Santa Cruz area?New Brighton State Beach
 

Traveling to the Monterey area in late oct.Staying at New Brighton State Beach ,can`t find any real info/pictures of area.What to do /what to see,have two kids 6&12 staying in r.v. park ..Fishing tours any info:

By all means plan on a full day at the Monterey Aquarium - reserve tix in advance and rest assured that the adults will enjoy it too. Also consider a day trip down the coast to Hearst Castle (San Simeon). Also consider reserving this in advance and take tour #1 (main house and pool areas). I first took this tour at age 11 and trust me that kids enjoy it.

Take the kids to the Boardwalk at Santa Cruz. They will love it. No charge to go there. You only pay if you want to go on the rides and they have some good ones. You pay one price for a pass that covers all of the rides. However it is free to just walk around and enjoy. The Boardwalk is right on the waterfront. You can drive out on the pier. We live in the Bay area only 20 miles or so from Santa Cruz. The Monterey acquarium is nice but I think it is highly over rated. That is JMHO.

When I was little my family took a trip to Monterrey and I remember two things: we toured a cheese factory (monterrey jack, of course) and the Dennis the Menace playground. I couldn't stop talking about the playground for months--it's right near the warf. Truly a kid paradise, and best of all, it's free!

One of our favorite places in the Santa Cruz area is Wilder Ranch State Park. It's beautiful, has lots of history, lots of birds, and extremely helpful staff and volunteers that make ranch life at the turn of the century come to life. Great for all ages. <BR> <BR>The Felton area is also beautiful if you like redwood forests. Kids would love taking the train ride at Roaring Camp and there are some nice walks and hikes adjacent in Cowell State Park: a small but informative interpretive center there. <BR> <BR>Both my kids attended University of California Santa Cruz so we were up there every June and September for 8 years! Never lacked for wonderful places to go and things to do, and we always returned to Wilder Ranch.