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Good Times Home Santa Cruz Activity & Visitor Guide

Activity & Visitor Guide

All About Santa Cruz - Activity & Visitor Guide

Free WiFi hot spots

Free WiFi hot spots

The Santa Cruz area offers several locations to connect to the internet for free while enjoying a coffee, meal or conversation. See the Good Times list for Free WiFi hot spots.

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All About Santa Cruz - Activity & Visitor Guide

Clubs & Night Life

Clubs & Night Life

As the long days turn to twilight and the sun sets to the west the Santa Cruz nights light up with something for everyone.  Whether you are looking for cool jazz, rock 'n' roll or some acoustic guitar you'll find it here.  Locals and travelers join together to celebrate great food, cool drinks and night beats.

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All About Santa Cruz - Activity & Visitor Guide

State Parks, Hiking & Walking

State Parks, Hiking & Walking

Whether you live here or are visiting the hiking and running trail options are amazing and some of the most beautiful in the world. Explore the local hills, redwoods, beaches and more. Explore our list of great hiking spots, leave your comments and submit your favorite hikes.
Note: There are some pending park closures due to the CA state budget - contact the Dept. of Parks and Recreation to confirm park hours and availability.
City of Santa Cruz >
Santa Cruz Department of Parks & Recreation >

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All About Santa Cruz - Activity & Visitor Guide

Santa Cruz area movie theaters

Santa Cruz area movie theaters

Local theaters around the greater Santa Cruz area.
Find out about New releases, Movie Times, Reviews, Previews and reader comments in our On Screen section. Click Read More for a full list of theaters with addresses, contact information and descriptions.

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All About Santa Cruz - Activity & Visitor Guide

Getting Around Bikes & Busses

Getting Around Bikes & BussesSanta Cruz is a very ecologically minded place. Combine that with students strapped for cash and you get a community particularly interested in alternative forms of transportation. Fortunately, whatever your reason—whether it be the exercise from riding a bike, the lower carbon footprint associated with public transit, or simply saving money with a carpool partner or highly efficient car—there is likely to be a local a solution for you.
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All About Santa Cruz - Activity & Visitor Guide

Surf Spots in Santa Cruz County

Surf Spots in Santa Cruz County

Santa Cruz is the of the world's finest surfing areas.
Here's the Good Times guide to surfing.

CAPITOLA JETTY, THE HOOK
MANRESA/LA SELVA, PLEASURE POINT
PRIVATES, COWELL’S
STEAMER LANE, NATURAL BRIDGES
THREE MILE, FOUR MILE
SCOTT’S CREEK, WADDELL CREEK
click Read More to see reviews of all by area

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All About Santa Cruz - Activity & Visitor Guide

Spiritual Guide in the Santa Cruz area

Spiritual Guide in the Santa Cruz area

NEW AGE/OMNI-FAITHS/ EASTERN
CATHOLICISM
CHRISTIANITY
PAGAN/OCCULT
JUDAISM

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All About Santa Cruz - Activity & Visitor Guide

Yoga Centers in Santa Cruz County

Yoga Centers in Santa Cruz County

Sure, both UCSC and Cabrillo sport a bundle of great fitness classes—you may really dig the gyms there, too. But take note of some yoga alternatives here in Santa Cruz:
Please note the the Vets Hall is temporarily closed.  Contact yoga instructors for new locations.

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All About Santa Cruz - Activity & Visitor Guide

Resorts, Hotels, Spas in Santa Cruz County

Resorts, Hotels, Spas in Santa Cruz CountyChaminade at Santa Cruz / 1 Chaminade Lane, Santa Cruz

800-283-6569, chaminade.com / It’s a Spanish mission-style building originally built in 1929 that was remodeled as a Benchmark Hospitality resort in 1988. You’ll find unprecedented views of Monterey Bay here. Full gym with daily aerobics classes, game room, sports lawn, indoor basketball court, sand volleyball, badminton, croquet, four outdoor tennis courts and three miles of hiking trails. Massage therapy and body treatments available. Guestrooms have full amenities and room service, plus, there are conference, wedding and small group packages available. A great dining experience to boot!
Photo:  jennifer walters

See all Resorts, Hotels, Spas in Santa Cruz County >

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All About Santa Cruz - Activity & Visitor Guide

Golf Courses in Santa Cruz County

Golf Courses in Santa Cruz County

SEASCAPE GOLF COURSE

Located so close to the ocean that you can hear the waves crash as you swing your club. It off ers both 18- and 9-hole courses over 6,000 yards, situated between cypress tress to shield you from a windy day. It also has an on-site Nike Golf learning center for golfers interested in taking lessons.

Price range: $23-$72 depending on day and time. 610 Clubhouse Drive, Aptos, 688-3213.

 

 

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All About Santa Cruz - Activity & Visitor Guide

Welcome to Santa Cruz County

Welcome to Santa Cruz County

Visitor Index Stay awhile.  Wherever you’re travelling from, you’ve obviously chosen the area for its beauty, surf-town culture and premier dining offerings. (We do have some world-class chefs here.) Many people visit Santa Cruz County throughout the year, but few may know of its hidden gems. We hope to guide you in finding some of them, whether its the off-the-beaten path rec trail or a funky local restaurant that has a great amount of style.

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All About Santa Cruz - Activity & Visitor Guide

Beaches in Santa Cruz County

Beaches in Santa Cruz County

A list of beaches in the North and South County area.

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All About Santa Cruz - Activity & Visitor Guide

Skating, Climbing, Biking, Boating, Kayaking Around Santa Cruz

Skating, Climbing, Biking, Boating, Kayaking Around Santa Cruz

Get out and play!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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All About Santa Cruz - Activity & Visitor Guide

Bridal Expo & Good Times guide to wedding planning

Bridal Expo & Good Times guide to wedding planning

Tips on wedding planning from:
Cocoanut Grove
Feast for a King Catering
Minister Christine Jones
Heidi Hughett, The Couture House
The Buttery
Monterey Bay Laser Aesthetics
Jewels on Pacific
A Festive Affair

Get the Bridal Expo 2010 insert in this Good Times this week complete with exhibitor map and booth listings

 

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More Good Times

 

New Lagoon

UCSC’s Natural Reserve System works to restore Younger Lagoon It’s a beautiful, mild mid-December day and Gage Dayton is standing on a gently sloping hill overlooking Younger Lagoon, a natural reserve site, as he looks politely, if a bit sternly, at a surfer. The surfer, a man in his early twenties clad in a black hooded wetsuit, is, for his part, looking both embarrassed and uncomfortable; he’s in a distinctly awkward spot, positioned several feet off the ground, halfway over a fence. His two friends, also clad in wetsuits and clutching their surfboards, are standing behind him, looking similarly abashed. “No hopping here, guys,” Dayton says mildly. “Sorry. This is a reserve.” The surfers haven’t moved; they look at him a bit skeptically. “The UC Santa Cruz police have actually been starting to patrol down here, unfortunately,” he adds.

 

In Defense of Education

“I am a language teacher!” UC Santa Cruz Italian lecturer Giulia Centineo screamed into the loudspeaker during a March 4 protest at UC Santa Cruz. Centineo held the microphone up to her lips and addressed the crowd, her hand trembling, perhaps out of nervousness or simply passion. “For years the administration has been shoving down our throats the idea that students are clients. No, students are students! I don't sell Italian! I teach Italian!”

 

What does your future hold?

Scotts Valley | Self Employed  

 

From the Editor

Some foods are too tempting to pass up. That seems to be the case this week with GT’s dining scribes. In our biggest Food & Wine issue to date, our resident foodies experimented with some old favorites and also embarked on new culinary adventures. Delicious. Plus: “11 Sexy Foods.” (Spring is coming, after all.) Send us a list of your favorite local hotspots at letters@gtweekly.com. Tell us what local foods you can’t live without. (That might be a long list.)

 

Memory Matters

Twenty years after the fact, a geologist and a historian say we must not forget “Loma Prieta was a humbling experience for most of us. a reminder of our diminutive stature in the grand scheme of things. I think that remembering events like that is a perfect antidote for our collective hubris; it keeps us honest.” —Sandy Lydon, ‘History Dude’  

 

Music Calendar

Live Music This Week Check out the latest hot concert picks happening around town. See more area activities on our events page >  

 

Cool Band Now

Ingredients: Nick Green’s guitar, Chris Hopkins’ bass, Logan Bean’s drums, ample 4-track tape recorders, a hell of a lot of irreverence, and a pinch of freak pop with the rock. Stir ingredients together in a mixer with a lot of attitude and humor on tape, then set out on a stage to cool. The result? Cool Band Now. Friends who grew up in Livermore going to punk shows and pizza parlors together, the trio formed in Santa Cruz as a reaction against the sometimes stifling nature of taking music too seriously. With each member having spent plenty of time and energy on previous projects and recordings, Cool Band Now began over a year ago as a spontaneous endeavor to just have fun. “It’s a trapping feeling sometimes when you spend so much time on a recording to make it sound perfect,” Bean says, “so this was a lo-fi escape from all that.” When Green and Hopkins (whose words sometimes grace GT pages) first haphazardly started recording sound collages that flexed their multi-instrumental talents (there’s a bit of synth, a bit of punk distortion, a bit of indie acoustic guitar) the tracks were made with the idea of television commercial breaks in mind: whacky, experimental and short—very short; some “songs” run 15 seconds long.

 

Bull’s-Eye

Zimmerman honed his chops at the San Jose Repertory Theatre writing  musical reviews in the 1980s skewering the yuppies that peppered the Silicon Valley (“YUP!”, “Up the YUP!” and “YUP it UP!”). The punning pundit-with-guitar blossomed during the comedy boom of that time. “I had a duo during that time with [Santa Cruz virtuoso] Stevie Coyle and we were called the Reagan Brothers,” the witty comic remembers. “We played the Comedy Store and all the clubs and learned a lot about standing and delivering.”

 

Hello, Spring!

Huichol Indian Shaman Brant Secunda welcomes the new season with a powerful seaside workshop and retreat For centuries, ancient peoples such as the American Indians, Mayans and Druids have welcomed the vernal equinox with lavish ceremonies meant to thank their deities for allowing them to survive yet another winter. Nowadays with modern conveniences like indoor heating and grocery stores, winters aren’t quite as troublesome as they once were in the past, but there is something in the human spirit that still relishes the first verdant signs of spring. A flower blooming here, a warm breeze there—springtime is a time of rebirth and renewal. Brant Secunda takes this time of year seriously. A shaman and healer of the Huichol Indian tradition of Mexico, this renowned teacher will be leading a spring equinox retreat that will show participants how to harness the power of nature within themselves.

 

Muns Vineyard Rosé of Pinot Noir

Rose is fast becoming one of my new favorite wines. And when you find a good one such as Muns Vineyard’s Rosé of Pinot Noir, 2008 Central Coast ($18), then one’s wine-drinking life is most certainly elevated. I first tasted the Muns Rosé at a food and wine event at Café Cruz in Soquel.  Mary Lindsay, who, along with winemaker Ed Muns, plays a major role in production, public relations, tasting events, and everything else that’s involved with running a successful winery, was pouring that day. She invited me to try the Rosé and I immediately bought a bottle to take home. I often have friends over for wine and cheese get-togethers, and it makes a change to offer Rosé—along with the Merlots and Chardonnays of this world.

 

11 Sexy Foods

Fresh strawberries 1 Raw oysters (from booth at Saturday morning Cabrillo Farmers Market) An oyster’s texture, unmistakably sensual, can make your tongue dance—and who knows what will follow. Treat yourself to some oysters with lemon and Tabasco after shopping for fresh, organic produce on a sun-filled day at the Farmers Market with your sweetheart.Cabrillo Farmers Market, Cabrillo College, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos, montereybayfarmers.org/aptos.html.

 

Wild at Art

More than 400 artists unite in a stunning county-wide exhibit where assemblage meets collage To call it an undertaking would be an understatement. Susan Hillhouse, Theresa Myers and the team at the Museum of Art & History in downtown Santa Cruz have pulled off an undeniably impressive artistic feat. They have launched an inventive, county-wide art show,  “Assemblage + Collage + Construction,” which runs through April. The show features a cornucopia of talented artists from Santa Cruz County and beyond. Fourteen art galleries will showcase the work of about 400 artists, which includes Angelo Grova, Jack Howe, Michael Leeds, Robbie Schoen, Shelby Graham and many others.

 

After The Fall

The better you know the Alice books of Lewis Carroll, the more you'll appreciate Tim Burton's winsome and nutty remix, Alice In Wonderland. Instead of rehashing of the familiar children's story, Burton and scriptwriter Linda Woolverton borrow elements from both classic Carroll books, "Alice In Wonderland," and "Through The Looking Glass," then dare to imagine an entirely new story populated by Carroll's enduring fantasy characters. Burton and collaborator Woolverton (she wrote the marvelous script for Disney's Beauty And the Beast) understand what makes the books so much fun—deadpan, Seinfeld-like conversations about the minutiae of life, the usefulness (or not) of language, silly plays on words, and the stubborn pragmatism of resourceful little Alice in a world gone cheerfully mad. Staying true to this antic, anarchic spirit, they fashion a funny, girl-empowering saga that is often Carroll's equal in drollery.

More Good Times

 

Doctor’s Orders

Christopher Durang’s witty work hits the Ac...

 

The Casting Couch

When Julia Roberts glided into her Mystic Piz...

 

Lucien Kubo

Kubo's world of assemblage I highly recommen...

 

New Lagoon

UCSC’s Natural Reserve System works to rest...

 

In Defense of Education

“I am a language teacher!” UC Santa Cruz ...

 

Can Protests Win Hearts and Minds?

Protesters didn’t exactly win over hearts a...

 

What does your future hold?

Scotts Valley | Self Employed  ...

 

From the Editor

Some foods are too tempting to pass up. That ...

 

Music Calendar

Live Music This Week Check out the latest ho...

 

Cool Band Now

Ingredients: Nick Green’s guitar, Chris Hop...

 

Bull’s-Eye

Zimmerman honed his chops at the San Jose Rep...

 

Hello, Spring!

Huichol Indian Shaman Brant Secunda welcomes ...

 

Muns Vineyard Rosé of Pinot Noir

Rose is fast becoming one of my new favorite ...

 

11 Sexy Foods

Fresh strawberries 1 Raw oysters (from bo...

 

Wild at Art

More than 400 artists unite in a stunning cou...