Location

6 with deals

Things to do in Santa Cruz with kids

Museums, tours & cruises and farms & pumpkin patches — 17 places to go with kids in Santa Cruz, California. 1 free to enter · most admission $10 to $29. 6 have a verified saving right now.
Plan my day

Indoor things to do in Santa Cruz →

Museums in Santa Cruz5

All museums in California →

Tours & cruises in Santa Cruz5

All tours & cruises in California →

Farms & pumpkin patches in Santa Cruz3

All farms & pumpkin patches in California →

Indoor climbing in Santa Cruz1

All indoor climbing in California →

Theme parks in Santa Cruz1

All theme parks in California →

Historic sites in Santa Cruz1

All historic sites in California →

Bowling in Santa Cruz1

All bowling in California →

What’s on in Santa Cruz

Within 25 miles of Santa Cruz. Dates and wording are each venue’s own.

Free in Santa Cruz

One attraction in Santa Cruz gets you in for nothing, in the venue’s own words.

All free things to do in California →

Places with deals in Santa Cruz

See each venue's offer wording and ticket conditions before choosing.

Santa Cruz offers a mix of indoor and outdoor attractions suited to different ages and interests. The greatest concentration is water-based experiences: Ocean Safaris and Santa Cruz Whale Watching operate boat tours on Monterey Bay focused on marine wildlife, while Chardonnay Sailing Charters and O'Neill Yacht Charters offer luxury sailing experiences. For land-based activities, Boardwalk Bowl provides family-friendly bowling in a state-of-the-art facility with hourly lane reservations, and Santa Cruz Roller Palladium is a roller skating rink for visitors of all ages. The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, housed in a historic Carnegie library building across from Seabright Beach, connects visitors with nature through permanent exhibits on gray whales, geology and fossils, California's first peoples, and Santa Cruz's naturalist heritage. Younger children gravitate toward Rodoni Farms, a 5-acre corn maze, and The Mystery Spot, a gravitational anomaly in the redwood forests where visitors take a 45-minute guided cabin tour. The Seymour Marine Discovery Center and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center both feature hands-on marine education, while Life Lab offers garden-based outdoor learning experiences.

What this list covers

Santa Cruz has 17 places to go, mostly museums (5), tours & cruises (5), farms & pumpkin patches (3).

12 of them publish an admission price, 16 publish opening hours, 4 have something dated on now, 6 are running a verified saving.

Every figure here was read on the attraction’s own website, most recently on November 7, 2026.

How we know these are real

Savings here are quoted from the attraction’s own website, word for word. This one, for example:

“Adult visitors with disabilities will receive discounted admission at the Senior rate ($3) upon request.”

Quoted from santacruzmuseum.org · checked on

Common questions

How many attractions in Santa Cruz are running a deal?
6 of the 17 attractions in Santa Cruz currently have a verified saving, covering 19 offers in total. Each is quoted from the attraction’s own website. Examples include Boardwalk Bowl, Pacific Edge Climbing Gym, Rodoni Farms. Check each venue’s offer wording and eligibility conditions.
What’s on in Santa Cruz right now?
4 attractions in Santa Cruz have something dated running, 10 listings between them. Each carries its own dates and the venue’s own sentence, and nothing is listed once its dates have passed.
Is there anything free to do in Santa Cruz?
1 attraction in Santa Cruz says on its own website that admission is free. We only say free when the venue does, unqualified — a child rate priced at nothing is not a free attraction. Examples include Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center.
What kinds of attractions are included?
museums (5), tours & cruises (5), farms & pumpkin patches (3), indoor climbing (1), theme parks (1), historic sites (1), bowling (1).
Are these deals guaranteed to still be available?
No. Every deal here carries the date it was last checked on the attraction’s own website and a link straight to the page it came from, so you can confirm it before you travel. Prices and offers change without notice.
What can we do on a rainy afternoon with young children?
Boardwalk Bowl offers family-friendly bowling in a state-of-the-art facility with hourly lane reservations. Santa Cruz Roller Palladium is a roller skating rink for visitors of all ages. The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History features permanent exhibits on gray whales, geology and fossils, and California's first peoples.
Are there activities for teenagers who like adventure?
Pacific Edge Climbing Gym operates a rock climbing facility with a weight room, cardio deck, and sauna. The Mystery Spot offers a 45-minute guided cabin tour through a gravitational anomaly in the redwood forests outside Santa Cruz. Ocean Safaris and Santa Cruz Whale Watching operate boat tours on Monterey Bay focused on observing marine mammals and sea life.
What can we do if we want to be on the water?
Chardonnay Sailing Charters operates the Chardonnay II, a 70-foot luxury sailboat offering public and private sailing experiences on Monterey Bay. O'Neill Yacht Charters operates the 65-foot Team O'Neill luxury catamaran, which sails along the Santa Cruz coastline and Monterey Bay. Ocean Safaris and Santa Cruz Whale Watching both operate boat tours departing from Santa Cruz Harbor.