What's the best way to get from Oakland to Santa Cruz without a car?

November 20, 2015 10:45 AM

I'm going to be in Oakland (visiting family) and need to get to Santa Cruz (Scotts Valley) on a Sunday, and I won't have a car. What's the least expensive way to do it in a reasonable amount of time?
posted by swheatie to Travel & Transportation around San Francisco Bay Area, CA (7 answers total)

Depends on what you mean by 'least expensive,' but in general Santa Cruz is a tough place to get to by public transit. If I had to do this I would probably take Amtrak -- train to San Jose and then Amtrak bus to Santa Cruz, if someone can pick you up from Santa Cruz proper. About three hours door to door for $24. Currently there are lots of options all day.

You could also consider Amtrak to San Jose and then the 17 bus to Scotts Valley, as Google recommends.
posted by crazy with stars at 10:52 AM on November 20, 2015 [2 favorites]

Ah Greyhound might be a better option. Their bus goes all the way from Oakland to Santa Cruz with no transfers. 2 hr 20 minutes for ~$17.
posted by crazy with stars at 10:59 AM on November 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

I say craigslist rideshare.
posted by latkes at 11:26 AM on November 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yeah, seconding Craigslist. There's almost always someone headed to Santa Cruz on rideshare.
posted by three_red_balloons at 11:28 AM on November 20, 2015

I've done the Greyhound bus that crazy with stars talks about with no issues.
posted by gudrun at 11:46 AM on November 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

You say that you won't have a car, but you don't say that you can't rent a car. Costco Travel (almost always the best place to rent a car) has plenty of cars at OAK for $23 for 24 hours. You'd also need to pay for about 5 gallons of gas, at $3.00 per gallon is a total of $38. Maybe not the cheapest, but almost certainly the fastest.
posted by cnc at 12:07 PM on November 20, 2015

Response by poster: Cool, thanks, everyone! That gives me lots to work with. I'm going to be doing a meditation retreat, so once I get there, the rental car would just sit for 7 days -- so that's out. But all the other options sound workable. Great!
posted by swheatie at 12:19 PM on November 20, 2015