Start your West cliff drive tour by heading to Mission Street (hwy one) at the “fish hook” when you come into Santa Cruz.
Head thru the west side until you get to a left hand turn at Swift street. (easiest) You can go further and head thru neighbor hoods to get to the ocean if you’d like.
You’ll pass some small businesses on your way toward the ocean. If your lucky you can taste some local wine or pick up some funky art!
Swift ends at West cliff, If you turn right you will end up at Natural Bridges State Park. There is a great parking area here. Turn right out of the parking area and follow West Cliff Drive all the way to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
Along the way you will see:
The mark Abbot memorial lighthouse
The surfers museum inside the light house
and see people out in the ocean trying to catch a wave at steamer lane.
Fun fact!
Steamer Lane was named by Claude Horan while he was a student at San Jose State in the late 1930s. One flat calm day he and his friend Wes Hammond thought it would be a good idea to hire steamships to cruise back and forth to generate waves for surfing.