Life Lab is a great place to spend summer. Hiking, time in gardens and nature. Developing healthy…read morehabits, singing and making new friends. The staff is well trained. I feel great sending my kids here. I especially like the leadership programs for older children. It covers a lot of time too if you need it 9-5 for most ages.

From the owner: Wildlands and Watering Cans Summer Camp at the Life Lab Garden Classroom, on the UCSC Farm…read more Come explore the garden and farm with us! Our camp days include harvesting, making garden snacks, singing, storytelling, garden caretaking, garden crafts, and exploration of the natural world. Hope to see you in the garden this summer!

I have been wanting to try surfing for the longest time and finally gathered up my courage to do it…read moreyesterday. Richie was so awesome, assured me that I could do it and kept encouraging and helping me to catch the waves. I was about to give up after a few tries when I rode my first one. I didn't expect that on my first lesson, as I never swim in the ocean before so it has been a euphoric experience. Still smiling when I think about it. Thank you Richie for making my dream come true! Definitely will get a lesson from Richie again if I'm in the area again.

Second time ever on a board and caught waves!! Richie, our instructor was great, safe and soft…read morespoken with a gentle footprint . He had 100 percent control the entire time. I absolutely loved it and hope to be back next weekend! What an epic experience!!!

My 14yo daughter was exposed to illegal drugs at Kennolyn. We were under the impression that…read moreKennolyn was a wholesome, sheltered place, but one of the campers, a very wealthy boy, was apparently allowed to bring a marijuana vape pen into camp (despite the fact that the camp assures parents that they will search kids on the way in). He apparently bragged about having the weed vape all week to the other campers, and when the Camp left a group of teen campers unsupervised at night (why?), someone apparently used the weed vape. When the boy was later busted by the camp, he denied using it, claiming that my daughter and another 14 yo girl were the real culprits. The boy insisted he didn't even know he had the marijuana vape in his bag, that someone must have put it there, and said that my daughter and the other girl had "bullied" him into letting them use it. To be clear, though more than a dozen kids were there when the weed vape was used, no one OTHER THAN THE BOY WHO BROUGHT THE WEED VAPE TO CAMP ever said that the girls used the weed vape. For whatever reason, Kennolyn joined the boy in pointing the finger at the girls, and on that basis alone locked my daughter in a room by herself for a long period while they tried to extract a "confession" out of her; they performatively humiliated her by forcing her to serve the other campers at a food line, as if she was the lunch lady and no longer one of them; they refused to let her say goodbye to her cabinmates and friends, or even to collect their contact information; they made her do manual labor for a period, moving heavy bags off of a truck; and, as a final indignity, forced her to go to sleep in a cabin in the woods by herself. My daughter is a young 14, she was absolutely shamed and terrified, and said she cried herself to sleep. I'm paying $2,700 a week for that?!? When I picked her up the next morning she was visibly stressed and shaken, but she was even more angry, because she insisted she'd been falsely accused and had never even seen the boy's marijuana vape, let alone used it. When I emailed Kennolyn's management to challenge the boy's lies about my daughter and complain about the way they had treated her, suddenly their story began to change: now they insisted my daughter had confessed to the boy's accusations! My daughter categorically denied confessing to anything, and the more I dug into it, the more Kennolyn's story changed--first it was one counselor who purportedly heard the confession, then, wait, it was a different counselor altogether who had heard it, then suddenly there were TWO other counselors present for the confessions; etc. The more their story changed, the lower my trust for Kennolyn's leadership dropped. I'm not sure exactly what really happened, but they acted captiously and callously toward my daughter, and were suspiciously inconsistent in their dealings with me, particularly in the way they bent over backwards to exonerate and excuse the boy who actually brought the illegal marijuana vape to camp. My daughter feels disrespected and unfairly maligned, and regrets ever having gone to Kennolyn--they really treated her poorly. I don't blame her, and can't believe I wasted so much money to send my kid somewhere unsafe, where she would be exposed to illegal drugs. We won't be going back.

I went to Kennolyn Camp for a few summers as a child and greatly enjoyed it. I would go for…read moretwo-week sessions which was the right amount of time for me. I think this camp is particularly great for younger children too who are ready for sleep-over camp. It might seem a little too sheltered and not exciting enough for some older campers... My favorite activities were the amazing climbing wall, ropes course, vaulting (gymnastics on horseback), ceramics, and trip to the Beach Boardwalk. When I took a fall from a horse, the nurse was great at comforting and taking care of me. The staff was also fabulous. I always loved my counselors! My only big complaint is that Kennolyn is expensive. Another summer, I went on a two-week program to Australia which was the same price (including airfare!) as Kennolyn. So, send your children because you want them to enjoy a fun, safe camp experience but definitely not to save any money!

One of my little guys camps went pretty good, but not when it came to cooking camp - it was awful…read morelol. Every day he'd come home just feeling whatever about it. So we asked why. Turns out every day was just a variation of some tortilla based recipe lol. One day was quesadillas, one day was tortilla chips, one day was cinnamon sugar tortillas (???), another was tacos, etc. One day was parfaits though! Very clearly just trying to go through their excess stock of tortillas from the camp it would appear. It also turns out that the kids did NONE of the cooking themselves! They would assemble the food then the workers would take it to the oven or microwave or whatever to actually do the cooking. This was a hilarious revelation lol - turns out there's no cooking in the cooking class! They learned how to stack ingredients but nothing about proper temperatures, the procedure for using the oven, or when to use the pots and pans on the stove, etc. Even his final recipe, that he got to bring home - was a simple cookie lol. WHICH THE WORKERS BURNED THE ENTIRE UNDERSIDE OF lmao. He didn't even want to eat it or enjoy his bring home final cooking project from cooking camp. Had they been more up front, I probably wouldn't have chosen that camp and put him in a diff one. When I brought this up - I was told it's illegal for kids to do the cooking! Even her own 15 year old can't use the stuff. I asked for clarification because of course that' sounds like nonsense - every pizza and fast food place in the world has teens working at it and around the ovens lol. I just had to laugh and say oh ok and move on because it's def not true and was just an excuse she came up with on the spot rather than admit that maybe the cooking camp was a bit lacking and oversold for what it really was. Not sure we will be coming back next year, certainly not for cooking class specifically...

Our child came home happy and excited from a day of engaging activities. We will enroll early for…read more2924

My daughter loves the Out and About afterschool and summer backpacking programs and has…read moreparticipated in them from K-5th grade. Travis and his team are responsible, caring, thoughtful educators... and they really know their stuff about the great outdoors! My daughter has become a more capable hiker, an expert plant identifier, and a confident communicator thanks to this program. Finding good afterschool options can be a challenge; we've found Out and About to be our most reliable, beloved program that she continues to love as she grows.

This is such a fun and safe program for my daughter. She looks forward to being with the…read moreinstructors and they are active about communicating with us parents. I only learned about this program through a friend and I am so grateful that I did. My daughter is having a blast and I am so grateful for Travis and his team.

Been here many times to watch theatrical persons very very willing to entertain their audience…read more Little theater is more fun and a lot more interesting than the large stage productions of SF, LA, Chicago and NY. Hands down, I enjoy the smaller venues and really appreciate the actors and actresses. I love the stage sets of All About Theatre. Very well done.

I'm a student in AAT and I cant believe how awesome this is. aside from the occasional stress with…read moretech week or opening night, every experience I have ever had here has been wonderful. and instead of some lame, disgruntled parent, I actually know first hand how we are treated. the staff is wonderful, my castmates are great, and over all I've had the best experiences ever here. sign up now. NOW. Orion N. age 12

Coach Bill and his coaches did an excellent job with our children, ages 5 and 8, for the week of…read moreSanta Cruz Soccer Camp. Many of the coaches had attended as children and came back to support the camp, which seems like a great sign to me. The kids played lots of games, took the hot afternoons to play games in the hiking area with lots of trees. Got to enjoy Coach Bill's puppet show and drums and singing. Good wholesome, all around fun!

My kids have been coming for years, and my son is finally in the coach in training program! The…read morecamp is not a competitive/ technical skills soccer development camp; however what you will find is a super fun atmosphere with soccer based drills and games that increase ball touch in a developmentally fun way. They balance the day with nature walks to the creek, some guitar, story telling, etc. Each camp is grouped with an awesome coach- honestly- the sweetest staff that know how to have fun and make kids feel comfortable. And all in a beautiful setting. Overall a solid, fun, and inexpensive camp experience. (I tend to appreciate a bit more of a technical emphasis, hence the 4 stars- but that is only my own personal bias)...

My daughter had the opportunity to attend summer code camp here. She had an awesome experience! We…read morewere familiar with Code Naturally because they had a program at her school and she loved it. When it came time to look at summer activities this coding camp was an easy choice. She really liked her instructors and would come home and tell us all about what she was working on and how much fun she was having. We are looking at their year-around offerings and want to get her enrolled as an after-school activity for the next year as well and next summer. Thanks Code Naturally!

From the owner: Code Naturally makes it fun for kids to learn how to code with our unique, innovative approach…read more After school coding classes & summer camps throughout Santa Cruz.

A hidden red wood nature spot. Good for large events that want to host a camping vibe type of…read moreretreat. Note, it has sleeping accommodations equal to 2 stars. The mattress will be hard and plastic wrapped. Parking is fairly far from rooms (pack only what you can carry). The parking lot is not paved. The rooms are running on the colder side. The restaurants and facilities are not connected - so prepare to enter nature and have a 5 min walk (hint - dress warm). Almost no cell phone reception. Nice staff. Clean and well kept, but def dated. No smoking and drinking allowed on premises. Safe gated facility.

My husband and I live nearby and decided to stop by today and take a peek at the pool. We were…read moregreeted by the extremely rude business owner, letting us know that we were trespassing and needed to leave. Had I been aware that we were trespassing, of course we would've never entered the property. Because of her rudeness, my husband would not look at her or acknowledge her, which then she insulted him about. My husband and I are very nice people and get along with everyone. This is a seriously missed opportunity for this business owner, as she could've been polite and welcoming and invited us back but instead, she insulted us and was nasty. If being treated poorly is your jam, this is your place!!