Clean, available restrooms (I was on the North side), beautiful harbor, a lovely path for walking with views reaching beyond the lighthouse.There is wheelchair access at the harbor, but, in order to see all the views, you will need someone strong with you to push the wheelchair up the walkway till it levels out. This is on the North side of harbor as well. Youll love the views.

Quiet walks on the beach are the thing to do these days. Go out and try it.

Santa Cruz harbor is always fun, great shops, restaurant, and views.....better without a car.... parking is a serious hassle here.

Nice little harbor with $13 all day parking. Lots of activities in the harbor such as kayaking or paddle boarding. Twin Lake’s Beach and Black’s Beach are the beaches next door. Some small deli’s within the plaza and lots of other restaurants. 3 life guard towers on the beaches as well. Just be careful of the large wakes and waves that contain a lot of mass and volume, if you’re not careful you can be crushed by random giant waves and get trapped at the bottom of the trough, stuck in a washing machine motion, and get seriously hurt!

Nice area with reasonable parking fees. Aldos restaurant is close for a fish and chips lunch and we could launch our paddle board easily for a spin around the harbor. A perfect Sunday afternoon.

Probably the best thing to do when you visit California for the first time. There is a whale watching trip starts here. Whether you get to see the whales or not but dont miss the perfect sunset. I really dont have words to explain how beautiful it was.

Nice clean Harbor, beautiful clean beach nice to be away from the mainstream boardwalk... Volleyball nets set up and quaint Cafe, gift shop and restaurant near by. Pay for parking, obviously. Clean available bathrooms near parking lot.

Nice wide launch ramp and fish cleaning station. Great Halibut fishing.

Nice location for a harbor, but as a boater, I noticed the swirly current s which made it hard to dock. Also noisy sea lion neighbors keep you from sleeping sometimes. A pretty nice spot.

To bad beaches are closed but I get it. With that there is nothing stopping people taking a walk with that special someone in your life. JJC Electric

Santa Cruz Harbor is at great place to launch your kayak and enjoy a day on the ocean!

This is a great place to be since the mid 80’s been launching boats here. They charge more than others at $20 per day for boat launch, parking with trailer but it seems that you get what you pay for as its secure, unique and clean. They do require coin to wash down the boat after. That’s a pain. You can buy food, bait and a license right there as well.

If you launch your boat there, make sure to bring your own water hose and some change to flush and wash your boat of sea salt. Make sure to fish your limt because the will check you. Good place to fish for Halibut and Rock Cod.

Nice to see the fishing and sail boats. Nice beach. You can watch people play volleyball.

Great place to launch a boat and fish the Santa Cruz area. You can also grab a bite to eat.

We had a great experience. Our Hostess was great. Cant wait to go back.

Home sweet home!I adore the harbor. Well managed and full of great businesses. H&H Fresh Fish is a must stop ️Don’t skimp on paying for parking anywhere in the harbor tho - they are fast and they will get you. If stopping briefly at H&H, park in the metered spots next to the Johnnys stairs. H&H will even feed the meter for you if you don’t have change.

Cool place worth a visit if your passing.

Nice place to walk around and look at the boats and have a bite to eat.

Whether its a beautiful day at the beach or kayaking or just enjoying a great meal, Santa Cruz Harbor is time well spent.

I love this place. I have been walking around the harbor, light house, and beaches for years.When I met my wife, we walked to the light house together, had our first kiss there. A few years later while on a walk along the jettie at the light house I took a knee and asked this amazing Lady to Marry me. Shortly after that we returned early one Saturday morning and had our wedding ceremony beside the light house.This place is very special and romantic. Take trip down to this area and walk around.

So scenic

Always love coming here

Great place for visiting boaters. We stayed 2 nights, all in for 97.00. Thats 2 nights @ 37.00 a night slip fee, plus keyfob for the gates/restroom/shower, power and water, trailer and pickup parking. The harbor is very protected. We were on a guest slip at the end of the dock, and we were the only people on the dock! Great food,drinks, coffee & beach within easy walk. Definitely will be back.

Nice Relaxing Place to Hace Lunch and Watch Sailboats on The Harbor.

Beautiful collection of Yachts Mayan

Very clean and nice place.

Cool spot to tie up for a few days

Nice day on the water but the fish refused to bite. But its always a good day when your fishing.

Sun, sea, seals, boats - heaven!

Clean beach, beautiful scenery nearby, easy to get to.

I love going to this little beach by the harbor. Theres a Mexican restaurant there that has a area where you can take food to go.and you could sit there and eat outside tables. And what is self bugs go in and out. Its quite beautiful.

Beautiful, clean place to visit. They offer catamaran rides and kayaks.

Its a beautiful place. But people do need to realize you have to pay for parking if you turn into the harbor. Walking along the harbor looking at the different boats its very relaxing. If you get hungry there are several restaurants you can stop at and you dont need to be dressed up

We took a nice walk out to this lighthouse. The waves were crashing and occasionally splashing onto the walkway. Great pictures of the lighthouse at sunset.

Beautiful and generally not super crowded

Lots of people. Dirty

We were in Santa Cruz visiting family, buy the oceas of Santa Cruz alway offer great surprises, this time we saw lots od dolphines and large families od otters. Some of the otters had their babies on top of their bellies. The d as y was beautiful. I do suggest for a visit some kind of hat and sweater, the boats that take you out in to the ocean usually carry coffee and tea for everyone.

Excellent boat ramp. . . Not to mention the salmon we caught. . . #2

What was I thinking, winds 30 knots 26 foot hunter sailboat white caps a day to rember

Nice place for a walk with the dog

So beautiful and relaxing I didnt even want to come back to the valley

Beautiful, walkable, ocean #Santa Cruz

Great sailing location. Historic builders and racers all in one spot. Great wednesday night series

Some great charters available here. Check out the ONeill catamaran cruise, a family favorite! We have seen whales and other wildlife almost every time it.

Great place to work

Not a place for a rockcod no more since too many people are fishing every day, unless you have to go north about an hour. If you like mackerel this is a place for you but depending the weather and warm day, 100 pounds you shouldnt have no problem within couple fun hour

Cute little shop and lots of docks. Great view of the lighthouse

Watching the boogie boarders were awesome. Sand was perfectly temperatured. All around excellent beach!

So much to see! The wildlife was amazing, and the people were awesome. This is the perfect place to get great food and have a fun sailing experience.

Great place to go fishing, and relaxing on the beach

Beautiful and quaint. Nice to walk the trails to the beach. Well maintained, and kept safe by Harbor Patrol.

Wow thats awesome a beautiful place to explore and take in the views. Great place to people watch and look out at the ocean. Take your time smelling all.

I walk through here on my 2 mile walk daily. Its beautiful!

A very nice place for a walk.

Excellent fishing by boat with many trophy catches all week. In beautiful Santa Cruz California.

This marina is so well cared for. Very friendly staff, love visiting this harbor and marina.

We had so much fun. Going to all the stores. And the people were so nice.

I took a field trip there a week ago and it was fun if you arebin 5th grade then you are going to this feild trip.

Harbor management are kind and always around with answers to our questions. We have a boat on the N dock and are here all the time. The slip renters bathroom is clean with showers, I love coming to the harbor!! Bring the dogs and poop bags!!

This little harbor was home for awhile. Its so pretty.

Good place and peaceful while having your coffee

Its beautiful nice people and the beach is so magical

MAGICAL

Super helpful harbor staff and they always have a nice guest dock for our boat. Clean facilities on the picturesque Monterey Bay

Such a peaceful place to walk, do a little shopping and enjoy the sea lions. The views were spectacular!

Nice, it could be cleaner, everyone here very friendly

An absolutely awesome and place to take your stand up paddle board. SUP.After October 1st you can park and launch from the beach if the waves are mild.However a better choice is to park and launch your paddle boards from inside the Harbor for a total fee of about 10 or $12 for 2 boards and parking.The Harbor master staff was extremely helpful for my daughter and I on the 1st time to visit.

My backyard. Love the safety & security when walking around @ night.

One of my favorite places to fish out of thanks to my friend Lee Leahman of zandalee charters.

It was such a blast! On Thurs, The Crows Nest provided live music on the beach with a band that was fantastic. As I walked the beach looking for souvenirs (seashells), I was accompanied with people shouting friendly hellooooooos with the waving of their arms (as they sailed in and out of the harbor) lol and taken back in time as the band would play a song from my days of younger years As I did what I love to do the most (look for seashells), I watched & heard all those people having so much fun dancing, laughing and eating yummy food...️ nothing but fun fun fun for every age.Couldnt beat the price too (FREE!)

One of my favorite places... had lunch at the Crows nest.

I love this place. Such an interesting subculture.

Omg perfect place great people best day ever . Will be coming back for sure

The day was slightly overcast and foggy, but we still enjoyed walking along the beach and taking pictures.

Its a nice clean beach with volleyball courts and the Crows nest

I love it here!

Enjoy watching the sailors use the lift to put the sailboats into the water. Sometimes a sea lion will come into the harbor to chase fish.

Beautiful working harbor with great food nearby.

Super fun boardwalk!

Beautiful harbor, a couple of good restaurants

Be aware of parking lot types!

Beautiful and well worth a visit. Good shops and cafe

Love to walk the harbor and enjoy the smell of the sea. See the boats coming and going. Parking can get crowded. But it is worth the time to just slow down and enjoy the walk.

Have had a lot of good experiences here!

Beautiful day, could see all the way to Monterey, it was so clear

Love the harbor. Great walking area.

Great food, great sailing...and more!

Nice harbor, fun to check out the boats, and great view. I dont have a slip, or boat here so I cant speak to that, but nice harbor, all around.

Took awesome photos with the love of my life

Easy to launch and the price for the parking is fair.

Parkingwas full. Nice place

Fun place to hang out after lunch or breakfast at Aldos

Always enjoy walking the harbor on a beautiful day

Omg.....the best. Eat at The Crows Nest....

Beautiful views of the boardwalk

Beautiful atmosphere and the upper harbor isnt too crowded, if you want to walk around. Pay by meter or stay there overnight with your RV. Can kayak in the boat harbor, and there are benches to sit on to read or play music.

Born 3 blocks from here such a beautiful place to visit

Very nice facilities for launching a boat.

Lots of parking. Clean parking lot. Great restaurant nearby. Plenty of parking. Nice spot to also walk on the beach.