The Greater Aptos Area

 

 

Roughly 50,000 people make up the area known as Aptos. Aptos is actually several small villages: the Aptos Hills and Larkin Valley, Aptos Village, Cabrillo, Seacliff, Rio del Mar, and Seascape. Due to its wide-ranging boundaries, Aptos is an area of endless recreation, traditional, and funky chic neighborhoods, plus fine dining and unique shopping opportunities. From Seascape’s famous golf links to fishing and surfing along Seacliff State Beach, many say Aptos is like a secret Santa Cruz. It’s also evolving. Aptos Village, for instance, is the site of a fairly new mixed-use development that’s infusing the retail center with new energy. Aptos also serves as the gateway to the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, which boasts more than 30 miles of trails. As you ride a mountain bike or stroll among the towering redwoods, keep an eye out for crumbling sawmills and trestles — signs of Aptos’s logging past.

 

 

Is the beach you go to for bonfires and dogs. Its tree-lined streets wind through the hills, a verdant suburb above the glistening Monterey Bay. While the restaurants and bars are excellent, the star of Rio del Mar will always be the ocean. Surf, whale watch, fish, or watch for the cement ship’s resident white sharks. But don’t worry, they’re just harmless juveniles.

 

 

The Seacliff neighborhood of Aptos overlooks Monterey Bay and the eternally docked S.S.Palo Alto, otherwise known to locals as the “cement ship.” The S.S. Palo Alto is a concrete freighter built in 1917 at the U.S. Naval Shipyard in Oakland and docked at Seacliff State Beach since 1929, back when this was all one big resort destination. Today, Seacliff is an incredibly walkable neighborhood adjacent to Seacliff State Beach. Most of the homes in the area are mid-20th-century structures with a few small apartment buildings. Its small downtown boasts some of the locals’ favorite spots, including Marianne’s Ice Cream.

 

 

A true secret to most people, This idyllic quiet beach community is tucked in between Watsonville and the endless beaches of Manresa and Sunset. Once only a resort town, La Selva is now a fully functional community with its own post office, corner store, fire department, library, retail shops, and, of course, Seascape Beach Resort, the world-class coastal destination set on 45 acres of breathtaking coastal bluffs with great surfing and one of the most beautiful strands of sand on the coast of California.