Activities for a Rainy Day in Santa Cruz

THE 10 BEST Santa Cruz Rainy-Day Activities

Best Activities for a Rainy Day in Santa Cruz

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    Things to do ranked using Tripadvisor data including reviews, ratings, photos, and popularity.
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    Highest rated attractions on Tripadvisor, based on traveler reviews.
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What travelers are saying

  • akat411
    San Francisco, CA138 contributions
    Worth a visit if you're in the area and want to see some ocean research exhibits. It's not very big but there are a number of tanks to see different animals. There is a touch pool to touch sea stars and the best thing was the chance to touch a swell shark. Very cool! We went as a big family group and the kids were engaged. The site is cliff side with a pretty walking path and beautiful view. Would recommend.
    Written June 27, 2022
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Morgan
    Aptos, CA28 contributions
    This place is so cool I’m a local person and I haven’t been here in 30 years, and I absolutely love it. We went for the mastodon tooth to look at it and view it and I was pleasantly surprised with everything else.
    Written June 5, 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Deb
    Bethany Beach, DE15 contributions
    What a great place showcasing the local area. I really enjoyed the movie about octopi. Good gift shop, too. Close to the Wharf and free on Sundays!
    Written April 23, 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Brigid G
    4 contributions
    The sommelier was friendly and knowledgeable, she described all the wines and was engaging with the half dozen people there. We bought the 2018 Cabernet and had it with dinner at Coastanoa later that evening.
    Very pretty, winding road to get here.
    Will definitely return!
    Written March 14, 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Mark S
    4 contributions
    A few friends and I had just gotten lunch when we happened to walk by MJA. On a whim, we went in, and our "thirty-minute tasting" turned into a delightful several-hour experience. After doing their red flight, I would highly recommend their reds, especially their cabernets.

    The staff at MJA are knowledgeable (but unpretentious), warm, and welcoming. We will certainly visit again!
    Written June 30, 2021
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • oldjgw
    Berkeley150 contributions
    Well kept and interesting local museum. Right on Front street, downtown. Could have used more in-indepth displays of Santa Cruz local history
    Written January 23, 2022
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Andreas G
    Berkeley, CA481 contributions
    Ten years ago, when my wife and I last visited the Watsonville area, we took a drive up to Santa Cruz and visited the Storrs tasting room. We had a wonderful experience there. We wanted to go back and try their current releases. We had another positive experience. Let me provide some detail.

    We have been tasting and drinking wines for more than 40 years. We buy 30-40 cases of wine per year, have visited a wide range of wine-producing regions in California, and have forged customized arrangements to buy wines from a number of wineries we are very fond of. We have seen the transition from wine tasting being a means of getting potential customers to try your wines for free, to a courtesy that some abused to drink more wine than they should, to fees being introduced to curb this type of behavior, to these fees becoming a cash cow for some wineries. Storrs has maintained a nice balance during this evolution. I have no issue with a tasting fee, and am happy to pay it. However, I have a strong preference for wineries that appreciate your business and waive the tasting fee with a minimum purchase. Storrs gets an A on this front. They do charge you a very modest $5/person tasting fee, but it is waived with the purchase of a bottle of wine. I find this very reasonable. I buy at least one bottle per person even if I am not particularly fond of the wines.

    I not only like the business model at Storrs, I also like their wines very much. We went and tasted the six wines that were being offered as part of the tasting, and then one or two more that just happened to be open. Prices were not excessive. We ended up buying four bottles that we thought were the best combination of flavor and value for our palate. I will leave it to you to identify the wines that you like the most. The interaction with the tasting room staff was extremely pleasant. I think that you will enjoy the experience. I will note that we went midweek, and at about 2 PM. We were the only people in the tasting room for most of our stay. That allowed for ample discussion. What we thought would be a 30-minute stay evolved into a full hour. Although that enhanced the experience, during our prior visit the tasting room was quite crowded, but we still felt well taken care of.

    At a time when some wineries are raising their tasting fees to ridiculous levels (e.g., $50/person at some Napa wineries that will go unnamed) and do not waive the fees even if you buy a case of wine, it is refreshing to find wineries like Storrs that have not lost sight of what in my view the wine tasting experience should be about. It is also nice when the wines resonate with your personal taste preferences, and the tasting room staff is knowledgeable and personable. I’m happy to recommend Storrs to you. There are now two tasting rooms. The one in Santa Cruz that we have visited is quite small, but open seven days a week. The new tasting room is likely larger, but is currently only open on weekends at present. Information about hours and locations can be found on the winery website. We may visit the new location when we next visit the area.
    Written August 29, 2018
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • TooMuchToSea
    Santa Cruz, CA14 contributions
    Awesome gin! Loved their homemade tonic. Good service and people watching. Tried their restaurant too- Brussels sprouts were on-point.
    Written March 20, 2021
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • mini
    Fremont, CA176,137 contributions
    While visiting Santa Cruz, we went wine tasting at Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard. Its a nice wine tasting room by numerous others.

    They specialize in Portugese and Spanish Wine. We had a fun time.
    Written October 8, 2020
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • jaseaton
    Silver Spring, MD2,544 contributions
    If you've been to the Lawrence Hall of Science, you've seen a better version of this "museum" filled with fun activities for kids 10 and under. There's a mix of science fun and just plain slides and things (over-sized blocks and numerous interactive activities). My grandson (3 yrs old) enjoyed racing plastic cars down a chute and playing in the sand box. We adults joined in.and stood around. It made for a 90-minute slot in a lively afternoon. The location inside a mall seemed curious.
    Written December 22, 2019
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • dryad-fw
    Fort Wayne, IN47 contributions
    not a bad seat in the house, but if you are attending a concert with general admittance, know the line starts early- we got there an hour prior and were a hundred people back- though we still had our choice of seats. acoustics are great, seats are comfortable. ladies restroom was small so the line was huge. concessions are simple (water, coffee, tea, cookies) and there is no alcohol sold. I'd return for another show and recommend seeing any music artist there!
    Written July 4, 2019
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • IlariaK
    Saratoga, CA853 contributions
    We stopped by for a beer and some food after a day at the beach with friends. The outdoor area is very and good for families/groups of friends. The beers are good, the food is decent (except for the chili - tasteless, really bad!!), but they need more veggie options!! The merch is nice - love the log - we got a hat and a shirt!
    Written August 20, 2021
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • jenLeCreate
    Vista, CA398 contributions
    Been to the jazz center a couple of times now and always come away amazed (and ready to go back again). This is a nice small venue (about 200 seats) that hosts local and some more well known musicians. Ample parking around the venue - metered street (until 8 pm) and i think there are parking garages nearby (we always stay so we can walk to the venue).

    You can buy dinner (before the show and bull bar. There are also restaurants around the area in case you want something different. Seating is general admission so it is good to get there a little early (I think the door opened about an hour before the show). With that said though, there are no bad seats in the house and the acoustics are great

    Sit back, hold your sweetie, have something to drink and enjoy the show. Support the local arts!

    Note: like most entertainment places, currently the center is temporarily closed due to covid.
    Written July 15, 2020
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Scott
    San Francisco, CA5,173 contributions
    Best book shop on the planet. One of the few remaining big, brick-and-mortar bookshops. One-hundred-percent covid-19 safety compliant, and determined to stay that way. They actually have a person watching the door to make sure everyone that enters sanitize their hands and does not consume food or beverages inside the store.
    Written May 9, 2021
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Dinasha C
    1 contribution
    The Chaminade spa is a special place. I am a local and find myself choosing Chaminade over many alternatives for massage with CBD oil and facials with Eminence skin products. I’ve come to rely on their welcoming vibe and hospitable front desk service (Heidi the manager will take special care of you). Also, the quality bar of therapists and estheticians is so high that it does not matter who performs your services- the experience is always top notch. My one star missing is solely based on the snacks and drinks, Chaminade could spring for putting out a better complimentary spread post-pandemic!
    Written January 20, 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

See what travelers are asking

Forum posts were selected by looking for forum titles asking specific questions and taking the top showtopic page by total pageviews as the optimal topic.
So I havent seen this post recently. Debating the merits of staying in Santa Cruz vs Capitola.

We are are a sports team of 15- 16 yr old boys traveling from Orange County ,ca to the area in end of July. Games can range from being in Sc, Aptos, cabrillo and San Lorenzo. We will be in the area for four days with some down time in the evenings.

Hotels are expensive in both areas. Looking into the Fairfield inn in Capitola (rates ave ~$300 but with breakfast & bocci ball court) with some of chain restaurants like chipotle & mall nearby.

The other option to to get a hotel in SC possibly Hotel Paradox in the higher end (~$330 but no breakfast) or Holiday Inn or Hyatt place same price as FI.

Pls lmk your thoughts of what would be a better city SC or C?

Would like a hotel where parents & kids have a nice common area to congregate during down time.

Also would like to have the boys have access to fun things to do during down time & have access to good food options since 16 yrs old boys playing sports are always hungry.

Will the team with 30+ people be frustrated trying to get into a non chain restaurant in Sc?

Hotel P is off the beaten path & expensive but has nicer facilities like pool area with nice lounge area. Is the hotel worth the extra $?

Any appreciate suggestions on the hotel I mentioned or any others that I have may have overlooked.

Thank you for your advice.
Answer: There is not much for boys that age in Capitola. Its core is a small village with boutique shopping. The hotel itself is on busy 41st Avenue, not very near the village. The mall you speak of is considering going out of business and turning into something else. It has a couple of semi-fast food restaurants. It is not something the boys could walk to from the Fairfield Inn, or has anything of interest to them, IMO.

The Holiday Inn Express in Santa Cruz is not near anything for the boys except Denny's :~). It is on Ocean Street as you come into the town. The Paradox is a new remake of a Holiday Inn and it screams 'businessmen'. It is also on Ocean Avenue, but further down and just across San Lorenzo Park (about two or three blocks) from the main street of town, Pacific Avenue, with lots of restaurants of various kinds, two movie theaters, ice cream parlors, a cookie company, pizza, etc.

Have you looked into the Dream Inn? This is of the same quality as, or better than, the others but near the Wharf and a block from the Boardwalk, an old fashioned historic amusement park with no admission charge.

The hotel has a pool and faces a beach. Surfing lessons happen there. There are volleyball nets set up on part of the beach near the Boardwalk. During the summer there are free movies and concerts and aerial acts at various times on the main beach there. Of your choices, I really think this is the best. It is not inexpensive, but I think it might be in the same ballpark as the Paradox. The boys *could* walk to Pacific Avenue from here, but it is about 8 or 9 blocks to the main area .

The Hyatt is new and I know nothing about it except its location. It is on the west side and not really convenient to activities for the boys.

I am going to give you a link to a traveler article on Santa Cruz. Trip Advisor has stopped supporting these, so there is a disclaimer that the information may be outdated. The information in this article is not outdated. I will be re-writing it to put in my own files.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g33048-c133677/Santa-Cruz:California:Santa.Cruz.Sights.And.Activities.html

Good luck and let me know if I can be of help....

Edit. The Paradox is not in a "shady area of town". Yes, homeless people do hang out in San Lorenzo Park, but there is no reason for the boys to go there. If you should pick that hotel they can walk on city streets, quite safely, to get to Pacific Avenue...
Note that forum content are individual perspectives of forum posters and not the opinion of Tripadvisor