Spotlight: Santa Cruz

With expansive beaches and some of the world’s best off-shore breaks, Santa Cruz is famous for its high-stoke surf culture. But there’s so much more to this laid-back strip of shoreline than wetsuits and short boards. A short drive from both San Jose and San Francisco, Santa Cruz makes for the perfect weekend getaway—although once you’ve had a taste of the area’s eclectic charm and natural beauty, you may never want to leave.

Experience easygoing luxury at the Dream Inn

Staying near the beach is never a bad idea—and you can’t get much closer than the Dream Inn. Built on the site of Jack O’Neill’s first shop, this 1960s-era hotel sits just steps from Cowell Beach. The 165 rooms, all of which boast ocean views and private balconies or patios, are beachy-chic thanks to colorful, surf-inspired decor. Take a dip in the heated beachfront pool and listen to the crashing waves as you float in 85-degree water. Watch the sunset through picture windows at the on-site Jack O’Neill Restaurant, serving local seafood and farm-to-table fare.

Take an at-sea animal adventure

For a completely new perspective on Monterey Bay’s marine life, rent a vessel from Venture Quest Kayaking and paddle out from shore. You’ll float by sea lions sunning themselves on rocky outcroppings as pelicans swirl overhead. Watch for dolphin fins, frolicking otters, and seal heads bobbing up from the surf. Book a guided tour to explore the sea caves at Wilder Ranch State Park or get an up-close look at 50-foot-long gray whales during the migration season (March through May).

Get a sense of surfer history

Legend has it that surfing first arrived in the United States when a trio of traveling Hawaiian princes paddled out in Santa Cruz. The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum honors the city’s cowabunga history with far-out artifacts, photographs, and plenty of old-school boards. After you’ve learned what Burt Landess first used for a board (hint: you can also iron on it), step outside to watch history come to life. Take a stroll around Lighthouse Point and you’ll see dozens of daredevils shredding the break at Steamer Lane.

Get your kicks on a wooden roller coaster

Built in 1907 as the “Coney Island of the West,” the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is proof that a seaside amusement park never goes out of style. Feel the salty air whip through your hair on the stomach-flipping Double Shot or the Giant Dipper, a thundering wooden roller coaster with a 70-foot drop. Easy riders will love the Looff Carousel, which features real horse hair and a 342-pipe organ. Treat yourself to a classic carnival snack and try your luck at an arcade game before going for a stroll along the wharf.

Hike among the giants

Head north on California State Route 9 to explore a wildly different side of Santa Cruz County. A short 20-mile drive will take you from sandy beaches to shaded sequoia groves. Big Basin Redwoods State Park, located in Boulder Creek, offers easy access to these ancient giants. Take the 3.4-mile, out-and-back hike to Sempervirens Falls. Along the way, you’ll see 300-foot-tall redwoods, Douglas fir, five-finger fern, and maybe even a banana slug or two, before reaching the straight-from-a-fairytale falls.

It has been three decades since Hollywood introduced audiences to The Lost Boys, a film that cast Jason Patric and Corey Haim as a pair of brothers who encounter a gang of young vampires stalking the fictional California town of Santa Carla.

Filmed almost entirely around Santa Cruz County, The Lost Boys starred Patric, Haim, and Kiefer Sutherland, years before they became household names, and unfolded around the beaches, boardwalks, and bridges of Santa Cruz. Like the forever-young teenagers at the heart of director Joel Schumacher’s celebrated scary story, many of the locations where the movie was shot live on, offering a unique opportunity to see the world of The Lost Boys firsthand—without the risk of running into any vampires.

Mark the 30th anniversary of The Lost Boys by visiting some of the Santa Cruz locations it features—all marked and made easy with this downloadable location map produced by the Santa Cruz County Film Commission. 

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Extending along the coast of Monterey Bay, this famous oceanfront walkway is home to amusement park rides, shops, and music venues—and it also provided the backdrop for countless scenes in The Lost Boys. The historic Looff Carousel is featured prominently in one of the film's earliest scenes, when Sutherland's character and his vampire gang are introduced, while the massive Giant Dipper roller coaster looms large in the background of many nighttime scenes.

Atlantis Fantasyworld Comic Book Shop

Haim’s character meets the eccentric Frog Brothers, played by Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander, at this shop, which is actually located in downtown Santa Cruz—not on the boardwalk, as it appears to be in the film. A fixture in Santa Cruz for more than 40 years, Atlantis Fantasyworld relocated after the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 destroyed the original shop, but shop owner Joe Ferrara—who appeared as an extra in The Lost Boys—still runs the store at its Cedar Street location. 

Santa Cruz Wharf

The longest pier on the West Coast, this half-mile wharf in Monterey Bay is featured in the film as the location of Max’s Video Store. The shop that doubled as the video store is currently the home of the Santa Cruz Bay Company gift shop, but the building’s distinctive shape and entrance will likely be familiar to eagle-eyed Lost Boys fans.

Pogonip Clubhouse

Exterior shots of the rustic house where Patric and Haim’s characters live with their mother and grandfather actually feature the clubhouse for the Pogonip Country Club. The unique property, located high in the hills above Santa Cruz, was the home of a social club, golf course, and polo club at various points over the years. Although the structure has been unoccupied for decades, it remains a popular landmark for hikers (but hopefully not vampires).

The Trestle Bridge

One of the most memorable scenes in the movie was actually filmed outside of Santa Cruz—in Santa Clarita, five hours south. The Iron Horse Trailhead trestle bridge that the vampire gang hangs from in the film is located off Interstate 5 on the Magic Mountain Parkway, about 40 miles north of Los Angeles. The bridge now features a pedestrian walkway, for anyone who would prefer to cross over it instead of hanging underneath.

Few can resist the funky, sunny, life-lovin’ vibe of the surf culture in Santa Cruz. Legend has it three Hawaiian princes brought surfing here in 1885, with legendary Hawaiian surfers such as Duke Kahanamoku following in their footsteps. Locals soon took to the consistent, easy waves at Cowell’s, and right-handed point breaks at Steamer Lane and Pleasure Point, and they’ve been carving it up ever since.

Thanks to local legend Jack O’Neill's 1950s invention of the wetsuit to battle the Pacific’s notoriously chilly waters, newbies and experienced surfers alike can spend more time out there waiting for the perfect wave. If you want to give the sport a try, the friendliest breaks are found at Cowell’s, next to the Santa Cruz Wharf; breakers fronting Capitola are usually novice-friendly too. Club Ed Surf School offers lessons for all abilities; equipment includes wide, easier-to-balance long boards and wetsuits.

To learn more about the local surf scene and its legends, visit the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum, quaintly housed in a former lighthouse along West Cliff Drive. Look over the seawall to see top surfers riding the break at Steamer Lane. And to chill out like a legend, visit the beachside Jack O’Neill Lounge at the Santa Cruz Dream Inn. Surrounded by surfing memorabilia and a great view of Monterey Bay, sip a signature cocktail, or ask for Jack’s favourite after-surf libation, a Ketel One Martini. In October, the O’Neill Coldwater Classic attracts many of the world’s best surfers.