Santa Cruz Harbor, Santa Cruz CA

Category & Type :

Activities

Location :

135 Fifth Avenue Santa Cruz, CA 95062 , Santa Cruz CA

Phone :

831-475-6161

Website :

http://www.santacruzharbor.org/

Information about Santa Cruz Harbor...

The harbor is goverened by a commission of five individuals, whose dedicated service is rewarded in our successes, rather than compensated with pay. Each of us takes this responsibility seriously, and the decisions we make help leave the harbor an even better place for future generations to enjoy. As a long time Santa Cruzan, I am honored to play a role in the harbor’s future.  As I kid I fondly remember walking from our family home in the harbor neighborhood to fish from the banks of the harbor.

The harbor is a gateway to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. We are proud of the many non-profit companies that have chosen to call the harbor their home.  We are honored to support programs that foster environmental awareness in our youth, such as the O’Neill Sea Odyssey program, and we are especially proud to support UCSC’s remarkable sailing program, which helps create tomorrow’s expert sailors.

The Santa Cruz Harbor provides over 800 permanent slips for commercial and recreational vessels, as well as launching and secure dry storage for trailerable boats, rowing shells and sea kayaks. For coastal mariners, we are a harbor of refuge and offer first-class visitor berthing. Numerous charter operations provide fishing, whale watching, pleasure cruising and sailing instruction opportunities.

Whether you join us for an hour or you live aboard a boat at the harbor, or anywhere in between, I invite you to take advantage of all the harbor’s offerings and give yourself the opportunity to let this wonderful place create your own fond memories.
Early Years

Local boaters, commercial fishermen, businessmen, and residents had sought the construction of a harbor in Santa Cruz County since before the turn of the century.

The Santa Cruz coast was first surveyed by the Army Corps of Engineers for a possible harbor of refuge in 1879. It was not until after World War II, however, that a strong enough local support group was organized to secure the attention and backing of the state and federal governments. In 1949, Santa Cruz was resurveyed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps strongly recom-mended the formation of a local, special district to lead and administer the harbor development and to manage the harbor after completion.
The Port District is Formed

Citizen groups obtained 3,000 signatures and presented them to the County Board of Supervisors, who authorized an election. The election, held in 1950, officially formed the Santa Cruz Port District under the guidelines of the State of California Harbors and Navigation Code. The purpose of the district was to provide and manage small craft harbor facilities in Santa Cruz County. Several sites were evaluated for the harbor, including both Neary's and Wood's Lagoons. Wood's Lagoon (the other "Twin Lake" to Schwan Lagoon) was eventually selected by the Corps of Engineers. This site, however, has proven to be problematic, as there are no natural features to support a sheltered harbor entrance. In fact, its close, down-coast and down-drift proximity to the San Lorenzo River mouth has had a major, negative impact on the harbor entrance. The original boundaries of the Port District were drawn to coincide with those of the Santa Cruz City Schools. This boundary includes the entire City of Santa Cruz and most of Live Oak and Pasatiempo areas. By legal definition a "Port District" may contain only one incorporated city, which in our case is the City of Santa Cruz. A 10 cent (per hundred dollars of assessed value) tax on real property in the district was also authorized by the election. The funds generated by this assessment were viewed as "seed money" to provide start-up capital for the harbor and to create a business and recreational climate centered around boating that would stimulate the Santa Cruz economy and provide other forms of local tax income.

In 1958, with tremendous local and state support, HD 357 was passed and was the fundamental federal legislation that authorized the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor and Beach Erosion Project. There were several key concepts in HD 357 that have proved quite important to the Port District since 1958. They are the concepts of littoral drift of sand; beach stabilization; annual federal dredging; federal ownership of the harbor entrance channel; and the eventual need for a permanent sand bypass system paid for by cost-sharing between the federal government and the Port District.
Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor Becomes a Reality

Between 1958 and 1960, the State Department of Parks and Recreation began acquiring land for the harbor itself and its sup-porting parking and concession areas.