For its size, Santa Cruz boasts a large number of drinking establishments from Irish pubs to nightclubs. Many of the bars are located along Pacific Avenue. A serious pub crawl can be done starting at either the Asti (listing below) and ending about 7 blocks away at the Rush Inn or the other way around.
Pub crawl
• 99 Bottles, (half a block off Pacific Ave). Get a free membership card and get a stamp for trying all 99 different beers and win a T-shirt. Good More...
Santa Cruz is a beach town, with a beach to match almost any interest. Main Beach and Cowell Beach attract large crowds to the boardwalk area on sunny summer weekends. Flocks of novice surfers balance on their boards in the quiet waters just north of the municipal wharf, in front of the big hotel that locals still call the Dream Inn. Volleyball nets are strung More...
Santa Cruz is a small coastal city (population about 55,000) on the north end of Monterey Bay in California, about forty miles south of San Jose. While it gained some tech jobs during the boom, it is still best known for fun weekend tourist attractions like the Beach Boardwalk and the Mystery Spot, and its University of California campus.Get in
Highway 17 south from San Jose is the most direct route when driving from the more populated parts of the Bay Area. It is a More...
• Asian Rose, (a lunch spot at the end of Pacific Ave, run by the same people who run Malabar). Vegan Californian/Asian food. $1-5 depending on the number of items; much friendlier and laid-back Santa Cruzian scene.
• Costa Brava, 1222 Pacific and 505 Seabright. Mexican and South American flavors. Reasonable prices for a nice atmosphere and good service.
• El Palomar, 1336 Pacific Ave, 831 425-7575 - Open every day for lunch and More...
Shopping on Pacific Avenue includes surf shops, bookstores (especially the local landmark Bookshop Santa Cruz and the excellent used book and record store Logos), clothing, and gifts.
Bookstores
Some favorite bookstores, ahem Book Cafes that help make Santa Cruz what it is, are worthy of a 'book crawl' quite distinct from your pub crawl: • Book Shop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave, 831 423-0900 - 10:00am-10:00pm daily. More...
