The city of Santa Cruz is located just an hour south of San Francisco, but it feels worlds away from big city life. Instead, it feels like a remote paradise with its redwood mountains, beautiful beaches, and great surf. The city has a long history beginning in 1769 with a Spanish explorer discovering the land. This explorer, Don Gaspar de Portola, named the flowing river “San Lorenzo” in honor of Saint Lawrence and called the hills above the river “Santa Cruz,” which means holy cross in Spanish.