Looking for info on a possibly defunct coaster in California

Hopefully someone on the boards will be able to help me with this. As a young child, a friend sent me a postcard from California. On the front there was a picture of an amusement park that was on some sort of pier. ( Santa Cruz Beach???) Anyhow, I seem to remember that there was a rollercoaster at this pier that ran under it or through a trench underwater. An earthquake possibly damaged this portion (underwater) and it was condemned and the coaster either torn down or retracked? Can anyone help me with this? The time period would be around the late 70's to early 80's.

I've looked for two hours and I can't find anything of the coaster you described. Are you positive it was in California? I'll keep looking.

I don't remember for certain, like I said previously, it was a long time ago.

There could also be a few years lapse between when I got the postcard and the actual earthquake occurence. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to look at other locations outside California. I do distictly remember a connection of the postcard, and the location of the coaster. I really appreciate your effort.

Can you post a picture of the postcard?

There was a coaster called Cyclone Racer on a pier called the Pike it was in Long Beach (it's now home to the Queen Mary).

Some links:

http://www.millikanalumni.com/pike/Cyclone.html

http://cycloneracer.com/

I will have to look for the postcard. It's been 25 years so chances are though that it got tossed long ago either when I moved out of my parents or across the country. However should I find it I will scan it and post it.

I think I know what coaster you are talking about. It was in the movie "Dogtown and Z-Boys". The surfers used to maneuver around it under the pier.

Pacific Ocean Park ... maybe?

http://www.rcdb.com/id2753.htm

Looks like it shut-down in 67', but it may have been around for a while after that. There is some record of a relocation, but the details look sketchy.

Pacific Ocean Park rings a bell for some reason. It's quite possible that is the coaster I am thinking of, I just wish my memory of that period wasn't so foggy. (Insert age joke here) I also have 2 other possible coasters I am checking out. 1 was near San Francisco at Whitney's Playland, and the other at Mission Beach. Although again neither of these mention anything about an underwater section. I am certain now however that if it did exist it was at one of these waterside amusement parks and that it was in California.

A quick Google search on that "Pacific Ocean Park" led me to this page: http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/venice/mapsdocs/poppier-map.htm There isn't any mention (that I noticed anyway) of any part of a roller coaster going underwater, but there were "Diving Bells" that went under the water. (reference #30 on the map contained in the previous link)

For whatever it's worth, I at least enjoyed checking out (on the web at least) that now defunct park. It looks like it would have been pretty cool for its day.