Entry No. 14 — the Monterey file — filed under: lighthouse museum

Santa Cruz Surfing Museum

The world's first surfing museum, opened in 1986 inside the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse — built to honor a young surfer who drowned in 1965 at nearby Pleasure Point, while the museum itself perches above the famed Steamer Lane break. Boards inside trace over a century of local surf history, from 1930s-40s hollow redwood planks to modern shortboards, with a plaque honoring the three visiting Hawaiian princes who first surfed in Santa Cruz in 1885.

The move: Free, Thursday–Monday, noon–4pm (5pm in summer): duck into the tiny lighthouse-museum together, then sit on the point outside and watch surfers ride Steamer Lane, the exact break the museum was built to overlook.

• 📍 Lighthouse Point, Santa Cruz
• 💸 $
• ⚡ Up for anything
• 🌗 Indoors

Where: 701 West Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (inside the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse)

Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Further reading: Official site · Wikipedia

last checked: 2026-07-20