Frequently Asked Questions

In the case of light rain or other moderate weather conditions, your scheduled event will continue as planned.  We have an amazingly comfortable enclosed cabin to “escape” any undesired weather. Our trips will be rescheduled due to unsafe or extremely uncomfortable weather.  This means that if high winds or swell, constant rain, or other severe weather is forecasted for our time at sea, your event will be rescheduled.  Feel free to bring a rain jacket if you feel you may want to use it. Otherwise, we have rain ponchos available on board for a $2.00 purchase.

The weather on our bay can be unpredictable and can sway from sunny and warm to slightly chilly to pretty darn cold and wet. For this reason, we recommend layering your clothing so you may adjust throughout your trip if needed. We have plenty of space to stow any unused clothing items or bags.

No heels or leather soled shoes. This means no high heels, wedges, or heeled boots.

With these smaller more intimate family events and depending on the size of your group, we suggest you arrive anywhere from 20 minutes to 30 minutes prior to your scheduled time.  This will ensure enough time for parking, paying for parking, and signing the manifest before walking down to the vessel and hearing all about the ship’s rules and safety protocols before embarking down the channel into the open sea.

Due to the short nature of these trips and the fact we stay relatively close to shore, the chance of getting seasick is limited. However, If you feel there is a chance you may encounter some queasiness while under our care we suggest you may choose to self-medicate prior to your departure. Self-medicating can include taking over the counter Dramamine type pills, pressure point wrist bands, or ginger pills, ginger candy, or ginger ale. Ginger has been proven to be a marvelous queller of seasickness.  The magic key to remember is to consume such measures at least an hour before your event. 

The Sea Spirit is a Coast Guard licensed and inspected vessel for up to 38 passengers.  Among many things, this means there is a life jacket for every man, woman, and child on board as well as a life raft that will accommodate every person on board in the slight chance it is needed.  The whereabouts of these items are clearly posted and will also be explained in our pre-departure safety talk.   All children 12 and under and less than 90lbs are required to wear a life jacket that we will provide.

If you’re lucky enough to be under 12 years of age, yes you will need to wear the provided life jacket. For all others over the age 12 we have them available for you, but it is not mandatory.  If you wish to wear one, please let a crew member know and they will get one for you.

Without a doubt!

As mentioned above, Sea Spirit is registered with the Coast Guard and is a licensed and annually inspected vessel for up to 38 passengers. Our safety equipment is modern and up to date with items such as an EPIRB (emergency position-indicating radio beacon station) in other words a tracking transmitter that is activated if there were to be an accident, life floats, life jackets, fire extinguishers and life rafts.  Additionally, our vessels are meticulously maintained.

Yes, there is a head on board. However, we encourage passengers to use the facilities on land prior to their trip. Our head is similar in size to one you may find on an airplane.

Yes, you may bring your own food/beverage with the only exception being alcohol. We are licensed with the ABC (Alcohol and Beverage Control) and for this reason, we have wine/beer available for purchase. If there is a specific alcoholic beverage that is important for your event, you may call ahead, and we can make arrangements to have it available for you upon your arrival.  Additionally, if you wish to avoid the worry and stress of organizing and planning food, you may want to consider one of our deluxe packages that includes food, beverage, flowers and other items that can take your event to that next level. 

Legally, here in California we only need to head out 500 yards off shore. If you don’t not have an area you wish to go to, we generally head out to the mile buoy area. This places us near Steamer’s Lane, a popular surf spot with lighthouse as well as places us in the proximity of the wharf/boardwalk area and creates beautiful backdrops for photos.  However, we can go other places such as Natural Bridges, New Brighten State Beach, Aptos, the Cement Ship area or even out to see the whales for your scattering. These other destinations will affect the length of the trip so please call ahead for pricing and details.

Yes. We have an extremely comfortable cabin to relax in if you so choose.

Yes! We realize how important our dogs can be to our personal healing/growth process and for that reason, if it is important to you to have your fur baby involved, it is important to us.

Wheelchair accessible by typical standards is not available.  And our head (bathroom) will not accommodate the size of a wheelchair. Please call to enquirer about more specifics or options.

Trips depart from the Santa Cruz SE lower harbor.  A more detailed map and directions will be included in your confirmation email. Once you arrive at P dock you may park in any visitor spot. Parking kiosks are available throughout the harbor and take cash or credit. Parking prices are set by the harbor and are $1.50 an hour.  All day parking passes may be purchased ahead of time for $15.00 directly from our office.