Experience the best of Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz sits on the north shore of Monterey Bay, with redwood-covered mountains behind it. Its Beach Boardwalk, an amusement park by the sand that opened in 1907, has the Giant Dipper, a wooden roller coaster from 1924. The Municipal Wharf, more than eight hundred metres long, reaches into the bay with seafood restaurants, and sea lions rest on the pilings below.

Surfing came to the American mainland here in 1885, when three Hawaiian princes rode redwood boards at the mouth of the San Lorenzo River, and Steamer Lane, below the lighthouse on West Cliff Drive, is still a famed break, with a small surfing museum in the lighthouse. Natural Bridges State Beach hosts monarch butterflies in autumn and winter, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park has old redwoods nearby, and Capitola, a village of colourful seaside houses, lies to the east.

Santa Cruz Mountains wines, strawberries from the farms around Watsonville and artichokes from the Monterey Bay area fill the cafés and farmers' markets, alongside coffee roasters and craft breweries. Fog covers the coast on summer mornings, and autumn is warm and clear.