The Santa Cruz Wharf is a

pier A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...

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 ...

, United States, known for fishing,

boat tour A boat tour is a short trip in a relatively small boat taken for touristic reasons, typically starting and ending in the same place, and normally of a duration less than a day. This contrasts with river cruising, yacht cruising, and ocean c ...

s, viewing

sea lions Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

, dining, nightlife and gift shops. The current wharf was built in 1914, the most recent of six built on the site, and is operated by the City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Office. The wharf is situated between Main Beach (which is adjacent to the

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is an oceanfront amusement park in Santa Cruz, California. Founded in 1907, it is California's oldest surviving amusement park and one of the few seaside parks on the West Coast of the United States. Description ...

) and Cowell's Beach, on the westside of the city of Santa Cruz. With a length of before the 2024 storm damage, it was the longest

on the West Coast of the United States.

History

The Santa Cruz Wharf opened on December 5, 1914. The original purpose of building the wharf was for shipping potatoes to

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 ...

for mining camps in the Sierra Nevada during the Gold Rush. After the opening of the South Pacific Coast Railroad and the improvement of land routes through the

Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains ( Mutsun Ohlone: Mak-sah-re-jah, "Sharp Ridged Mountain of the Eagle" or "People of the Eagle Mountain") are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States, constituting a part of the Pacific Coast R ...

, the Wharf's primary focus changed to be the base of the north Monterey Bay fishing industry. By the 1950s as Monterey Bay's sardine and other fish populations dwindled, nearly every family owned a vehicle and had money to spend on recreation. As a result, the Santa Cruz Wharf became predominantly a recreational destination. On October 4, 2014, the community celebrated 100 years of the Santa Cruz Wharf with a festival including a pop-up museum exhibit, historic photo stand, bocce courts, face painting, Mavericks surfboard display, photo booth, Economic Development's Wharf Master Plan model and the Surfing Preservation Society's surf shack. The festivities ended with fireworks. In late October 2014, city council approved an improvement plan, subject to environmental review, hoping to find grant money to offset some of the estimated $24-29 million in repairs and improvements. In fall 2020, a group called "Don't Morph the Wharf", led by Gillian Greensite, demanded changes in the updated plan, including lower building heights and removal of a western walkway and new Landmark Building. The council approved the plan on November 24, 2020. Greensite's group sued the City under the

California Environmental Quality Act The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA ) is a California statute passed in 1970 and signed in to law by then-governor Ronald Reagan, shortly after the United States federal government passed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), ...

(CEQA), claiming the Environmental Impact Report was done improperly. The City was unable to secure state or federal grant money with the case in litigation, leading to further delays in improving and strengthening the wharf. High surf in December 2023 damaged the wharf, forcing the temporary closure of the entire structure and leading to the demolition of a restaurant at its end. On December 23, 2024, an approximately section at the end of the wharf collapsed due to high waves. The wharf had accumulated a backlog of necessary repairs prior to the collapse, but engineers were unable to implement the repairs due to CEQA lawsuits. During the collapse, one city project manager and two contractors fell into the ocean together with equipment, two of whom were rescued while the third swam to shore. The public restroom building was washed up onto the beach. With the loss of some 300 pilings, debris washed up as far as away. The pier, along with the businesses on it, was closed for inspection of the damage. The pier reopened January 4, 2025, after it was determined the lost equipment did not pose a danger to the structure.

Description and events

The wharf is a popular tourist attraction, nestled adjacent to the city's leading attraction,

. Visitors flock to the wharf for a variety of restaurants, gift shops, wine tasting, candy stores, and just to stroll and peer down at the sea lions below. Annually, an estimated 1.5 million visitors come to the Santa Cruz Wharf to fish, shop, dine and sightsee.

Woodies on the Wharf

The Surf City Classic "Woodies on the Wharf" is Northern California's largest woodie show that features more than 200 stylish, pre-1952 wood-bodied cars. A free bike valet is available.

Wharf to Wharf

First run in 1973 by a handful of locals, the Wharf to Wharf Race begins at the Santa Cruz Wharf and completes at the Capitola Wharf, in the neighboring town. Limited to 16,000 runners on a first-come-first-served basis, its field sells out months in advance. Each year, on the fourth Sunday in July, thousands of runners return for the to Capitola-by-the-Sea.

Popular culture

A fish market on the wharf is featured in scenes from the film ''

Sudden Impact ''Sudden Impact'' is a 1983 American action-thriller film, the fourth in the ''Dirty Harry'' series, directed, produced by, and starring Clint Eastwood (making it the only ''Dirty Harry'' film to be directed by Eastwood himself) and co-starri ...

'' (1983). A restaurant on the wharf is seen in '' The Lost Boys'' (1987).

References

External links

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City of Santa Cruz Wharf
{{Coord, 36.961491, N, 122.021868, W, display=inline,title 1914 establishments in California Piers in California Santa Cruz, California Transportation buildings and structures in Santa Cruz County, California Tourist attractions in Santa Cruz County, California