During COVID, we decided it was the perfect time to finally take the a road trip down the entire Pacific Coast Highway. I’ve wanted to do this trip for so long, but kept putting it off because of how long it would take to complete. With work from home being the new normal, we decided to take a full month to drive from Denver to the PCH and back, and really enjoy the adventure. You can view our entire itinerary here!
On day 11 we arrived in Santa Cruz, and decided to spend a full 24 hours exploring the city.
I’m very loyal to Bonvoy, and so we decided to stay at the Hotel Paradox, an Autograph Collection property in Santa Cruz. It had a palm beach retro vibe, and the decor was really cool. It was a bit far away from the water though, and I think if we came back we’d try to find a property that had water views. The walls were also pretty thin. Luckily we didn’t have anyone staying next to us, but anytime someone walked by, you could hear it as if it were in the room.
Once we settled in, we walked from the hotel over to the pier area to check out the water and grab some food. The walk was a little longer than we’d expected (clearly we didn’t plan ahead) and we had to cross through a few areas that were a little sketchy. Again, we’d probably stay somewhere different on our next trip.
Once you get to the water, it’s absolutely beautiful. We walked all the way down the pier, taking in the beautiful scenery, and even seeing a few sea lions sunbathing and swimming around.
We needed some food, so we scoped out all of the restaurants on the pier as we walked down. We landed on Firefish Grill, which had the best looking menu in my opinion, and had gorgeous floor to ceiling windows inside. We sat right next to the window, and were able to look out onto the water while we ate. The seafood was super fresh, and these crabcakes were one of my favorite items.
Normally we’d spend time at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk playing carnival games and riding rollercoasters, but unfortunately with COVID and the recent wildfires, everything on the boardwalk was closed. You can still walk through the area though, and can still see the park from the beach. We’ll definitely have to come back when we’re able to enjoy more and ride some of the rollercoasters.
The sea lions were out and about, and you could walk down to a lower pier if you wanted to get even closer.
After finishing lunch and walking around the boardwalk, we headed out to a friends house for the evening. We took a walk near his place, and passed by Pleasure Point/The Hook, which is a famous surfing destination. There were what seemed like HUNDREDS of surfers in the water, and rules of surfing posted on the entrances to the beach. It was pretty phenomenal to watch everyone coming in on the waves!
The next day we spent quite a while at the pool. While the hotel was in an odd location, the pool was fantastic, and empty almost the entire time we were there. As one of our first warm destinations of the trip, I took advantage of the opportunity to lay in the sun a bit.
We grabbed breakfast at Linda’s Seabreeze Cafe before heading out to our next destination. The quaint restaurant has an insane breakfast menu, with tons of options. Everything we had was delicious, and the staff was so welcoming and friendly. Definitely a must stop location when you’re in town.
After filling up, we got back on the road to head to our next destination, Carmel-by-the-Sea. Be sure to check out the full PCH road trip itinerary here, and let us know if there are any stops we should add to our next California adventure!!
