Santa Cruz Beach, CA –

Santa Cruz Beach is by far one of the most famous beaches in California, and as the Beach Boys sang “down by the boardwalk, down by the sea, on a blanket with my baby, is where I want to be.” There are many places to check out in Santa Cruz, including the Historic Municipal Wharf, Downtown, and of course the Beach Boardwalk. For many in the Bay Area Santa Cruz is often times a day trip but many locals and tourists from all over all year round make overnight trips to this special beach town.

Recently, I stayed at the Dream Inn which overlooks the Monterey Bay, Municipal Wharf, and Boardwalk. This hotel is honestly one of the best when it comes to views and location in general; you literally are just steps away from Santa Cruz’s major attractions, the Wharf and Beach Boardwalk. This hotel had a fun modern 70s decor and functional wheelchair accessible room with a roll-in shower.

Room #313 was right a lobby level and is the second to highest story, so the view is just that much more breathtaking from your personal patio.  The bathroom had a very large roll-in shower with a soap shelf conveniently placed in a logical location (most of the time it’s not). The sink had a nice large gap underneath it for easy roll-up access and of course there were grab bars all over the place.

This room also overlooked the pool, which could be accessed via elevator and room key; a ramp gets you down to he pool deck. There were tons of lounge chairs, seating areas, and umbrellas surrounding the pool, spa, and kiddy pool all of which were on a concrete deck on the beach. Being so close to the ocean to watch the waves but not having to worry about getting sand in your barrings was a definite positive.  However, if you wanted to get sandy the hotel has a permanent sturdy rubber ramp that will take you pretty far out onto the sand. At the end of the ramp you’ll be able to see a lifeguard stand where a beach wheelchair is available upon request in case you want to go out even further onto the beach.

There is nothing like Santa Cruz in the summertime but for the first time I traveled to this beach destination in February and would highly recommend this time of year too. The weather in Santa Cruz is always on the cooler side, so don’t think you’ll be in a climate like Mexico, but the ocean is always majestic to me and I enjoy her company no matter what she looks like. During the winter, Santa Cruz is much calmer and a lot less crowed if that is something that works for you… but people do still come as I said before.

Wheelchair Traveling Guide: Santa Cruz
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