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Winter mornings in Santa Cruz are quiet. The summer crowds have yet to arrive; the cool Pacific air and steady waves in Monterey Bay feel as if they are there for you alone to enjoy. While the cooler months aren’t a typical time to visit Santa Cruz, they provide a juxtaposition to the hectic summer season and seem to pull you in closer, making the city’s true character come into sharper focus.
Located above Cowell’s Beach, the iconic Dream Inn is part of Santa Cruz’s history. Built in the 1960s, the Dream Inn embodies the relaxed vibe and heritage of the area. As the only beachfront hotel in Santa Cruz, it invites you to take a step back in time into the golden age of California surf culture.
Stepping into the Dream Inn’s lobby, you’ll notice vibrant ocean blues, the bleached sand tones and perfect pops of color thanks to a line of vintage surfboards pinned along the wall. The furniture feels retro-modern with smooth curves and brightly colored fabrics, accented with a jukebox filled with song selections from the Beach Boys and other surf culture artists of the era. All of this is anchored with a wide collection of surf décor and photography, grabbing your interest with each corner you turn. You’ll find yourself taking a deep breath to downshift your mood to match the lobby’s laidback energy.
This energy easily repeats itself in the guest rooms with vibrant colors that are made even brighter by the sun peeking its way in. The rooms are spacious with all the amenities you’d expect — an in-room coffee bar, soft fluffy robes, and quality bath products. But hands down, the crown jewel is the unbeatable views of Monterey Bay from your very own balcony. There are literally no bad views in the entire hotel, as each and every room faces the ocean and comes with a balcony, making you wish the morning would last a few more hours.
Stepping out onto your balcony offers a panorama of the famous Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, first as a silhouette, then in its full glory. The wharf comes into view, and adjacent, the hotel’s inviting pool area. If you keep looking, the surfers in their black wetsuits appear below in the gray-green ocean as they swim out to greet the morning swells. This is Cowell’s Beach, famously known as the place where local surfers begin and end their surfing careers.
Dining Like a Dream
The Dream Inn’s onsite restaurant, Jack O’Neill, is the perfect spot to welcome the day ahead or dine while discussing the discoveries of the day with more views. It’s named for the Santa Cruz icon, Jack O’Neill, who revolutionized cold water surfing by inventing the modern-day neoprene wetsuit which allows for hours in the cool Northern California surf.
Breakfast diners will find a wide variety of dishes: yogurt parfaits, melt-in-your-mouth banana French toast and heartier benedicts and scrambles that will fuel an adventure-packed day. There is something particularly special about lingering over brunch here — the floor-to-ceiling windows frame the same surfers you watched from your balcony just hours before, still treading waves below as your coffee arrives.
Evening patrons can enjoy an array of locally sourced seafood, meat dishes, and fresh vegetarian options. Two standout dishes are the Banana French Toast and the Miso Black Cod. The service is very attentive, and the ocean views make every meal feel quite special.
A City Built on Surf Culture
No doubt about it, surfing is the heartbeat of Santa Cruz. As the birthplace of West Coast surfing, you’ll find a nod to surf culture everywhere. No place offers a front-row seat to the action like 4-mile-long West Cliff Drive, which offers you the best view to a heart pounding surf performance. Dozens of black wetsuits can be seen floating; all waiting for that special wave.
If you’re short on time and a long walk isn’t in the cards, head straight for the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum at Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse along West Cliff Drive. There isn’t an entry fee, but you will find a wonderful archive of surfing’s California origins and history, including the story of three Hawaiian princes who introduced the sport to Santa Cruz more than 140 years ago. It’s a great lookout point to relax on a park bench and catch the surfing action.
In addition to the stunning homes along the inland side, West Cliff Drive provides a view down to one of the most famous surf breaks in the world, Steamer Lane, which is even more powerful and dramatic in the winter due to strong winter storms in the Pacific Ocean. You’ll also find the bronze To Honor Surfing statue at Pleasure Point, a beloved tribute to generations of surfers who helped shape Santa Cruz’s identity.
Watching surfers paddle out, pop up and drop in with the Pacific’s constant soundtrack in the background can be mesmerizing and might inspire you to take a lesson so that you can experience the winter waves of Monterey Bay for yourself. Should you wish to try, head back to Cowell’s Beach; both Richard Schmidt’s Surf School and Club Ed Surf School are just steps from the Dream Inn and offer lessons year-round.
Chasing Monarchs at Natural Bridges State Park
Surfers aren’t the only ones displaying grace and amazement during the winter months in Santa Cruz. Each year, thousands of monarch butterflies migrate to the eucalyptus groves of Natural Bridges State Park. The park’s groves come alive with orange and black butterflies in the air and clustered together against the leaves of the eucalyptus.
Gentle walking trails lead you through the lush park where you can appreciate the beauty of the majestic butterflies, multiple species of waterfowl, green mossy ponds and blooming forest flora. The monarchs visit each year between October and February and provide genuinely beautiful and rare moments of stillness. Beyond the grove, the park opens onto a breathtaking beach where a magnificent natural sandstone arch rises from the surf, framing the Pacific in a way that stops you in your tracks.
Downtown Santa Cruz: Boutiques, Galleries & Verve
A 15-minute walk inland leads to Santa Cruz’s historic downtown. Pacific Avenue is the main drag; it’s lined with eateries, boutiques, galleries, and must-stop beach shops such as Pacific Wave. You’ll find that bohemian-meets-elevated vibe that makes Santa Cruz different from other California beach towns.
No visit to Santa Cruz would be complete without a stop at Verve Coffee Roasters. Verve is known for high quality, lightly roasted and highly nuanced flavors. The difference is Verve’s Farmlevel Initiative, which always pays higher-than-market premiums to coffee farms that exceed Fair Trade minimums. Think of it as coffee that gives back as much as it gives you a buzz.
Verve’s Single-Origin Pour-Over is a must try! The pour-over offering changes seasonally as new direct-trade lots come in from their farm partners. A fun touch are the tasting notes that accompany the pour-over which describe the seasonal coffee’s flavor notes depending on the origin.
The Boardwalk, The Wharf & Stagnaro Brothers
Get your heart racing at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. You’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time as you approach the hallmark ride, the Giant Dipper which first opened in 1924 and is one of the oldest wooden roller coasters in the world. The ride is exhilarating, especially as the Pacific Ocean comes into view when the train clackety-clacks its way up the first hill and then immediately disappears during the steep drop.
There are many rides in the park for both the adventurous types and those who prefer something gentler, such as the park’s famous carousel and its sky glider. There is also a large gaming arcade and mini golf.
The Santa Cruz Wharf is a short walk from the boardwalk and offers amazing 360º views of Monterey Bay and Santa Cruz’s coastline. From the wharf, it’s common to see a colony of sea lions relaxing. Follow the barking sounds to find them lounging in the sun. I recommend strolling the entire wharf, not only for the views, but also for the souvenir shops and a bread bowl of steaming clam chowder at Stagnaro Brothers.
A Drive Worth Taking
An easy day trip from Santa Cruz to the legendary 17-Mile Drive offers breathtaking views of the Pacific coastline, iconic cypress trees, and the famous Pebble Beach golf course. It’s best to start early in the day and take your time to wind along the scenic route, pausing along the way for photos and to feel the spray of a wild Pacific crashing on the rocky shoreline.
Nearby Carmel-by-the-Sea is a great stopping point to indulge in a leisurely lunch at a host of charming cafés, where fresh fare and locally produced wines provide an opportunity to relax before exploring some of Carmel’s galleries. As the afternoon light softens and turns golden, the drive back along the coast toward Santa Cruz is a beautiful reminder of just how extraordinary this stretch of California truly is.
Dream Inn at Dusk
Returning to the Dream Inn in the late afternoon allows for time on the pool deck with firepits, a glass of wine, and the golden hour as the sun drops into the ocean. Winter’s earlier sunsets set the stage for a cozy dinner followed by the hypnotic lullaby of the waves washing up on Cowell’s Beach.
Long after you leave Santa Cruz, the Dream Inn stays with you — not as a memory exactly, but more as a feeling. The weight of the ocean air on a winter morning. The way the Pacific looked from the pool deck at dusk, the last surfers treading home through the swell. There is a version of California that exists only in the off-season, unhurried and quietly extraordinary, and the Dream Inn sits at the very center of it.
Come for the surf, the monarchs, the clam chowder on the Wharf, the perfect pour-over at Verve. Stay, because Santa Cruz in winter is the kind of place that quietly rearranges your priorities — and you will leave wondering why you don’t do this more often.
