Active Pursuits

One of the few old-fashioned amusement parks left in the world, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (tel. 831/426-7433; www.beachboardwalk.com) draws more than three million visitors a year to its 30 rides and arcades, shops, and restaurants. The park has two national landmarks -- a 1924 wooden Giant Dipper roller coaster and a 1911 carousel with hand-carved wooden horses and a 342-pipe organ band. It's open daily in the summer (from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day) and on weekends and holidays throughout the spring and fall, from 11am (noon sometimes in winter). Admission to the boardwalk is free, but an all-day "unlimited rides" pass is $29. See www.beachboardwalk.com for discounts, concerts and events, and up-to-date schedules, which can often vary.

Here, too, is Neptune's Kingdom, 400 Beach St. (tel. 831/423-5590; www.beachboardwalk.com), an enormous indoor family recreation center with a two-story miniature golf course. Also on Beach Street is the shop and restaurant-lined Municipal Wharf (tel. 831/420-6025), a beachfront strip serenaded by the sea lions below. You can also crab and fish from here. Most shops are open daily from 7am to 9pm; the wharf is open daily from 5am to 2am. Stagnaro's (tel. 831/427-2334; www.stagnaros.com) runs fishing and whale-watching trips year-round, and hour-long narrated bay cruises ($12 for adults, $8 for kids under 14).

Farther down on West Cliff Drive, you'll come to a favorite surfing spot, Steamer Lane, where you can watch pro surfers shredding the waves. If you want to learn more about surfing, practiced here for more than 100 years, go to the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum, at the lighthouse (tel. 831/420-6289; www.santacruzparksandrec.com), open Wednesday through Sunday from 10am to 5pm in the summer, Thursday through Monday from noon to 4pm in the winter. Antique surfboards, videos, photos, and other memorabilia depict the history and evolution of surfing worldwide.

Continue along West Cliff and you'll reach Natural Bridges State Beach, 2531 W. Cliff Dr. (tel. 831/423-4609; www.scparkfriends.org), a large sandy beach with nearby tide pools and hiking trails. It's also home to a large colony of monarch butterflies that cluster and mate in the nearby eucalyptus grove.

Other Santa Cruz beaches worth noting are Bonny Doon, at Bonny Doon Road and Highway 1, an uncrowded sandy beach and a major surfing spot accessible by a steep walkway; Pleasure Point Beach, East Cliff Drive at Pleasure Point Drive; and Twin Lakes State Beach, which is ideal for sunning and also provides access to Schwann Lagoon, a bird sanctuary.

In addition to cultural and sporting events, the University of California at Santa Cruz features the Seymour Marine Discovery Center at the Long Marine Laboratory, 100 Shaffer Rd., at the northwest end of Delaware Avenue (tel. 831/459-3800; www2.ucsc.edu/seymourcenter), where you can observe marine scientists at work with aquatic species, in tide-pool touch tanks and aquariums and learn how marine research aids ocean conservation. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 5pm, and Sunday from noon to 5pm; admission is $6 for adults, $4 for students, seniors and children ages 4 to 16, and free for kids under 3 (free admission the first Tues of each month).

The Santa Cruz Harbor, 135 Fifth Ave. (tel. 831/475-6161; www.santacruzharbor.org), has boat rentals, open-boat fishing (cod, shark, and salmon), and whale-watching trips. For fishing trips contact Santa Cruz Sportfishing Inc. (tel. 831/426-4690; www.santacruzsportfishing.com) Even if you're not a fisher, it's worth browsing the shops and restaurants in the harbor.

Bikes -- mountain, kids,' tandem, hybrid -- are available by the hour, day, or week from various bike-rental shops in convenient locations around town. For a list of shops, call the Santa Cruz Visitors Council at tel. 800/833-3494, or visit www.santacruzca.org. It's about $25 a day, with helmets, locks, and packs.

The Pasatiempo Golf Club, at 18 Clubhouse Rd. (tel. 831/459-9155; www.pasatiempo.com), is rated among the top 100 courses in the U.S. Greens fees are $175 Monday through Thursday, $195 Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and holidays.

Kayaking is also an option. Outfitters include Kayak Connection, 413 Lake Ave. No. 103 (tel. 831/479-1121; www.kayakconnection.com), and Venture Quest Kayaking (tel. 831/427-2267; www.kayaksantacruz.com), which rent single, double, and triple kayaks at Building No. 2 on the wharf and at 125 Beach St. Classes, wildlife tours, and moonlight paddles are also available.

You can rent surfing equipment at the Cowell's Beach Surf Shop, 30 Front St. (tel. 831/427-2355; www.cowellssurfshop.com), and from the Club Ed Surf School (tel. 800/287-SURF or 831/464-0177; www.club-ed.com), on Cowell Beach in front of the West Coast Santa Cruz Hotel. Both offer lessons: Club Ed's are $85 for a 2-hour group session and $95 per hour for private lessons (equipment included); Cowell's are $70 for 2-hour group lessons including a board and wet suit.