Parking at Santa Cruz Beach starts free, with lots from $10/day. Compare 3 nearby lots and garages by price, walking distance and how full each one is right now, plus metered street parking. Lot locations, rates and hours are real and geocoded. Tap a pin for driving directions.
3 lots · 640 spaces. Scrub the time slider for the crowd estimate.
On-street parking
400 metered spaces · Metered/free · Beach St and W Cliff Dr fill before 10 AM in summer. Pay by plate or ParkMobile.
Local moves
The Boardwalk owns the large parking structure on Riverside Ave -- it charges $10-20/day but is always the safest bet.
Beach Street metered parking is free after 6 PM and on Sundays.
The lot on W Cliff Drive at the wharf entrance fills early but turns over faster than the Boardwalk structure.
Cowell's Beach has limited free street parking on W Cliff Drive -- arrive before 9 AM.
Santa Cruz Metro buses connect downtown and the University to the beach -- Route 3 runs to the Boardwalk.
Parking at Santa Cruz Beach starts free, with lots from $10/day. The cheapest paid lot is Boardwalk Parking Structure at $10-20/day.
Yes. Santa Cruz Beach has free parking at W Cliff Drive Wharf Lot, Cowell's Beach Street Parking. Free spaces are limited and fill first, so arrive early or have a paid backup in mind.
Santa Cruz Beach has 3 lots within walking distance; the largest is Boardwalk Parking Structure (500 spaces). The lots nearest the sand fill first, so the ones a block or two back usually have room. Use the live map above to compare walking distance and how full each lot is right now.
On warm, sunny weekend days the closest Santa Cruz Beach lots fill by mid-morning. Arrive before 10 AM or after 4 PM for the easiest parking, and scrub the time slider on the map above for the crowd estimate hour by hour.
More Santa Cruz Beach
happy hunting
Lot locations, counts, rates and hours are real, geocoded from each address. No live space-count feed is published, so availability is estimated from typical beach crowds and today’s weather. Your location is used only in your browser to sort by distance.
Main parking at Santa Cruz Beach: W Cliff Drive Wharf Lot (Free (2hr)) and Boardwalk Parking Structure ($10-20/day), plus street parking at Metered/free. Check today’s water, surf and UV on the conditions page.