santa cruz main beach

Think of seals laying on top of each other or sardines laid out in a tin. That's this beach during the summer. Most tourists never really leave the area of the board walk to the quick walk down to the beach right in front is an easy call. If you don't mind crowds its fun. If you want to get away from it all and relax on a beach somewhere this is not the place.It is well maintained though as the city or the Boardwalk seem to scrape the garbage dropped from the tourists on a routine basis.

This is a great beach and one of the places that made surfing popular. There are many volleyball courts on the beach and they are always busy. There are lots of things to do near by. Parking is available in two huge car parks. A lovely place to visit.

Great beach and lots of water activities to keep you entertained! 15 or so beach volleyball nets by the wharf and the river at the other end. Lots of space for your beach gear. A beach umbrella to bock the wind is handy.

There are better beaches in the area but being close to the boardwalk helps this beach. Volleyball available too.

The main beach and surrounding beaches in Santa Cruz are clean and enjoyable. I highly recommend going there and also enjoy the historic Boardwalk, too.

This is not a good representation of Santa Cruz beaches. It's crowded, dirty, the drug addicts shoot up and leave their needles in the sand to be stepped on....I could go on but no need. There are many wonderful beaches in Santa Cruz, this isn't one of them.

Santa Cruz beach is wide and clean. There are several fixed volleyball nets set up and at the weekend there are always people playing sports, jogging or just lying in the sun. There are lifeguards who operate in the summer but not in the fall which was surprising as the beach was very busy when we were there, The are alot of bars and shops within easy reach and areas to cook.

Family fun on the beach, decent surf, and boardwalk nearby for even more fun.What better way for a family to spend a warm Sunday afternoon!!

probably the ugliest pacific beach i know. dirty, large swarms of flies...made me wanna run away...but where to? on the boardwalk nearly everything was closed...and that on a wonderful late summer day at 4pm...it was even hard to find accessible restrooms...next time I...no, there will be no next time!

Lots of activities on one part and families on another. Clean beach, no litter. plenty of space. The beach is quite wide therefore you can get away from the amusements.

We went here for the first time , so ended up paying $12 for parking opposite to the broad walk . May be next time we could check for off street parking . It was crowded on a Saturday . Sand is not bad but there is lot of sea weed all over ... Otherwise it is very nice beach ... Water is cold ... I think that is to be expected ... But when there is sun ... It was pleasant . The only thing I felt little displeased about are the food thieves ... The Birds . If u are not around ur bag protecting , they literally rip off any thing with food. I didn't feel good eating there especially with little kids because the birds are ready to snatch it. Btw , there are no showers on the beach ...especially if u exit from the side of picnic benches . We have go looking for them on the broad walk , they r located in the middle of the rides.

If you like to play volleyball, this is the right beach. There's also plenty space on the beach to play other sports - and you'll need to, cause the weather tends to be kind of cold on this beach, and it's also windy.

Seems like every year the shape of the beach changes due to weather/rain etc. Still a great beach and you hear the wonderful sounds of the boardwalk while relaxing!

This is a beach which can and should be missed. If you are into having to watch your every step while walking down the beach, then this is your spot. I have never seen this much garbage at the beach ever! I understand there are thousands of visitors every day, but there needs to be staff regulating the litterers. There are dozens of garbage cans throughout the beach, but they seem to not be used. We took our two young kids, ages 2 and 4 and we felt uncomfortable with them playing in the sand and left.

I love the sand on this beach! It was relaxing to let the kids play and take in all the sights around us. There are seagulls and it is a bit crowded but I would definitely return. The water can be pretty powerful (it is the Pacific ocean after all) so I didn't let the kids go out too far alone. It was fun to watch the volleyball players play and all the other people enjoying the beach. I would definitely go back on our next trip.