Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is America’s
best seaside amusement park. Located in northern California, this is a beautiful park
mere feet from the beach and it also happens to have a robust attraction lineup. You have a
delightful mix of old classics and modern rides. When paired with the atmosphere, this place is
special. And I’ll explain why in this review.
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk opened back in 1907
in…if you couldn’t tell by the name…Santa Cruz, California. This makes it the oldest remaining
amusement park in the Golden State. The park itself has been named a California Historical
Landmark. Then two of its oldest rides in the Giant Dipper roller coaster and Looff Carousel
have been named National Historic Landmarks. This place oozes charm and history
while also keeping up with the times.
The atmosphere here is incredible. It’s one of
the park’s biggest strengths. A lot of seaside parks can feel like glorified carnivals, but
this place feels much cleaner and classier. Don’t expect much in terms of theming,
but the presentation is excellent. Rides have fresh coats of paint and vibrant lighting
packages. And the energy here is infectious.
Like many boardwalk parks, this one does not
have much land available. The park covers just 24 acres and the main midway forms a long,
thin strip. So rides are packed on top of each other…in some instances quite literally. The end
by Undertow has an upper deck of sorts with a few rides above a concourse. Then the other end has a
lower deck with some rides going beneath the pier. Rides are constantly cycling in close proximity,
which is sensory overload in a good way.
Then you also have the location. The park
is adjacent to a large and beautiful beach. This has two advantages. First, you get
some stunning views from within the park, especially from the taller rides. Second, the park
feeds off the beach. Santa Cruz becomes a bustling beach community in the summer months, making
this park by default a popular destination.
The Beach Boardwalk does two smart
things to capitalize on this traffic. First, the park has multiple entrances and exits.
Some take you directly down to the beach. Second, the park has free admission. A lot of
seaside parks do this and it’s a wise choice. This allows people to come and go as
they please between your time at the beach, riding a few rides, playing a few
games, or grabbing a bite to eat.
If you want to ride anything,
you have two options.
One, you can purchase individual points. These
are loaded onto a card. You can either purchase these at a manned ticket booth or at several
kiosks scattered about the park. Each point costs $1. Rides then cost 5 to 8 points.
If you plan to ride a lot of attractions- and there’s a good chance you will- I strongly
recommend an all-day wristband. And it’s wise to buy these in advance online since
you’ll get a $5-$20 discount. As of 2023, ride wristbands cost as little as $40 or as
much as $70 if you visit on a summer weekend.
It is critical to check this park’s hours before
you visit. While the park is open yearround, it may be weekend only in the quieter months…i.e.
the times of year when people aren’t frequenting the beach. The park is typically open daily from
Memorial Day weekend until mid-August with late hours too. This place is incredible at night.
But the most important thing to check on the calendar is ride availability. If you visit
November through March, the park has what they call Limited Rides. You can also find
this on some weekdays outside of main season. On Limited Rides days, the park only advertises
8-10 rides being available. That’s less than one quarter of their ride lineup. Not only that, the
exact rides that are open are not posted online.
I would rather deal with the increased summer
crowds to experience this park in full.
The biggest annoyance visiting this park in the
summer months is the beach traffic. This causes two issues. First, the sideroads approaching
the park can become gridlocked, especially on weekends. Second, it can be difficult to
find parking near the Beach Boardwalk.
There is street parking, but it seems
darn near impossible to find and I also don’t know the rules for visitors.
I have always looked for a lot.
The lots by the beach and park will often
fill up in summer. That’s even with the park charging upwards of $30 on weekends. Rates
are half that if you visit on weekdays or days with Limited Rides days. I strongly recommend
arriving early if you want one of these spots.
There also is a lot at Government Center. This
is about a mile walk from the park or there’s a complimentary shuttle bus that runs every
25 minutes. The park advertises that this lot is free, but I recall having to pay $10
last year on Labor Day weekend. But it is worth noting it had plenty of availability even in the
mid-afternoon. Meanwhile, the lots closer to the park all had signs stating they were full.
You also can look into staying at a hotel or beach-house within walking distance of the park.
There are plenty and they often include parking, but they can be quite pricey
in the summer months.
What about crowds inside the park? I have
only visited this park on summer weekends. The midway has been swarmed, but ride lines
have been fairly manageable as a whole. Most lines have been 10-15 minutes or less. A
lot of that is because of the large ride lineup and it’s also because of the operations. Employees
load the rides quite quickly. You often find that with parks offering pay-per-ride options
since they want to maximize their profits.
The worst lines are easily
Undertow and Haunted Castle. I’ve seen full queues for these rides and they can
take 45-60 minutes due to their small vehicles. Ride these first if you arrive at opening.
It’s also wise to hit Double Shot and Giant Dipper. I’ve seen those get 20-30 minute waits.
With Giant Dipper specifically, the line may look long with the outdoor switchbacks,
but there isn’t much indoor queue space. And if the park runs two trains, which they
will on busy days, the line moves swiftly.
Moving onto the attractions, I want to discuss
loose articles. Especially since many people visiting this park may have a beach bag with them.
The park does have paid lockers if you don’t want to lug the bag around. But most rides will let
you store your things on the ride platform, but it’s worth noting how the
two major coasters handle bags.
Giant Dipper shockingly has you take them with
you. The bag will sit at your feet. While won’t be thrown from the train, they will shake around
so keep that in mind if you have any valuables.
Undertow is the only ride with mandatory lockers,
as nothing can be stored on the ride platform.
Now let’s get into the fun stuff, the ride
lineup. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is well above average for a seaside park. Their lineup is
extremely deep, especially when you factor in the non-coasters. I love how this park has maintained
some rare old-school rides while also phasing in new attractions. It has allowed the park to keep
up with the times and offer a wonderful balance.
I’ll start with the coasters. The park only
has three, but the headliner makes this park worth a visit for coaster enthusiasts.
Giant Dipper is easily the park’s most popular ride. This is a nearly 100 year old wood coaster
from Prior & Church. And it is an exceptional ride. The park takes excellent care of this ride,
so it’s quite smooth despite its age. And it has some really good forces. There are some sharp
airtime moments, even some strong ejector pops. And if you’re on the smaller side, they’re
enhanced by the Morgan trains that have single position lap bars. Then the
turns also deliver some of the most intense laterals of any wood coaster. You
are mercilessly thrown and pinned sideways. See my review for more, but this is one
of the best classic woodies out there.
Undertow is the park’s family coaster.
This is a Maurer SC2000 spinning coaster. The large first drop is fun and I also like
the horseshoe turn midway through the ride, but this ride has two flaws. One, the capacity
is atrocious. It’s so bad that I often skip it. Two, this one has a lot of trim brakes
disrupting the pacing and spinning.
The final coaster is Sea Serpent. This
is a really good junior coaster. It has a custom layout that uses the terrain.
And the turns have some solid laterals.
This park does have a noticeable gap though.
They could use a major steel coaster, specifically one that inverts. Something
like a Gerstlauer Eurofighter would work wonders here, and I’d love to see the
park address this issue in the future.
The park does have some rides that take
you upside-down at least. That’s because this park has one of the deepest and
strongest flat ride lineups out there.
Typhoon is an ARM swinging inverting pendulum. This ride has some fantastic hangtime,
especially on the slower revolutions.
Rock-O-Plane is an old-school Eyerly flat that can
be quite intense if you know what you’re doing. If you throw your weight around, you can
flip fast. It’s particularly thrilling if you flip over the top. Alternatively, you can
hold the brake to get some crazy hangtime.
Fireball is a satisfying frisbee. This one
may not be as intense as the larger models, but it has several airtime pops while
offering sweet views of Giant Dipper.
Double Shot is an S&S drop
tower. It’s just 12 stories tall, but that allows it to tower over
most things at the boardwalk. So you get a fantastic view of the beach and
town. Then you also have some nice forces. The launches are weak, but you get strong ejector
airtime at the apex on the two main launches.
Then this park has a stacked fleet
of spinning rides, both old and new. I want to highlight two in particular.
First, there is a Zamperla Disko named Shockwave. I enjoy the blend of spinning and rocking on
these rides already, but this one is extra sweet since it’s on an elevated platform
giving some fun views of the beach.
But the most dizzying ride by far is WipeOut.
This is a Huss breakdance placed indoors. Not just that, but it is in a cramped room with light and
music. The electric atmosphere combined with the forceful rotations results in a super disorienting
ride. This is a must if you love spinning rides.
The final flat ride of note is the 1911 Looff
Carousel. This ride is a beauty. It is housed in a gorgeous pavilion and features
dozens of hand-carved horses. Then you have the melodious band organ
blasting tunes. And most importantly, this is one of the few carousels that still let
riders reach for the brass ring. It adds a fun challenge to a familiar ride, especially since the
outside horses still move up-and-down on this one. Then you also have a secondary task to try and
throw the ring into a clown’s mouth afterwards. A successful toss results in an alarm
going off, which is quite rewarding.
Then kids will find a handful of
smaller rides exclusively for them. These are peppered throughout the park rather
than being clustered in a single area.
Another area where this park excels
is in the dark ride department. This park has four available! That’s a fantastic
figure for any park, especially a boardwalk one.
Haunted Castle is the best of the
bunch. This Sally dark ride is filled with great effects. The physical sets
are nicely fleshed out. And these are complimented by clever use of screens and
air blasts that keep riders on their toes.
Cave Train Adventure is a bizarre journey
that feels like the caveman version of Six Flags Over Georgia’s Monster Mansion.
You have these colorful and busy sets with cavemen doing a little bit of everything. And
you may need a few rides to see everything.
Ghost Blasters is a Sally shooting dark ride,
similar to the Boo Blasters rides at the Cedar Fair parks. The sets are mostly basic 2D
figures, but the targets are plentiful and well-maintained. And the shooting element
differentiates it from the prior two dark rides.
Then you have Fright Walk. This is a haunted
walkthrough. I have not done this, so I cannot speak to the quality from personal experience.
But it does have good reviews on Yelp. Just know it’s an upcharge not included with the wristband.
The Beach Boardwalk doesn’t have many water rides, presumably since most people go
in the Pacific Ocean to cool off, but there is one in Logger’s Revenge. This is
a different Arrow log flume. Most of the layout takes place high above the ground, offering
views of the water. Then the ride features one drop. It’s ok and the resultant splash
can get you soaked if you have a full boat.
The final ride of note is Sky Glider. This
is threefold. First, this sky ride has two stations and runs the length of the park, so
you can use this to get from one end of the park to another on a busy day. Second, the
views of the park and beach are exceptional. Third, the park oddly places cavemen statues on a
few gondolas which is a weird and comical quirk.
Beyond the rides, there are some other
notable attractions. Like Fright Walk, these are not included with the wristband
but they are good fun and worth considering.
For example, you have a massive
arcade chalk full of modern games. There is something for everyone in here.
Then you also have a promenade with other amenities like bowling, laser tag, and indoor mini
golf. Plus shopping and Laffing Sal animatronic.
And if you like games, you’re in luck here.
They line the main midway. And the park recently introduced a game called Roll-a-Bingo that appears
to be the modern day successor to Fascination.
One thing you will not find here is
shows. The Beach Boardwalk uses all their space for rides, games, and food.
Speaking of food, this park is very good in this department. The quantity and quality of the
offerings is superb. You have all the boardwalk classics like pizza, burgers, and fried dough.
But you also have some more unique options like clam chowder in a bread bowl, steak sandwiches,
or tasty fried shrimp. And if that’s not good enough for you, there are additional sit-down
restaurants within walking distance of the park.
The final thing to note, which may go without
saying, is that this park’s midways do not offer much shade. That’s pretty typical for a seaside
park. But there are several indoor attractions available if you need to duck out of the sun.
So do I recommend Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk? Absolutely! This honestly may be my favorite park
in northern California. It is a top-notch seaside park. The atmosphere is incredible between
the setting, colors, and kinetic energy. The ride lineup is great too. Giant Dipper is
a wonderful headliner. And the supporting cast of non-coasters gives me plenty to fill
out the day. Same with some of the other amenities too. And even on a holiday weekend,
lines are tolerable for most attractions.
How much time you’ll need depends on your
interests. If you only care about the coasters, you may need just 2-3 hours
here to get the 3 credits. But you are doing yourself a disservice if you
rush through this park. I strongly recommend a full day. This gives you plenty of time to
experience the deep collection of non-coasters, get plenty of rerides, and also enjoy the
surrounding area, specifically the beach.
So those are my thoughts on the Santa Cruz
Beach Boardwalk, which I think is America’s best seaside park. What do you think about
this park? Do you like it as much as me? Let me know down in the comments. If you enjoyed
this review, I’d appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered
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