Santa Cruz Travel Forum

We are visiting California, San Jose, in November this year but would prefer to see the coastline-we have been looking at Santa Cruz as a possible place to stay-I would prefer something small, not too expensive? Any suggestions? Also, what is the weather like? Will we need VERY heavy clothing. We live in London, so November in London is very cold and wet - will it be better in California??
Thanks

I agree that Santa Cruz is a better place to stay than San Jose for scenery. In San Jose, November will be warm, around the 70'sF. I usually carry a light fleece jacket because the coast can be 10-20 degrees cooler. At night it can get down around 40F, but unless you plan to be outside you shouldn't need your heaviest coats. (Sorry these are in degrees F, some day the US will catch up to the rest of the world with the metric system!!)

November will be a great time to visit the area. Expect fog along the coast in the AM until about 11:00 or 12:00. It is damp but not usually cold in November.

You might also want to look at the cities of Marina, Seaside, and Moss Landing. They are on the coast more towards the Monterey area. All are further from San Jose if you are driving back and forth the commute is very bad on Hwy 17. Scotts Valley is closer to San Jose and next to Santa Cruz but not exactly on the ocean.

You will not need VERY heavy clothing but I would have a light jacket handy and if it is waterproof that would help with the light fog in the AM or if you get caught outside in a rain shower.

We just returned from Santa Cruz, and I don't have a personal recommendation for a place to stay, because I didn't care for our place (in Scotts Valley), but if you check out a website like tripadvisor.com you'll find all kinds of reasonable hotels/motels in Santa Cruz. Possibly even a reasonable B&B.

Don't stay in Scotts Valley. It was nothing to write home about. Just an overdeveloped suburban community with strip malls and more development underway. We were really disappointed with the area and wished we had stayed in Santa Cruz or Capitola (right next door to Santa Cruz). Check out my new Santa Cruz page - that might help you make a decision about Santa Cruz.

Your London winter attire will work fine in Santa Cruz. It could be rainy, but you could also have some nice days in between. You won't need VERY heavy clothing (like parkas). But do bring a fleece jacket and a light rain coat. Bring shorts just in case. You never know. You might be lucky and hit one of those fine November days!

Have fun!

Karen

There is a very nice B&B in Santa Cruz that was much cheaper than any other I found there - hotels are not cheap in SC. It's called The Adobe on Green Street. They have a web page at www.adobeongreen.com.