Brand new construction in Santa Cruz’s Main Beach area is nearing completion. A 151-guest room Courtyard by Marriott featuring a mixture of Kings, Double Queens, King Suites and Double Queen Suites with views of the ocean, San Lorenzo River, and the Santa Cruz Mountains will debut in March 2022.

New ocean and environmental-themed public art is now on display in Santa Cruz. Fifteen ocean advocacy murals entitled Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans is the first of its kind in Santa Cruz and is made possible by the PangeaSeed Foundation, which works to create meaningful environmental change for oceans through science, education, and ARTivism (SEA). 

Local Santa Cruz chef Jonathan Glass, who purchased landmark eatery Ristorante Avanti three years ago, has overhauled the restaurant by adding his own flavor – not only in terms of menu items but also with the décor and outdoor patio.

The former Best Western Seacliff Inn in Aptos, six miles south of Santa Cruz will become part of the Tapestry Collection by Hilton in February 2022, with a remodel and rebrand that will conclude in Spring 2022.

A new wellness boutique has opened on diminutive Cooper Street in Downtown Santa Cruz. Across the way from the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Yoso Wellness Annex approaches treatment products holistically, addressing internal and external factors that impact our body, mind, and skin health. 

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is celebrating 30 years on September 18th, 2022. Designated by the NOAA under the authority of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act – which was enacted exactly one hundred years after the birth of the National Park System – the Monterey Bay became the eleventh national marine sanctuary in a system of fifteen around the country.