{"id":94608233,"date":"2012-05-17T11:08:00","date_gmt":"2012-05-17T11:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/family-travel-from-beaches-to-butterflies-in-santa-cruz-ca\/"},"modified":"2018-10-04T14:04:10","modified_gmt":"2018-10-04T14:04:10","slug":"family-travel-from-beaches-to-butterflies-in-santa-cruz-ca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/family-travel-from-beaches-to-butterflies-in-santa-cruz-ca\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Travel: From Beaches to Butterflies in Santa Cruz, CA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Family<\/div>\n

Scene from the Santa Cruz Boardwalk <\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Just a short drive from San Francisco, lies the quirky little city of Santa Cruz.\u00a0 Santa Cruz boasts a variety of features from a bustling and nostalgic beach boardwalk, to nature hikes set in dense forests, to natural bridges and exceptional tide pools.<\/p>\n

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk<\/a> has been named the Best Seaside Amusement Park for five years running.\u00a0 You can enjoy old-fashioned fun while riding their world famous 1924 Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster, numerous other thrill rides, and video games, all while watching the sun set over the sparkling Pacific Ocean.\u00a0 Complete the feel by snacking on some kettle corn or sugary-sweet cotton candy.\u00a0\u00a0 The summer season fills up with live entertainment, circus performers and family-friendly activities.<\/p>\n

The coastline in Santa Cruz is ripe for exploration.\u00a0 Main Beach, located adjacent to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, offers plentiful flat sand just perfect for active families interested in volleyball, soccer or a pick-up game of football.\u00a0 If you or your kiddos are active and looking for a challenge, head to Cowell Beach to learn how to surf amongst some of the best waves in the world.\u00a0 Stand up paddle-boarding, kayaking and sailing lessons are also available.<\/p>\n

Natural Bridges State Beach offers stunning views of natural bridges carved out of the surf struck bluffs, a picnic area and restroom facilities.\u00a0 Tidepool exploring is abundant in the rocky bluffs near the shore; guided tours are available at the visitor center.<\/p>\n

Natural Bridges is also home to the Monarch Grove Natural Preserve, where over 100,000 Monarch butterflies return each October-March for their winter home.\u00a0 You can view the Monarchs in season from a nearby boardwalk, visit the center to learn more about their migration, and even view a few close up butterflies and eggs.<\/p>\n

A great place to explore Santa Cruz\u2019s laid back, eco-conscious vibe is at a local farmer\u2019s market<\/a>. The Santa Cruz area boasts five markets that offer\u00a0 fresh produce, local vendors and entertainment.\u00a0 Local markets run every Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday in and around Santa Cruz.<\/p>\n

Just six miles away from downtown Santa Cruz, nestled in the mountains, Roaring Camp Railroad<\/a> is ready to take your family on an 1880\u2019s logging town and train adventure.\u00a0 Enjoy a chuckwagon BBQ, pan for gold, get an old-time picture taken of your family, and of course, ride the old-fashioned steam train!\u00a0 Two train rides are offered, a 1 \u00bd hour Redwood Forest Steam Train riding along on a narrow gauge 1890 steam train to a picnic and hiking spot in the woods, or the 3 \u00bd hour Santa Cruz Beach Train traveling through Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park<\/a> to the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz.\u00a0 You can ride this roundtrip train starting from the beach or Roaring Camp.<\/p>\n


\n<\/em>Book your family vacation<\/a><\/strong> to Santa Cruz today!<\/p>\n


\nDon’t forget to ‘Like us’ on Facebook<\/a><\/strong> for exclusive travel deals! <\/em><\/p>\n

photo: -adam <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scene from the Santa Cruz Boardwalk   Just a short drive from San Francisco, lies the quirky little city of Santa Cruz.\u00a0 Santa Cruz boasts a variety of features from a bustling and nostalgic beach boardwalk, to nature hikes set in dense forests, to natural bridges and exceptional tide pools. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94608233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-interests"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94608233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94608233"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94608233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97200162,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94608233\/revisions\/97200162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94608233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94608233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94608233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}