Santa Cruz is one of those few places you can surf the best waves in the early hours of the morning. Whenever, I visit Santa Cruz, I find time to hike among giant redwoods and clear my head.
Why is Santa Cruz so popular? Santa Cruz, California has unique features you will want to explore.
In addition, you can enjoy a gourmet, have natural food for lunch, carry out your Ph.D. research work in biomedical engineering, watch whales playing off the coast, and catch fun with Shakespeare at sunset.
Why is Santa Cruz so popular?
The fun beach boardwalk, beautiful oceanfront walks, and classic beaches are enough attention to make one visit Santa Cruz.
You can go hiking, or biking to the many state parks to explore the rich variety of wildlife and vegetation quartered in the parks. There are many places for you to eat first-class delicacies and beverages.
Santa Cruz is one of the beach towns that have a tourist attraction that attracts the most number of people which are the boardwalk and fishing pier.
The beautiful seaside is not the only thing great in this beach town, there are so many other features that make Santa Cruz tick.
The town is home to a historical mission, and its downtown is quaint. The beach town is close to Monterey Bay, so it has a clear ocean view. You will watch the aquatic creatures as they play inside the deep blue waters.
You will possibly chat a glimpse of the aquatic animals as you surf. You will get busy in Santa Cruz such as coastal hiking trails with many outdoor activities. There are hiking trails in many other places, but only a few have coastal hiking trails.
You will find the best coastal hiking trail in Wilder Ranch State Park. This is where you will see the best of hummingbirds, and have access to the Santa Cruz Arboretum, and Botanical Garden.
Many people are attracted to Santa Cruz because of the cultural lifestyle of the people. You will watch Shakespearean play performances, surfing museums, and historical missions which you can visit or attend.
The boardwalk activities involve other fans like rides, games, attractions, bike riding, painting, and fishing. You may not know that mainland surfing originated in Santa Cruz. Suffers here surf with boards made from redwood planks.
The oldest beach resort in California is located in this town. The resort was formally called Capitola, but the name was changed to Sotola.
The town has a 14,000-acre apple orchard, 7 food plants, and 152 dairies. Santa Cruz used to be an agricultural town, but it is now known for its beach activities.
What makes Santa Cruz special?
Santa Cruz is home to expansive beaches and world-class off-shore breaks. It is popular for its high-stoke surf culture. Santa Cruz has more things that made it unique which are not only the wetsuits and short boards.
1) Highly Rated Education
It is not a surprise that Santa Cruz is rated high as an educational community. The public school system of the beach town is highly rated.
It has nationally recognized public, and charter high schools like the Pacific Collegiate, a top-rated school in America.
Students of secondary schools in the town study for their degrees from home. They register with either UCSC or the highly reputable Cabrillo College. UCSC offers 65 undergraduate majors, as well as 41 grad programs.
The health care system of the town is top-rated as well. It is significant because it is based on preventive health and wellness system.
1) Health Care
Dignity Health Dominican Hospital is the major healthcare facility in the small town. The hospital has centers for sophisticated cardiac cases, a center for stroke cases, a cancer treatment center, a level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and many other medical services.
The medical services offered by Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s Westside Center are family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, urgent care, radiology/imaging, and laboratory Diogenes.
1) Housing
Santa Cruz has a good housing system. There are different options open to the people, although housing there can be said to be expensive. On average, it costs about $645,000 to own a house in Santa Cruz, similar to what it costs in Bay Area, northern California.
However, the authorities of the city are making efforts to provide affordable housing units to meet up with its demand.
Santa Cruz is a unique city when compared to other cities. The island has large neighborhoods, but they are heterogeneous. People always ask which of Santa Cruz’s neighborhoods is the best, and I hereby ask, what makes a neighborhood good?
As we proceed, I will tell you about most of the neighborhoods you already heard about and those you may not have heard of.
I discovered that our answers to this question are as many as we are. Some believe that the best neighborhood is the expensive ones.
If this should be true for Santa Cruz, it means that Pasatiempo Moore Creek Estates and Westlake are the best neighborhoods in the town.
Based on our findings, some people believe that the West Side neighborhood is the most expensive and therefore the best. Some said that Woods Cove is the best neighborhood because it is the most expensive.
Furthermore, someone will say that CarboneroEstates, which is located on the East Side of Santa Cruz, is a good neighborhood because it is expensive and homogeneous.
To some, Seabright in the East Side of Santa Cruz is the best neighborhood. Some other people will choose Heritage Landing which overlooks the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor as the best neighborhood.
To many people, the best neighborhood is that neighborhood that suits their definition of best.
Many see Seabrightas as the best neighborhood. Seabright is less windy but colorful, so they see it as more charming than the West Side of Santa Cruz.
Another group of people chooses Ocean View Avenue as the best neighborhood in Santa Cruz. The neighborhood has beautifully designed houses, with good spacing from the road, and elegant-looking streets.
FAQs
What is Santa Cruz Beach known for?
Mainland surfing originated in Santa Cruz. In 1885, three Hawaiian princes taught the people of Santa Cruz how to use boards made from redwood planks to surf.
If you go to the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum you will learn the details of this history. 100 year of history of local surf culture is preserved in this Museum.
Is Santa Cruz Boardwalk free?
You are not charged money to walk on the boardwalk. You can take a stroll to have a view of the colorful oceanfront scene. It is also free, and open to everyone even when the rides are closed.
You can buy tickets from individual rides or Ride Wristband to go on a ride throughout the day.
Is Santa Cruz expensive?
Presently the second most expensive region to rent accommodation in America is the Santa Cruz-Watsonville metro area. The region comes behind San Francisco where rent is as much as $61.50