| Attractions |
The Giant Dipper, built in 1924, is the most renowned ride on the boardwalk, the only true beach amusement park left on the West Coast. There is a lot of historic value in the Giant Dipper and the 1911 Looff Carousel, which still maintains its brass-ring mechanism. The park built a state-of-the-art haunted house in 2010 to join a few other interesting dark rides in the park: Ghost Blasters (shooting dark ride) and the iconic Cave Train Adventure.
Along with the spinning coaster, Undertow, the park blends in a couple of intense flat rides-- Double Shot (S&S Tower), Fireball, and Wipeout (indoor Breakdance)-- with traditional ones (Rock-0-Plane, Round Up, Tilt-a-Whirl). Riding the Sky Glider over the boardwalk is another old tradition. |
| Food |
| The smell of garlic fries permeates the whole area, but there are plenty of food options that you would expect to find on a boardwalk, such as seafood, hot dogs, corn dogs, burgers, cheese steaks, pizza, sausage, fresh-squeezed lemonade, and salt water taffy, along with some that are not traditional to boardwalks, such as stir fry, wraps, Mexican, paninis, and fried artichokes. |
| Operating Season |
| The rides are open on weekends from January to November. Weekday operations take place from Memorial Day to Labor Day. |
| Established Seasonal events |
Not so much a seasonal event, but on weeknights during the summer the park offers an after 5PM discount:
http://beachboardwalk.com/01_events.html. |
| Access & Location |
To get to the Boardwalk, take Highway 17 or scenic Highway 1 to Santa Cruz and follow the street signs to Santa Cruz Beach.
The Amtrak Highway 17 Express line has service from San Jose to Santa Cruz Pacific Station, which is less than one mile from the boardwalk.
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| Nearby Lodging |
The following link provides suggestions for local accomodations:
http://beachboardwalk.com/01_lodging.html. |
| Virtual Queue Options |
| None available |
| Shows |
| From mid-June through Labor Day, many bands from the 70's and 80's perform during Friday night concerts. |
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