Santa Cruz

If you are interested in a laid-back, sleepy surf town/city with beaches, cliffs, a river, lakes, and a harbor, Santa Cruz may be for you.  Ali and I have firmly established that this is a special place.  Perfect weather, with the morning fog of coarse, and a healthy swell which greeted us certainly helped our opinion.  Coffee shops and pizza parlors dominate most street corners and a boardwalk and roller coaster attract and corral the tourist population.  Waves are everywhere!  I scored some uncrowded real fun surf off of a few nooks in the coast amongst cliff faces as well as the ever popular Steamer Lane (photos with the lighthouse). 

 

There were waves for everyone, Ali excelled with a bunch of great rides at Pleasure Point for a Birthday surf session which ended with a huge grin and legitimate surf stoke that will get her back in the water sooner than later.  This stop was a real treat, an amazing sunset meal at The Crows Nest, campfire eggs and coffee on the beach in a cove and even a wake-up from a Sheriff who turned out to be a real nice guy.