The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is an oceanfront

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...

. Founded in 1907, it is

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

's oldest surviving amusement park and one of the few seaside parks on the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the Contiguous United States, contig ...

Description

The boardwalk extends along the coast of the

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by about 75 miles (120 km), accessible via California S ...

, from just east of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf to the mouth of the

San Lorenzo River The San Lorenzo River () is a river in the U.S. state of California. The name San Lorenzo derives from the Spanish language for "Saint Lawrence" due to its reported sighting on that saint's feast day by Spanish explorers. Its headwaters origin ...

. At the western edge of the park lies a large building originally known as The Plunge, now Neptune's Kingdom, a pirate-themed recreation center which contains a

video arcade An amusement arcade, also known as a video arcade, amusements, arcade, or penny arcade (an older term), is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, mer ...

and an indoor

miniature golf Miniature golf (also known as minigolf, putt-putt, crazy golf, and by #Nomenclature, several other names) is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest ...

course. Next to this is the Casino Fun Center which includes a

laser tag Laser tag is a recreational shooting sport where participants use infrared-emitting light guns to tag designated targets. Infrared-sensitive signaling devices are commonly worn by each player to register hits and are sometimes integrated wit ...

arena and next to that is the Cocoanut Grove banquet room and conference center. A Laffing Sal automated character, from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

's Playland, is viewable near the

course.

East of the casino, the

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway typically built with wooden planks, which functions as a type of low water bridge or small viaduct that enables pedestrians to ...

portion of the park stretches along a wide, sandy Main

Beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

visitors can access easily from the park. The eastern end of the boardwalk is dominated by the

Giant Dipper The Giant Dipper is a historic wooden roller coaster located at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, an amusement park in Santa Cruz, California. The Giant Dipper, which replaced the Thompson's Scenic Railway, took 47 days to build and opened on May 1 ...

, a

wooden roller coaster A wooden roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its wooden track, which consists of running rails made of flat steel strips mounted on laminated wood. The support structure is also typically made of wood, but may also be ...

that is one of the most visible landmarks in Santa Cruz. The Dipper and the Looff Carousel, which still contains its original 342-pipe

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

built in 1894, are both on the US

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. They were, together, declared to be a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1987 and the park is

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

number 983. There are old-fashioned and modern styled carnival games and snack booths throughout the park. It is located at 400 Beach Street in Santa Cruz, south of the Ocean Street exit of

California State Route 1 State Route 1 (SR 1) is a major north–south state highway that runs along most of the West Coast of the United States, Pacific coastline of the U.S. state of California. At , it is the longest state route in California, and the Lis ...

, which is the southern terminus of

California State Route 17 State Route 17 (SR 17, locally known as Highway 17) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from State Route 1 in Santa Cruz to I-280 and I-880 in San Jose. SR 17, a freeway and expressway, carries substan ...

History

Fred W. Swanton formed the Santa Cruz Beach, Cottage, and Tent City Corporation in 1903 and the following year, the City of Santa Cruz granted permission for commercial buildings to be built. On 14 June 1904, the Neptune Casino opened with an arcade, grill and dining room, and a theater. The beach was a destination for railroads and trolleys from 1875. From 1927 to 1959,

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

ran ''

Suntan Special The ''Suntan Special'' (sometimes styled as ''Sun Tan Special'') was a summer excursion train service operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad between San Francisco and Santa Cruz, California, from 1927 to 1959. History When ''Suntan Special'' ...

excursion train An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent custo ...

s to the beach from

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

, and San Jose every summer Sunday and holiday. A short passenger service to Roaring Camp via the San Lorenzo river canyon in

Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is a state park of California, United States, preserving mainly forest and riparian areas in the watershed of the San Lorenzo River, including a grove of old-growth coast redwood. It is located in Santa Cruz Coun ...

was restored in 1985 by the Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific Railway, which stops in front of the park. , the park is headed by Charles Canfield, the son of Laurence Canfield, the president of the park from the 1950s until the early 1980s. It has won the Best Seaside Amusement Park Award from ''

Amusement Today ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arl ...

'' every year since 2007 except for 2015. Although there is no admission and the beach is public, a parking fee is charged when the rides are open. Season or day passes can be purchased or individual points for $1; each ride costs between 5 and 8 tickets. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the park temporarily shut down in mid-March 2020. The park reopened on November 7, 2020. The park then subsequently shut down again on November 10, 2020, due to Santa Cruz County re-entering the Substantial tier of the California Blueprint for a Safer Economy. The park then re-opened select rides to California residents on April 1, 2021.

Boardwalk's Cocoanut Grove

The Boardwalk's Cocoanut Grove

conference center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

includes banquet rooms and a performing arts venue. Food, drink, and theater were profitable aspects of the resort since the original Casino of Swanton in 1904. Although gambling was never legal, it was generally known that guests could take boats from the "pleasure pier" to a ship in the harbor to play games of chance in the early days. During

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

from 1920 to 1933, serving alcoholic drinks was also outlawed and the casino changed its name to Cocoanut Grove. The name includes an old spelling of

Coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

, ''Cocos nucifera'', which was used in the popular

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chi ...

movie ''

The Cocoanuts ''The Cocoanuts'' is a 1929 pre-Code musical comedy film starring the Marx Brothers ( Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo). Produced for Paramount Pictures by Walter Wanger, who is not credited, the film also stars Mary Eaton, Oscar Shaw, ...

'' of 1929. The name was also used by a number of popular nightclubs of the era, including one in The Ambassador Hotel in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In the 1930s and 1940s, Cocoanut Grove was a popular spot for major

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

acts, including

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though ...

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

and

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombone, trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-to ...

Today, Cocoanut Grove rarely hosts musical acts. It is a venue for weddings, banquets, school formal occasions and reunions, and corporate events. The Grand Ballroom and Sun Room complexes include over of space and commercial kitchens.

Rides

Current roller coasters

Thrill rides

Family rides

Kiddie rides

Former rides

*Hurricane (replaced by Undertow, opened 1992, closed 2012) *Videostorm (replaced by Tsunami) *Whirlwind *The Red Baron (opened 1970’s) *Chaos (replaced by Fireball, opened 1997, closed 2002) *The Flying cages (opened 1960’s) *Dante’s Inferno (replaced by Haunted Castle, opened 1935) *Paratrooper (replaced by Wave Jammer, opened 1965, closed 1985) *Starfish (opened 2004, closed 2012) *Wave Jammer (opened 1986, replaced by Rock & Roll, closed 2001) *The Airplane (opened 1950) *Auto Scooter (opened 1933) *Jet Star (opened 1972, closed 1991) *Treasure Island (replaced by Haunted Castle) *Roll-O-Plane (where Logger’s Revenge is today, opened 1940’s) *Drive-A-Boat (replaced by Artic Flyer) *The Super Round-Up (replaced by the former Typhoon, opened 1972, closed 1991) *Pirate’s Cove (replaced by Haunted Castle) *The Trabant (by the former 1961 Ferris Wheel) *Bermuda Triangle (Scrambler) (replaced by Cliff Hanger) *Spider *Autorama (traveled through park, opened 1961, closed 1998) *Spin Out (Tea Cups) (replaced by Cyclone, opened 1989, closed 2003) *The Octopus (opened 1950’s) *Arctic Flyer (opened 1973, replaced by Videostorm) *Wild Mouse (closed 1975, replaced by Logger's Revenge) *Crazy Surf ( KMG X-Factory), Sold to UK showman Joseph Manning in October 2018, converted from park to travelling model by Eagle Fabrications. *Cliff Hanger (opened 2003, closed 2023) Replaced by Surge in 2024 *Rock & Roll (opened 2002, closed 2023) Replaced by Dream Wheel in 2024

References

External links

*
Cocoanut Grove Official site
* {{Santa Cruz, California San Francisco Bay Area amusement parks Seaside resorts in California 1907 establishments in California Amusement parks in California Santa Cruz, California History of Santa Cruz County, California Buildings and structures in Santa Cruz County, California Tourist attractions in Santa Cruz County, California Landmarks in California