Steamer Lane

[1] Steamer Lane was named by Claude Horan while he was a student at San Jose State in the late 1930s.

One flat calm day he and his friend Wes Hammond thought it would be a good idea to hire steamships to cruise back and forth to generate waves for surfing.

[1] The cliffs overlooking Steamer Lane are composed of Quaternary period marine deposits, part of the Purisima formation.

Santa Cruz is well known for watersports such as sailing, diving, swimming, paddling, and surfing.

However, Steamer Lane has also seen animosity between local surfers and surf kayakers as the two groups seek to share waves.