Santa Cruz Conventions, Trade Shows, Conferences and Meetings
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After the overcharged tourism of Monterey, the unassuming community of SANTA CRUZ , 75 miles south of San Francisco, comes as a surprise. Although in many ways the quintessential Californian coastal town, spread at the foot of thickly wooded mountains beside a clean sandy beach, it has grown considerably in the last few years, having recovered from the destruction wrought by the 1989 earthquake. In the Sixties, the Merry Pranksters turned the local youth on to LSD long before it defined a generation in San Francisco's Summer of Love, and the area is still among the most politically and socially progressive in California. It's also surprisingly untouristy. No hotels spoil the miles of coastline; most of the land is agricultural; and roadside stands are more likely to sell apples or sprouts than postcards and souvenirs.

The Santa Cruz Boardwalk , one of the last surviving beachfront amusement parks on the west coast, is the main focus for visitors (MayAug daily 11am10pm; rest of year hours vary; $1.803.60 per ride, unlimited rides $22.95). Although it can get packed on weekends with teenagers on the prowl, most of the time it's a friendly funfair, where barefoot hippies mix with mushroom farmers. The star attraction is the 80-year-old Giant Dipper , a wild and rickety wooden roller coaster that has been ridden by more than 45 million people.

The beach next to the boardwalk is good but can get rowdy (and dirty). For more peace and quiet, follow the coast out of town to one of the smaller beaches such as Capitola or New Brighton. From West Cliff Drive , you'll see some of the biggest waves in California, not least at Steamer Lane , beyond the Municipal Pier. Cowell's Beach, just north of the Municipal Pier, is the best place to give surfing a try; Club Ed (tel 831/459-9283) in the parking lot, will rent boards ($7 per hour, $20 per day) and assist with lessons. The ghosts of surfers past are animated at the Surfing Museum (daily except Tues noon4pm; donation) in the old Abbott Memorial lighthouse on the point, where surfboards range from early 12ft redwood planks to modern high-tech multifinned cutters. A clifftop cycle path runs two miles to Natural Bridges State Beach (daily 8amdusk; $6 per car), where waves have cut holes through the coastal cliffs, forming delicate stone arches (though three of its four eponymous bridges have now collapsed due to erosion and visitors walking across them).

Twenty-five miles up the coast from Santa Cruz, the beginning of the San Francisco Peninsula is marked by Pigeon Point Lighthouse (tel 650/879-0633, www.pigeonpointlighthouse.org ; up to $35/$3550), where you can spend the night in the old lighthouse keeper's quarters and soak your bones in a hot tub, cantilevered out over the rocks. The 52 dorm beds cost $16 and there are also four private doubles. Pigeon Point took its name from the clipper ship Carrier Pigeon , which broke up on the rocks off the point, one of many shipwrecks that led to the construction of the lighthouse in the late nineteenth century.

Just before Pigeon Point, at the foot of beautiful Big Basin Redwoods State Park ($6 parking), giant blubbery elephant seals congregate every December and January to mate in the Ao Nuevo State Reserve (daily 8amdusk; $6 parking). Even without the spectacle of the seals, the surrounding coastal area has beautiful hiking ; when the fog rolls in (as it often does), head for the redwood tree-shaded trails of Big Basin.