The Santa Cruz Experience
The Santa Cruz Experience
4.5
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
Tired of fighting the beach traffic? Got family or friends in town looking for something extraordinary to do? Come join The Santa Cruz Experience as we offer daily professional guided wine tours throughout the majestic Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay area.
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The Santa Cruz Experience
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
26 reviews
Excellent
21
Very good
0
Average
0
Poor
2
Terrible
3
Climber94464
Aptos, CA1 contribution
Feb 2020
Just completed the shared wine tour with Dylan. Three separate wine tastings, 11am-3:30 in the beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains. Lunch included by selecting any Salad or sandwich from a local delicatessen I never felt rushed, could walk around each of the wineries during the tastings. Two conveniently located pickup/ drop off sites to choose. Recommend for a very pleasant afternoon “ wine-ing “ with plenty of time left to enjoy the remainder of your day
Written February 22, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Teritea
California2 contributions
May 2024 • Couples
The trip was amazing with wonderful small wineries. Philip was a very knowledgeable guide and catered to all our needs . Weather was rainy and the company changed our wine tours to all indoor venues so no need to cancel. Thanks the high wine friends
Written May 7, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Beachwalker5
Santa Cruz, CA87 contributions
May 2024 • Couples
We used their service again (Santa Cruz Shuttles) for shuttles to and from San Francisco International. Both drivers (Brandon to SFO and William from) were polite, friendly and carefully handled our luggage. Both drives were safe and on time. The vehicles were clean. We will use them again and recommend their service.
Written May 28, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
napahereicome
San Francisco, CA6 contributions
Oct 2013 • Couples
Ugh, I hate writing bad reviews, but I have to under the circumstances. We hired Santa Cruz Experience to shuttle our guests around for our wedding. They didn't show up for the two late night shuttles and we wound up having one guest who got lost in the woods for 5 hours trying to walk back to his hotel in the middle of the night. I emailed them to try to get a refund and they told me that the van driver had spoken to me about it and I had told him not to come back to pick up any more guests. Given that (a) I was 100% sober, (b) I sat outside with our late night guests until 2:15 a.m., waiting for the last two shuttles which never came, AND (c) the fact that I never spoke to either of the van drivers, I feel compelled to write this review. I asked for a a partial refund and was denied. I wish they had wanted to do something to make it right, but they didn't and so here we are.
Written November 2, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wapatula87
Los Gatos, CA89 contributions
May 2017
We had a party of 8 and Matt was our guide. He was pleasant, accommodating, knowledgable and just the best. Took us to some fabulous places with killer wine and views. I would highly recommend this company for a private tour of the area. Well done!
Written June 8, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Elizabeth J
Clearwater, FL20 contributions
Oct 2016 • Friends
My sister and I were vacationing in Santa Cruz and really wanted to wine taste without having to take a chance on driving ourselves, so we booked this tour. Couldn't have been happier with the results! Matt, our driver, was professional and personable - and also very knowledgeable about the area; he grew up in Santa Cruz. He picked us up right on time in a very clean van, and as he drove us to the first of three wineries we would visit he told us about the history of the area, the different growing regions and how the climate affects the grapes.
The three wineries were very different, yet each was equally charming. First was Bonny Doon, a quirky and fun spot (look for the "alien spaceship" crashed on the roof, and be sure to get your picture taken sitting in the rocket inside). We tasted some wonderful wines, bought a couple of bottles while chatting with the server, and then moved on to Beauregard Winery.
Beauregard is in a gorgeous spot, surrounded by trees with a lovely picnic area and a friendly winery cat. Matt had brought along sandwiches (emailed the night before to get orders, then picked them up and brought them along), and he offered to conduct our tasting outside while we ate. So we sat in the sunshine while he went back and forth, bringing us different wines to try with lunch. The inside of the tasting room was also beautiful and cozy with a large wooden bar, and I can easily imagine doing the tastings in that setting too. Wines were again excellent.
Finally, we ended up at MJA; a funky spot in a great little area of Santa Cruz that was obviously popular as it was buzzing with people. Despite that, we received lots of personal attention (and big pours) from the owner, a true character who used to live in Hawaii and still has Kona coffee available. Once again, some spectacular wines, all with names like "Sultry," "First Kiss," and "Sinful" (and the owner also poured us several that were not on the tasting menus at all). Wine so good that I joined their wine club and can't wait for my first shipment to arrive!
Throughout all of this, Matt was attentive but never intrusive. He was well-known to all of the people we met, and obviously well-liked. He never rushed us, just let us set the pace and decide when to move on. We couldn't have asked for a better host for the day. I highly recommend this experience - if I ever get back to Santa Cruz I will definitely do the tour again, but will also request Matt and ask him to take us around to some of the other places we didn't get a chance to visit.
The three wineries were very different, yet each was equally charming. First was Bonny Doon, a quirky and fun spot (look for the "alien spaceship" crashed on the roof, and be sure to get your picture taken sitting in the rocket inside). We tasted some wonderful wines, bought a couple of bottles while chatting with the server, and then moved on to Beauregard Winery.
Beauregard is in a gorgeous spot, surrounded by trees with a lovely picnic area and a friendly winery cat. Matt had brought along sandwiches (emailed the night before to get orders, then picked them up and brought them along), and he offered to conduct our tasting outside while we ate. So we sat in the sunshine while he went back and forth, bringing us different wines to try with lunch. The inside of the tasting room was also beautiful and cozy with a large wooden bar, and I can easily imagine doing the tastings in that setting too. Wines were again excellent.
Finally, we ended up at MJA; a funky spot in a great little area of Santa Cruz that was obviously popular as it was buzzing with people. Despite that, we received lots of personal attention (and big pours) from the owner, a true character who used to live in Hawaii and still has Kona coffee available. Once again, some spectacular wines, all with names like "Sultry," "First Kiss," and "Sinful" (and the owner also poured us several that were not on the tasting menus at all). Wine so good that I joined their wine club and can't wait for my first shipment to arrive!
Throughout all of this, Matt was attentive but never intrusive. He was well-known to all of the people we met, and obviously well-liked. He never rushed us, just let us set the pace and decide when to move on. We couldn't have asked for a better host for the day. I highly recommend this experience - if I ever get back to Santa Cruz I will definitely do the tour again, but will also request Matt and ask him to take us around to some of the other places we didn't get a chance to visit.
Written October 12, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Chris M
1 contribution
Jul 2015 • Couples
Almost 2 hours late. Apparently they only have one driver, and when they ran into timing issues with an earlier pickup, we got the shaft. When we arrived at the pickup location at SFO, the driver hadn't even left Santa Cruz. Unacceptable.
BEWARE!!!
BEWARE!!!
Written July 21, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Heidi V
1 contribution
Nov 2018 • Friends
We celebrated an early Christmas party today with the Santa Cruz Experience and it was amazing!! Absolutely beautiful winerys. Our driver was fantastic!! You guys really know how to plan the most wonderful wine tour! We cant thank you enough for a truly memorable celebration 🙂💖
Written November 15, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rebecca G
The Villages, FL85 contributions
Sep 2016 • Family
There are so many sights to Visit here. It is all so breath taking. The wharf is a nice walk, I recommend the Dolphin Restaurant at the end of the pier. The food is amazing, and reasonable.
Written September 25, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
patsyfarnan
Santa Cruz, California2 contributions
Jul 2016 • Friends
Great vineyards, gorgeous wine, friendly driver. We did the shared tour and our tour-mates were a very charming bachelorette party.
Written August 21, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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