Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

The family-operated boardwalk is probably the most well-known feature of Santa Cruz, drawing visitors from all across the country. It’s considered one of the last classic seaside amusement parks in the U.S. and one of the best in the world. Since it was built in 1907, it is also California‘s oldest surviving amusement park.

Image via Flickr

Here, you can ride the Giant Dipper roller coaster, “one of the best-known wooden coasters in the world and one of the most visible landmarks in Santa Cruz.”

You can play carnival games for hours, ride the carousel, play in the arcade, or check out the water park. In the arcade room, you can access a glow-in-the-dark mini golf course, and across the street from there is a bowling alley. If you’re an amusement park fan, this is the place for you.

If you’re not, you can attend the Boardwalk’s many other entertainment features, including Free Friday Night Bands on the Beach. Or, simply catch the sunset across the sand.

Image via Flickr

Have a happy summer, and enjoy all the treasures that Santa Cruz can offer you!

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