A Day Trip To: Davenport, California
Just a dozen miles north of Santa Cruz is the hidden gem Davenport, California. It’s an incredible coastal city with jaw-dropping beaches and small-town vibes.
You could spend a couple hours here, or pack up your beach gear and spend a full day – either way, you’ll likely be able to fit most of the stuff on this list into your itinerary.
We visited in May and it was a beautiful, sunny day, but extremely windy. Keep that in mind if you plan to bring an umbrella for the beach or take photos.
If you’re looking for things to do in Davenport, read on!
Shark Fin Cove
Shark Fin Cove may be familiar to you if you’ve ever Googled Davenport or looked up the geotag on Instagram.
If you’re driving North from Santa Cruz and follow directions to Shark Fin Cove on your phone or GPS, it will be on your left. Don’t attempt to make a U-turn to park – keep driving another half mile into town, turn around at one of the streets, and drive the half mile back South. This way, you can safely pull over into the parking area on the right-hand side.
There are no signs for it, so having directions is important. Make sure you put them into your phone before you reach Davenport or download your maps offline, as there is no service around Davenport area.
Once parked, walk until you reach the path (about one minute!). You’ll immediately see the incredible cliff in the ocean that gives this beach its name. The path down is slightly steep, but absolutely doable. There was even a woman walking down with a toddler in one arm and a cooler in the other when we were walking back up!
The beach is decent sized and was surprisingly empty for a nice weekend day. Don’t miss the incredible cave on the left-hand side for a great photo spot. Check the tides beforehand, as the water does reach all the way into the cave during high tide.
Davenport Pier
Davenport used to be an old whaling town and once had a port where lumber was loaded. The port got too muddy and a pier was built instead, but it was soon destroyed by a storm. The concrete blocks you can see now are what is left of the pier.
The view from the top of the cliffs are perfect for me, but if you’re feeling like a daredevil, you can take the treacherous path down to the beach. It’s an almost completely vertical decent about 100ft down. The first half of the “path” even has a thin rope to hold onto, but once it runs out, you’re on your own. It was terrifying watching people struggling down the side of the cliff just to get to the beach – SO not worth the risk for me.
Anyway, you don’t need to risk your life to see this abandoned pier. The views from the top are plenty!
St Vincent de Paul Church
I know what you’re thinking, “Church on a day trip to a beach town?” First of all, I’m not even religious at all, so I promise I’m not peddling Christianity to you! (lol)
This church is on my list because it makes for a great photo spot! It’s adorable and the front doors are lovely. I wish I had taken more photos closer to the doors, but I guess that just means I need to go back!
We visited on a Sunday, so I made sure to check their hours online to ensure there wasn’t any services going on while we were there. There’s a parking lot right in front and since they were closed, it was completely empty.
Visit the church: 123 Marine View Ave, Davenport, CA 95017
Davenport Jail
Image via Wikipedia
I am sad to say that the photo above is not mine, it’s from Wikipedia. While I had this on my “to see” list before I visited, we completely forgot about it after checking out all the other things! Now I HAVE to go back, because if you know me, you know I am fascinated (some may say obsessed?) with prisons/jails/true crime.
According to Santa Cruz Museum of Arts and History (MAH), the jail was only ever used twice between 1914 and 1936. It has since been turned into a museum that is open to the public.
Most sites say it is currently closed due to COVID, but keep up with the Santa Cruz MAH website for updates!
Visit the jail: 70 Center St, Davenport, CA 95017
Swanton Berry Farm
This was another activity I had on my to-do list, but didn’t end up getting to it. Swanton Berry Farm’s website states that they were “the first organic farm in America to sign a contract with the United Farm Workers, AFL-CIO.” I think that’s pretty cool of them!
You can visit the farm and pick you own berries or visit their farm stand if you don’t feel like picking the berries yourself! They did not open the U-Pick this year due to COVID, but I expect they’ll be open again for picking in 2022. Their farm stand is still open to get fresh berries, though.
I’ve heard their pies are AMAZING. So again, another reason for me to go back!
Photos via Swanton Berry Farm’s website.
Visit the farmstand: 25 Swanton Rd. Davenport California, 95017
Restaurants
There are two restaurants in Davenport: Whale City Bakery and Davenport Roadhouse.
We stopped at Whale City Bakery to grab some lunch/brunch and unfortunately cannot recommend this place. The employees were unfriendly and unhelpful and the food was…awful, and I’m not picky! Overall bummer experience – especially since it was such a cute spot. Their outdoor seating area was nice though with tables well-spaced apart for COVID.
Davenport Roadhouse is both an inn and restaurant, so if you’re looking for a place to stay with an ocean view, this is the place!
We’ll try the Roadhouse next time, or just drive 20 minutes South to Santa Cruz!
