Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
Santa Cruz, CA
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is the oldest surviving seaside amusement park on the West Coast, free to walk through with fees only for individual rides, right next to the wide sand of Santa Cruz Main Beach and the Municipal Wharf. It's the most touristy stretch of Santa Cruz's coast by a wide margin, and genuinely fun for exactly that reason.
A genuinely fun, historic amusement park right on the sand, though it's the most crowded and touristy stretch of the whole Santa Cruz coastline.
How we score beachesCome on a weekday evening if crowds aren't your thing, the boardwalk and beach both thin out considerably once the weekend day-trip crowd heads home.
Free admission to the boardwalk; a fee applies at the nearby Municipal Wharf for vehicle entry.
Stairs and paths connect the boardwalk directly to the beach.
Dogs are not allowed anywhere on the Boardwalk or the adjoining Main Beach, aside from service animals.
Fog is common most mornings year round, typical of the Santa Cruz coast.
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