My favorite time of year down at the Santa Cruz harbor is Christmas light time, and the Lighted Boat Parade is definitely the best. The boats are all decked out and take part in a parade in the harbor for people to see – and it brings quite a crowd. It’s a fairly quick parade but it’s a lot of fun.

The restaurants are all open, so you can eat before or after and make an evening of it. The boardwalk boat and the one with reddish pink lights that had Tinkerbell were my two favorites!

Check this out next year or just head down to the harbor during the evening and see some of the lighted boats. Most of the action is for the parade but it still feels like Christmas when you are down here