Santa Cruz Surfing Museum

Housed in the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse, the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum traces over 100 years of surfing history as it relates to Santa Cruz. Visitors to the museum will enjoy a spectacular view of Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay while overlooking Steamer Lane, an internationally known surfing site.Museum displays include surf boards ranging from redwood "planks" to modern high-tech designs, early wetsuits, photographs showing Santa Cruz surfers and wave riding from the 1930s through today, continous videos illustrating surfing's ever-changing styles, and a giftshop with books, T-shirts, sweatshirts, posters, and more.

Thursday through Monday, noon to 4 PM

Summer hours (July 4th through Labor Day): Wednesday through Monday, 10 AM to 5 PM

Levi Strauss Club T-shirt
As modeled by Paris Hilton on the cover of Elle

Surfing came to Santa Cruz in the 1930s, and the local teens were soon hooked on the sport, building their boards in high school woodshop. Transporting and storing the 60-90 pound boards became an issue, prompting David Steward to invite his wave-riding comrades to store their boards at his parents' house near Cowell's Beach. Here, the Santa Cruz Surfing Club was born.

Sixty-five years later, a team from Levi Strauss found the Club T-shirt in the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum, and created a limited number of reproduction Club shirts for their Vintage Collection.

Proceeds from the sales of T-shirts through this website will help support the activities of the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum.