Northern California beach town offers great hiking, barbecue, ice cream and more

Aptos is often overlooked due to its more high-profile neighbors – the "Surf City" of Santa Cruz, just a few miles to the north, as well as the twin tourism capitals of Monterey and Carmel, a relatively short drive to the south.

Yet, Aptos deserves your time and attention. It's an absolute gem of a little town, offering up a multitude of options for visitors to do, see, eat and drink in its cozy confines.

What we love best about Aptos is its variety of terrain, allowing visitors and locals alike to enjoy so much without having to travel very far.

It's famously known as the place where "the forest meets the sea," which translates to people being able to both hike and surf in the very same afternoon.

It's also got a picturesque and historic shopping/dining area – known as Aptos Village – where you can easily spend an afternoon reading a book at a coffee shop or an early evening listening to live blues music.

And did we mention that Aptos might just be the finest town for ice cream in all of Northern California? That right there should be reason enough to visit.

Before we venture off on our Day Trip itinerary, however, we should probably clear up one potentially confusing thing about Aptos. It's not a city, but rather an unincorporated town in Santa Cruz County that is made up of several small villages — Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley, Aptos Village, Cabrillo, Seacliff, Rio del Mar and Seascape.

Altogether, there are some 6,000 lucky people who get to call this area home.

With that clarification made, let's head on over to Aptos.

Late morning hike

Our adventure begins at the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, a gorgeous spot that delivers the first part of Aptos' catchy "forest meets the sea" town slogan.

Yet, before we get to those lovely redwoods, let's first fuel up with a stop at Cat and Cloud, an always-happening Santa Cruz County-based coffee spot with a location right in Aptos Village.

This Cat and Cloud is the kind of place where you could spend a few hours, chatting up friends, posting on Instagram or reading a book while enjoying a warm, fresh brew. But, on this day, we've got plenty to do, so let's keep things brief and just grab a pastry and a beverage.

From there, you're mere minutes from the Forest of Nisene Marks – so close, in fact, that some people decide to walk there from Aptos Village instead of driving.

Preferring to temporarily save our legwork, my wife and I took the car, paid the $8 parking fee and then went about exploring the 30 miles of hiking trails.

No, we didn't get around to all 30 of those miles in this 10,000-acre state park. We maybe did two or three miles, but it was enough to provide a good sample size of this gorgeous, dense forest filled with second- and third-growth redwood trees. Those towering giants go a long way toward blocking out the sun, making for some wonderfully shady walks in the park on an otherwise warm day.

There are also some great picnic spots right along Aptos Creek in the park, so feel free to bring those pastries and other goodies from Cat and Cloud right along with you. Just please remember to clean up after yourselves.

An easy introduction to the park can be had with Old Growth Loop, which includes a picnic area and, of course, plenty of redwoods – including the park's largest tree, which is dubbed The Advocate. Budget about an hour or so to leisurely explore this trail, which runs just over one mile.

Want to spend even more time with the trees? Lengthier (and more physically challenging) hikes include the 13-mile Five Finger Falls and the 7.5-mile West Ridge Loop.

For us, however, there are more stops to make on this day in Aptos, so it's time to depart the forest and head for the sea – but certainly not empty-handed.

Hit the beach

We'll stop just outside of Seacliff State Beach – one of the most notable beaches on this stretch of the coast – to grab some grub at Castelli's Caffe & Deli.

There is a lot on the menu at Castelli's – from breakfast egg dishes to soups and salads – but we always go straight for the sandwich board, which is filled with plenty of delicious-sounding custom creations.

That said, the one that calls to us most strongly is Cement Ship, a mammoth work of sandwich art with turkey, salami, provolone, cheddar, avocado, onion (which we have them take off), pepperoncini, oregano, mayo and sweet hot mustard on a toasted French roll.

It's delicious – and it's big enough to split. But it's also an appropriate meal for the setting, because we are going to pack it up as a picnic lunch and bring it right into the state park that many refer to as "cement ship beach." (Seriously, Google "cement ship beach" and see what you get.)

Seacliff's defining landmark is indeed the "cement ship," parked now for nearly a century just offshore. The ship is the S.S. Palo Alto, a concrete freighter built at the U.S. Naval Shipyard in Oakland in 1919. It was originally constructed as a wartime tanker, but World War I ended before it had a chance to be deployed.

In 1929, it was brought to Seacliff, where it was intentionally sunk and connected to the beach via a pier. The plan was to use it as an entertainment/fishing spot – and, indeed, there was reportedly even a dance floor added to the main deck at one point. But that venture proved short-lived, and it's been basically just a bizarre and beloved landmark ever since. The brutal storms of 2023 decimated the pier, however, making it so locals can no longer stroll out to get a close-up view of the ship.

And don't try to swim out to the ship, since that's not safe. Instead, just enjoy the still intriguing views from the shore.

Beyond the history lesson, there are plenty of other reasons to recommend this beach – including picnic tables and other facilities (bathrooms, outdoor showers, etc.), a really nice boardwalk/promenade, hiking and biking trails and an ocean that calls out for surfers, swimmers, fishers and others.

Having just gotten our exercise at the Forest of Nisene Marks, however, we are more inclined to just stretch out some beach towels and relax in the mix of sun and salt air.

Blues and BBQ

After a few hours at the beach, our thoughts most definitely turn to dinner. Now, remember, we purposely didn't go big on either our pre-hike late breakfast or our beach picnic lunch – choosing to split dishes on both occasions.

But that changes now, as we pack up the beach gear and head off to the main course: Aptos St. BBQ.

A vibrant spot in Aptos Village, Aptos St. has long been one of my favorite spots for barbecue in all of Northern California. It's part of a family-owned group of local restaurants – which includes such fine establishments as Trail Dust BBQ in Morgan Hill and South Winchester BBQ in San Jose – and pretty much everything there is good.

Yet, we're not just heading there to load up on pulled pork and brisket this time around – we're also here for the tunes.

Aptos St. BBQ hosts live blues music every night of the week from 6 to 8 p.m. – plus a bonus Saturday matinee from 1 to 4 p.m.

So order up a big dish of smoked meat – but no dessert, please, because we have plans for that – and enjoy such blues acts as the Lloyd Whitley Blues Band, Mojo Mix and Broken Shades.

Then, with a hot blues guitar lead still fresh in your ear, head off for the last stop of the day trip. And since this is Aptos, that last stop has to be for ice cream.

And you've got four fine places to choose from – legendary Marianne's Ice Cream, foodie-favorite Penny Ice Creamery, soft-serve specialist Sno-White Drive-In and the increasingly popular Bruster's Real Ice Cream.

You won't go wrong with any of those four spots, all of which combine to make Aptos arguably the greatest ice cream town in all of Northern California.

If you go

Aptos St. BBQ: Opens at 7 a.m. daily, 8059 Aptos St., Aptos; aptosstbbq.com

Bruster's Real Ice Cream: Opens at 11 a.m daily, 150 Rancho Del Mar, Aptos; brusters.com

Castelli's Caffe & Deli: Opens at 8 a.m. daily, 236 Santa Cruz Ave., Suite A, Aptos; castellisaptos.com

Cat and Cloud Coffee: Opens at 6:30 a.m. daily, 10 Parade St., Suite A, Aptos; catandcloud.com

Forest of Nisene Marks State Park: Open sunset to sunrise daily at Aptos Creek Road, Aptos, parking is $8; parks.ca.gov

Marianne's Ice Cream: Opens at 10 a.m. daily, 218 State Park Drive, Aptos; mariannesicecream.com

The Penny Ice Creamery: Opens at noon daily, 141 Aptos Village Way, Aptos; thepennyicecreamery.com

Seacliff State Beach: Open 8 a.m. to sunset daily, 201 State Park Drive, Aptos, parking is $10; parks.ca.gov

Sno-White Drive-In: Opens at 6:30 a.m. daily, 223 State Park Drive, Aptos. No website, but phone is 831-688-4747.

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This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 9:54 AM.