Our convenient location puts an overwhelming number of great places to visit very close by. Not only perennial favorite Santa Cruz attractions like the Beach Boardwalk, Mystery Spot, UCSC, and Roaring Camp, but also such less well-known treasures as Mission Santa Cruz, Long Marine Lab, and local Surfing, Natural History, and Art Museums. All within a few miles of our front door!
Santa Cruz, California Attractions - approximate distances from the Hampton Inn Santa Cruz
Mission Santa Cruz Historic State Park -
½ mile
Historic Downtown - Pacific Garden Mall -
1 mile. Great shopping, dining, art, movies, clubs, coffee houses, street musicians - it's all here, and all within walking distance of the hotel!
University of California-Santa Cruz -
2 miles
Pasatiempo Golf Course -
1 mile. World-class golfing and dining with magnificent ocean views, less than a mile from the hotel. Ranked #38 for U.S. Golf courses in 2011 by Links Magazine!
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk -
2 miles. Located on a mile-long beach between Monterey and San Francisco, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is California's oldest amusement park. Experience the adrenaline rush of the Giant Dipper - or chill on the family-oriented Bulgy the Whale. Fun and games abound at the old-style arcade. Plus, the sublime surf of the Pacific Ocean awaits you at Santa Cruz Beach. Kick off the Boardwalk's 2012 summer season on 5/19 with free Entertainment!
Santa Cruz Wharf -
2 miles. Fantastic seafood dining and specialty shops right on the Pacific Ocean. Special Event on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf:
6/23 Woodies on the Wharf
Steamers Lane -
2 miles
Santa Cruz Surfing Museum -
2 ½ miles. Experience more than 100 years of surfing history from a Santa Cruz perspective. Displays include crude surfboard models to modern high-tech designs, as well as early wetsuits, photographs featuring Santa Cruz surfers and wave riding from the 1930s to the present day. Enjoy continuous videos showing the sport's ever-changing styles.
Special Surfing Event coming soon to Santa Cruz 5/26-27 28th Annual Santa Cruz Longboard Club Invitational - the West Coast's oldest
competitive surfing event
3 miles. Featuring coastal scrub meadows with bright native wildflowers in the spring, this beach is also an excellent vantage point for viewing shore birds, migrating whales, and seals and otters playing offshore.
Mystery Spot -
3 miles. Located in the redwood forests just outside of Santa Cruz, the laws of physics and gravity do not apply at the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot. Come and be baffled!
Seymour Marine Discovery Center -
3.5 miles. Visit a working marine laboratory while touring exhibit halls and aquariums and experiencing unsurpassed vistas of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Examine the world's largest whale skeleton - and that's just for starters!
Santa Cruz Harbor -
4 miles
Capitola Village -
5 miles. Capitola's annual free Wednesday Night Twilight Concerts return to Capitola Village June 20 - August 29th, 6-8 pm.
Roaring Camp Railroads -
7 miles. The Santa Cruz, Big Trees & Pacific Railway Company operates passenger and freight services on one of the oldest and most historic lines in California. When the route opened in 1875 it carried picnickers and tourists to the Big Trees and Santa Cruz. Today's Beach Trains travel through Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, down the scenic San Lorenzo River Gorge, across a 1909 steel truss bridge, and through an 1875 tunnel before arriving at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Special Events coming to Roaring Camp Railroad:
5/26-28 31st Annual Civil War Battles and Encampment Reenactment
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park -
8 miles. This park features 15 miles of hiking and riding trails through a forest that looks much the same as it did 200 years ago. The tallest tree is about 285 feet tall and about 16 feet wide while the oldest trees range from about 1400 to 1800 years old.
Wineries -
many local wineries within close driving distance; look for special tasting events throughout the spring and fall.
Santa Cruz, California Boardwalk Hotel - Attractions Just Down the Road
San Jose International Airport -
30 miles
Monterey Bay Aquarium -
40 miles. A 40-mile trip down Highway 1 is not only picturesque but it leads you to the world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium - discover the largest marine sanctuary in the United States! Explore the bay's various habitats - shallow pools, sandy beaches and the deep blue sea. Get an up-close-and-personal look at kelp forests, sea otters and creatures from the outer bay, including soup fin sharks, yellow fin tuna and sea turtles. April 22 is Dia del Nino... celebrate children with live Latin performances!
Carmel & 17-Mile Drive -
45 miles. About five miles south of Monterey, you'll encounter the quaint town of Carmel. Nestled between the world famous Pebble Beach golf course to the north and the spectacular Big Sur coast to the south, Carmel has created a European-style retreat. Its internationally-known 17-mile drive features some of the most breathtaking vistas on the planet. The famous Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival comes to town on April 12th.
Santa Cruz, California Hotel Location Map
Hampton Inn Santa Cruz Hotel - California (CA)Located at
