Located at the western end of the City of Santa Cruz, Steamer Lane is a very popular surfing spot in the city of Santa Cruz. The beach area has very little sand and is composed mostly of bluff side walls and rocky boulders. You might get some sandy areas during low tide but it’s not an ideal beach for quietly basking in the sun. Surfer Magazine in 2009 designated Santa Cruz as the "best surfing town" and wrote of Steamer Lane as a "world-class right-hand reef-point." The beach earned its name when earlier surfers on the beach would look out for waves in the naval lanes used by steamships heading towards the Santa Cruz Wharf. The beach area is always bustling with surfers looking for a piece of large and fast-paced waves found in the waters here. Situated to the west of Steamer Lane is Lighthouse Field State Beach along with the iconic Santa Cruz Lighthouse, while to the south is a blufftop shelf also used by surfers.
