It's one of the best places to visit in the area. I really appreciate that there are plenty of…read morebenches and picnic tables available for everyone. It's easy to find a spot to rest with a baby or enjoy a snack with your children. When we visited on a Sunday morning, all of the outdoor rides were closed, so be sure to check the operating schedule if you're planning to go on any rides. There are also some public restrooms, and they are quite clean. The area has a beautiful beach, souvenir shops, excellent local restaurants, and many fun rides and activities. It's a great destination for a day trip with family, friends, or as a couple!

Define Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk - a destination that never disappoints. I have been coming here…read moresince a kid. Now I return with my thrill seeking, adventurous lil one who enjoys the beach, food and rides. For frequent visits, the season pass is the best option - it pays for itself in two visits. Get the season pass during the holidays, save yourself a few extra dollars off. The beach, sand / water play, and just existing are a few things you can do. Sea lions are nearby, birds flying over head, waves coming ashore for everyone to enjoy. Seashells are everywhere to find. Bring a blanket to lay on, the sand can hurt after a while and get pretty hot during warmer months. A sun umbrella for shade is ideal along with snacks to have nearby for easy access. The boardwalk rides are diverse in age, size and thrill seeker levels. Our daughter has outgrown the smallest of rides, there are others she continues to enjoy while gaining height to now ride others she could not previously. There are numerous rides our daughter - now 6, first time visiting 4 years old, could enjoy. The boardwalk can get pretty packed and hectic, so arrive early for parking and go to your favorite rides first. There is plenty of parking surrounding the boardwalk, you have to walk further for some than others. There is metered street parking and parking lots. There are lots of photo op locations throughout the boardwalk and beach to record memories. Food is diverse, ICEEs and fountain drinks can be made refillable for a small additional fee, there are lots of stands throughout including clothes, souvenir, bubble wands, blankets and treats. The arcade area is a spacious, multi tier experience featuring mini golf, arcade games, air hockey, and food vending machines. This is one location you are guaranteed to locate a restroom usually with minimal lines in comparison to the boardwalk. The stalls are well maintained as well. A boardwalk card can be purchased then reloaded to play, just remember it on each visit or have a pile like I do. Miniature golf is purchased in person. Make a week, weekend or day out of your visit - we do!

For some reason, none of the operators of this ride can operate the trains at a constant speed. I'm…read morenot sure if something is wrong with the trains or if the drivers are just really bad at measuring their speed, but they go back and fourth between going really fast and then going incredibly slow. And the times that they go fast vs slow is different each ride. I should be able to enjoy each set equally. However, putting the speed problem aside, the ride still looks pretty good.

Fun and fancy harmless joyful ride of train transporting through the barriers of time into the fun…read moreloving days of the caveman meets dinosaur. Florescent colored scenery marks everything with a certain pizzazz. Not too long.

My favorite ride at the boardwalk! When my cousins and I came here for a day trip, we rode this…read morelike eight times back to back! It was a slightly rainy day so there were no lines for a while. The ride may not seem like it's that exciting, but it definitely whips you around and if you ride it enough you will feel dizzy. Wouldn't recommend for super small kids or anyone with physical ailments or feeling already unwell.

In my opinion this is the best ride on the boardwalk. We got on fairly quickly and the employees…read morewere friendly. They clapped after every train was finished with their ride. It's not a super short ride either, which i much appreciated. Keep in mind it is wooden so it does jerk you around a bit. Definitely would ride this one again.

Haven't been hear in around 10 years and my fist time back was absolutely amazing, tour guide was…read moremy favorite part and really let us enjoy our time took pictures of the groups that went was very interactive and was all in all my best experience. If you see her, hard not to miss just look towards the floor a little lol, tell her I said hello. ( picture she took on my phone of us.. I thought lol )

I just have to give a HUGE shoutout to our tour guide, Cassidy! It was already funny and kind of…read moremeant to be because my daughter with me is also named Cassidy, but she really made the whole experience special. She had such a bubbly, playful personality and kept the energy up the entire time. She was cracking jokes, making everyone laugh and just had a way of making the group feel comfortable and engaged. You can tell she genuinely enjoys what she does and it made a big difference. The tour itself is on the shorter side which was about 30 minutes and the area isn't huge, which explains the lower ticket price, but honestly it was still a fun little experience. She gave us a heads up about possibly feeling dizzy or nauseous, and I actually did feel that way in the cabin, which was wild to experience firsthand. Overall, it's definitely worth checking out if you're in the area, and if you can, I'd absolutely recommend asking for Cassidy because she's what really makes it memorable! Thank you Cassidy!

Great dark ride! The ride has definitely been refurbished recently because my dad rode this in 2021…read moreand said it was falling apart. But everything looks great to me! I love how when you hit a target, something happens.

Way more intense than we expected!! Half of our party ducked out at the halfway point.read more

A mirror maze, jump scares, elaborate sets... and what would a haunted attraction be without a…read morescary clown section... yup they have that too. They pull it off so well, with such great animatronics and detailed props, you'll think there are real actors inside. There was hardly a wait for entry, and it probably takes about 10 minutes for the walk through (unless you get lost inside). Totally worth the $8 admission, and better than the Haunted Castle ride IMO which is more for kids with a long line like disneyland.

Just a wonderful show for guest of all ages. This is the 2nd year in a row we took the moms in my…read morefamily to go to this circus, last years in Livermore 5/25 and this year in Pleasant Hill 5/26. Both shows were just amazing! My kids just loved the performances and the message at the end by the ringleader was powerful.

We saw the show in Livermore today and we absolutely loved it !! My two year old was over the moon…read more Hats off to the performers who were performing in 90+ degree weather. Amazing show and talent and appreciate the reasonable price !!

My favorite & Awesome Rides ~ Amazing Santa Cruz Boardwalk across Stunning Pacific Coast views …read more #'s Fun rides from starter to Thrill Rollercoasters . Ticket Booth Entry Ride Bands or singular tickets . Family Rides , Shopping , Bowling , Arcade , Great Food & Drinks . Best to make Advance Hotel Reservations esp. Sold ~ Out during SummerBreak & XMas Winter Holidays . PS. Unable to load Haunted House Video due length.

This is about what you would expect for a haunted house ride as it pretty much feels like a better…read morelonger version of a what you find at your local carnival. I'm not really going to give away all the details of the ride but let's just say that it was your typical cheesy haunted ride with a car on a track where not so scary things try to scare you in between the broken story line of the horror concept they tried to create. Overall this was a decent ride that I didn't feel like it was worth what we payed for it but overall it was fun and long enough to make it worth a ride again perhaps if I were to get one of the wristbands.

Came here on a Saturday morning around 11am. Tickets for train and carousel is $5 per person and…read morefree for kids 2 and under. The train ride is less than 10 minutes with no cover so we brought our hats. It's a quick ride and you pass by the parking lot and a park. My girls enjoyed it. After we played by the nearby park. There is a bathroom close to the train ticket booth and lots of tables to enjoy a snack or even lunch. They were just starting the grill to cook the food for lunch but our girls were hungry so we left to get food elsewhere.

A fun family outing on a nice, sunny day. Train ride tickets are $5 each and the train ride itself…read moretakes you on a loop through the Vasona County Park. Very relaxing ride that takes about 10 minutes. All seats are uncovered so make sure to bring your hat or sunscreen. Right next to the train is an antique carousel, tickets are also $5 per person. The ride lasts relatively longer than the average carousel ride so I feel like you get your money's worth. Billy Jones Railroad is located within a larger park so there are several playgrounds and lots of open, grassy picnic areas or picnic tables to enjoy some lunch or snacks outside.