A Hidden Gem! Please support this amazing zoo!…read more If you love animals, you have to check out the Monterey Zoo. It's a wonderfully cozy yet surprisingly spacious zoo that deserves so much more attention! The absolute highlight is their incredible variety of predator cats from all over the world--including African lions, beautiful servals, and bobcats! They also have zebras, rhinos, camels, and so much more to see.  You can even host an event at this placed get unique experience with the animals, visit the local gift shop. A few extra things that make this place great: The Staff: Incredibly friendly, welcoming, and knowledgeable. The Grounds: A spacious territory with plenty of room to walk and explore and see the animals up close. The Facilities: Clean restrooms, simple food options and round tables for a quick snack.

First time taking the kids, and we went in with zero expectations. It ended up being a fantastic…read moreexperience! For a smaller zoo, there was an impressive variety of animals. We took our time exploring and spent a very enjoyable ~2 hours there. The lion and tiger exhibit was the highlight -- especially the female lion lounging right up against the glass. My kids were absolutely mesmerized and could have stayed there all day. I can't believe we've lived in the Santa Cruz area for so long and never knew this zoo was here. Highly recommend it for families. We'll definitely be back soon!

Came today (Sunday on midday) and it was very sweet to find a calm place for my 1 year old as well…read moreas something that she enjoys for the first time watching other children play. My baby is very shy and she was able to play and make some very sweet little friends. In regards to parking it was very full but it only took me 2 rounds around the parking lot to find one. I can say that many people don't know how to park properly some were parked in double spaces. There are some handicapped parking in the front. For the mess around the park I did see some however I think that's more of the parents' job rather than the park maintenance itself. I look forward to visit this place soon

Definitely one of the best playgrounds we've ever been to! It's huge, and has things for all ages…read more Seesaws for 4 kids, a rolling conveyor belt, handicapped swings, pretend play areas, various slides, etc. It's mostly enclosed so feels safer with only one exit. But the third time we went, the bathrooms were all closed.

We LOVE Stuffies Claw Arcade! We've been to Claw Machine arcades throughout the country and…read moreStuffies continues to be one of our favorite claw arcades in California. Most plushie claw machines are 1-2 tokens per play and they now have blind boxes for 5 tokens per play. The claw machines settings are very strong and fair and you can also ask the friendly staff for help on resets. They have a great selection of cute plushies in the claw machines and for trade up. They have an amazing selection of trade ups for large plushies that were all 20 points and under On our most recent April 2026 visit, we were able to get a Sanrio Capybara blind boxes and trade up for a big derpy Pikachu!

We had so much fun here! For $50 we got 60 tokens and a large clear string bag. This gave us over…read morean hour of play time and we left with 10 stuffies in the giant bag. Staff is super nice and helpful, the claw arcade itself is bright and clean, and there are tons of stuffies and small keychains. My 2.5 and 8 year old both had a blast and didn't want to leave. We will definitely be back soon! They also have tons of fun events and characters visit, you can trade your stuffies for another in the same machine, and you can trade multiple stuffies up for bigger ones. Really cool concept and fun. Not impossible to actually catch the stuffies either. I highly recommend this place if you love stuffies and playing games. It was a big hit with the kids!

My daughter started gymnastics at age 6 at a different academy. It didn't take me long to see that…read moreshe wasn't progressing. She was doing skills that the other girls in her age group weren't doing, such as back handsprings & walkovers, yet she wasn't advancing levels. I knew that wasn't the place for her. I enrolled her in KidzCornerUSA shortly after & it was the best move I made. My daughter is on the competition team & is doing amazing!! Her first year of competition & she scored well enough to compete at the state level!! She absolutely loves it!! She's thriving there & it's because of coach Stephanie. I love that her classes are smaller so all her students get more personal one on on one instruction. Also, because the class setting is smaller, students are not as easily distracted. Another great thing is that I pay a lot less than what I was paying at the other gym academy & my daughter gets twice as much instruction with her coach. As a single mom, I can appreciate saving a buck or two. Stephanie not only coaches all her students the same in terms of workouts & drills, but she works towards helping advance every student according to their own individual capabilities. Not one child is ever compared to another nor are they left feeling less because they haven't learned to do certain skills. She doesn't just coach her students, she also mentors, guides, encourages, motivates, & helps lift their self esteem. She makes sure every child shines & stands out. She's so great with her students & she gets them excited. My daughter is learning so much, not just gymnastics. She's participated in cheerleading as well & has joined in a couple of cheer dances with the CSUMB cheer & dance squad. How cool is that?? I'd definitely recommend this place!! Whether it's dance, gymnastics, cheer or if your just looking for a place your child can come to for a little fun, this is the place!! We absolutely love it!!

I love this place such a kid friendly environment full of activities and fun for the kiddos and the…read morecoach is so sweet i love her we love coming here and jumping around totally recommend it to all moms with little ones at home that need to burn some energy 10/10 and the price is perfect as well

Fun place. Our kiddo had fun. Good price. Street parking. They have a shop in the front and…read morerestrooms in the back. Something for every kid.

What a great place for kids.Lots of activities to do. They can learn how things work .Place is…read moreclean and friendly

It was my family's first time and I wish we went my toddler was a baby. This place was so cute and…read morehad a lot of activities for kids and adults too. My 4 year old loved the different zones and kept jumping from one section to another. While we were there we joined the science activity and my toddler made an interesting airplane. It was a little busy in the afternoon on a Saturday mainly due to birthday parties. They only have one bathroom so be aware that you might have to wait in line especiallyif theres a party. Other than that, for $10 my kid had a great time for a couple of hours. We'll come when we visit Santa Cruz again.

My kids love this place! It's in the Capitola Mall and easy to get to with plenty of parking. There…read moreis a lot of variety here and plenty of chances for the kids to use their imagination. There were plenty of things to do - a play kitchen, arts and crafts, dinosaurs, cars - it really tailors to a wide range of children. My daughter (6) and my son (3) were never bored - with a daypass, we had access to the facility all day and we actually came back later in the afternoon! I would say one con was that there was only one bathroom (not stalled bathrooms), so depending on how busy it is there may be a wait to use. We were there Saturday morning and it wasn't too busy but when we came back in the afternoon, there was a birthday party and it got busier. The museum closes at 5pm. Definitely a must-visit for when we visit Capitola again!

Took our 2 teen granddaughters here, only 1 wanted to go with me…read more We got stuck so many times, not sure we'd get out! Had a lot of laughs with a couple girls in there. Once we got out, the clerk gave us glasses to go do it again. It made it harder. This was a lot of fun and a break from just the same souvenir shops. The price is higher than we expected. I do wish they offered a senior discount. We really enjoyed it though.

Loved the underwater theme of this maze. It was actually a bit challenging for two adults. Once we…read moremade it out, we had a second go at it, but this time with holographic glasses which didn't make it any easier, especially with the color-changing lights inside. It was a fun and laid-back activity to do, with upbeat tunes like Beatles music playing in the background. I don't think it was $18 worth of fun, but it was cool to check out as a one-time experience, and you can do it multiple times on the same day. I've enjoyed the SF version in the past, and the Monterey Mirror Maze was similar, but with more colorful and entertaining lobby decor and props. They also currently offer a coupon on their website for a free try at "The Heist" laser challenge. I appreciated that it wasn't crowded on New Year's Eve in the afternoon, and service was fast and friendly.

Quality animatronics. Good replay value. Just the right amount of corny. Super nice cast members…read more(thanks Jasmine and Sophia!) Highly recommend

This is such a COOL ride! It's so well made and was run very efficiently. Not only do you have the…read morescreens to shoot at, but there are also physical objects that will move when you shoot at them. Some even shoot you with water! There were also a few animatronics that were genuinely impressive. The pre-show is a little long, but it is so well done and I love the commitment to details. $20 seems like a steep price for a dark ride/shooting game, but you can ride as many times as you would like. (It seemed like most participants were not taking advantage of this but I went on a few times). I would definitely go back on a day when I had more time and see how many times I could get on the ride. In my opinion you do not need to pay $3 for the power chip upgrade. The highest score possible is 999,999 points. With the regular shooter we easily got 600,000 and 700,000 points on our second go around.

Was real sad when this place went down during Covid, but it was complete understandable. Been…read morecoming here for a few years with my son, it's a great environment with great customer service. Salinas is a small town so I'm glad they give the kids in this community somewhere to go.

Amazing staff ! I…read morethrew a surprise birthday party for my son's 11th, and let me tell you, Esme and her co- worker were the best host's ever! They helped as soon as I walked through the door with the set up, they greeted my party goers and welcomed them in and were very, very patient with the more than 20 kids that attended the party. When it was time to go, they wouldn't let me help clean! For any parent that plans on throwing a party there, it's definitely worth it!

Snug little place packed with arcade games~…read more For $10, you can play unlimited games which is pretty well worth the price. We were so shocked to see smash on n64 as an option! Overall, fun place to spend some time with your people!

We were in downtown Monterey looking for something fun to do with our son. As we were walking the…read morestreets we came across an arcade that looked fun and inviting. I decided to check it out. I arrived on a nice sunny Saturday afternoon. High Scores Arcade is located in a nice area off Alvarado street in downtown Monterey. Parking is free and accessible along the streets and the nearby parking lots. The arcade games collection are classic, vintage, and from the 80's-90's. The space is on the smaller side but has just enough video games to look reputable. The decor is vibrant, bright, and playful. In the front is the counter where you purchase your admission, snacks, and alcohol/non alcoholic drinks. The admission is fairly priced. 1 hour of unlimited play is $10.00. All day unlimited play is $22.00. Overall we enjoyed our experience at High Scores Arcade. The staff were friendly and accommodating. The vibe was nostalgic and bustling. It was nice to introduce the games I use to play back in the day and play along side with my son. We hope to be back when we are in the area.