Santa Cruz highlight
Strong surf and a progressive community
Santa Cruz is ranked among the world's best surfing destinations with 11 world-class breaks and hosts a pioneering progressive community known for environmental and social activism.
Santa Cruz is one of the world's premier surfing destinations, home to 11 world-class surf breaks that attract surfers year-round to Monterey Bay's northern coast. The city's connection to surf culture runs deep—O'Neill, the pioneering wetsuit company, was founded here and remains headquartered locally, as does Santa Cruz Skateboards. Surf culture has woven itself into the city's identity and economy for decades, drawing residents and visitors who center their recreation and community around the water.
Beyond the waves, Santa Cruz has become known for a progressive, activist-oriented civic culture. The city was the first city council in the United States to formally denounce the Iraq War in 2003, declared itself a nuclear-free zone in 1998, and pioneered acceptance of medical marijuana in 1992. This spirit of forward-thinking activism and community engagement shapes the character of Santa Cruz as a place where residents care deeply about social and environmental issues, and where political participation is woven into daily life.
In a community built around outdoor recreation and social engagement, families are often young or multi-generational, with people pursuing careers in education, technology, tourism, and service industries. Whether someone is raising children while building a career, maintaining a household as a single income earner, or supporting aging parents, the question of financial stability if that income disappeared is the same: a term life policy sized to the years of greatest need provides clarity and protection. In Santa Cruz, like everywhere else, that protection starts with an honest assessment of what people depend on you for.