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The City of Santa Cruz, California, is situated on the northern part of Monterey Bay. The City has of an area of 12 square miles. The University of California, Santa Cruz campus was opened in 1965 and has a population of 10,117 (1996).

In 1769 the Spanish explorer Don Gaspar de Portola discovered the land area which is now known as the City of Santa Cruz. When he came upon the beautiful flowing river, he named it San Lorenzo in honor of Saint Lawrence. He called the rolling hills above the river Santa Cruz, which means holy cross.

Santa Cruz is located in Santa Cruz County, of which it is the county seat, south of San Francisco between Santa Clara and Salinas along Highway 1 on the Pacific Ocean.

Santa Cruz is part of the Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California metro area.

Less than an hour from San Jose via Hwy-17 over the coast range, through Scotts Valley to the Santa Cruz beach makes this area a favorite getaway for the San Francisco Bay Area and San Jose Region.

Many Silicon Valley workers commute daily to Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz enjoys a cooler summer climate than the communities just over the hills.

Santa Cruz Baroque Festival | Evergreen Historical Cemetery |
Art Cocoanut Grove | New Music Works | Santa Cruz Dance Gallery | Antonelli Brothers Begonia Gardens | Mission Santa Cruz | Red, White and Blue Beach |
Bed and Breakfasts and Country Inns Babbling Brook Inn Bed and Breakfast | Chateau Victorian Bed & Breakfast Inn | Redwood Croft Bed and Breakfast | Wilder Ranch State Park |
Restaurants, Cafes, Delis, Bakeries Beach Street Cafe | Crow's Nest Restaurant | El Palomar/Cafe El Palomar | Hobee's Restaurant | Hollins House at Pasatiempo | Marianne's Ice Cream | Sea Cloud Restaurant | Stagnaro Brothers |
History Santa Cruz Harley-Davidson Museum | Big 6 Motel-Santa Cruz | Candlelite Inn | Santa Cruz Riviera Travelodge | Sunny Cove Motel | West Coast Santa Cruz Hotel | Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History |
Residential and Commercial Real Estate Santa Cruz Appraisers |
Sports and Sporting Events Harbor Water Taxi | Pleasure Point Charters | Shamrock Charters |
Wildlife Viewing Schwann Lagoon Park |
Wine Country Thunder Mountain Wine |

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03/28 Coming to The area
Santa Cruz Baroque Festival Santa Cruz CA April13-May11 A festival of baroque music.
Oakland Greek Festival Oakland CA May17-19 Wonderful aromas of Souklavia and Loukoumades waft through the air and the sounds of traditional Greek music and shouts of OPA! resonate in the hills of Oakland.
Bach Festival Carmel CA July13-27 Multiple performances of works by Bach.
Midsummer Mozart Festival San Francisco CA July18-28 Organized in 1974, the Festival is the only music festival in North America dedicated exclusively to Mozart.
Gilroy Garlic Festival Gilroy CA July26-28 The internationally acclaimed Great Garlic Cook-off, the signature event of the Gilroy Garlic Festival has increased the top prize in the July 27th competition to $5,000.