Breakwater Apartments

Breakwater Apartments is by far the BEST complex I’ve lived at in Northern California. The apartments are spacious and the staff is wonderful. Megan and Darcy are by far the nicest property managers I’ve ever come across, and Francisco is a great maintenance man. If a light bulb goes out, or anything else needs repair, it gets fixed very quickly. The laundry room is clean with good washers and dryers, and the fitness room is a nice amenity as well. The apartments are also a real quick walk to the shopping center directly behind it, which has East Cliff Brewing Company and a REALLY nice farmers market on Sundays. And last but definitely not least, it is 5 minute walk to the beach. My wife and I would HIGHLY recommend this place for renting in Santa Cruz. For the size, quality and proximity to the beach, you can’t get a better deal.

I have lived here for 2 years and have loved it! The price is on the higher end, but when you look anywhere else in the area you really can’t come close to the quality here. The office staff has changed a bit, but the manager Darcy and the newer girl in front Megan are always so helpful and friendly. Anytime I have ever had an issue with something they are quick to respond. Maintenance is always completed in a timely manner and well done. Parking is tight, but you do get an assigned space with your apartment, so that’s a plus (some places don’t even offer that). Can’t beet the location for sure, right next to the beach! So to some it up, I would recommend it here if your looking for good quality in an apartment and management. Thank you!

VERY Expensive, dirty, no parking, bad lighting, and takes forever to get only a percentage of your deposit back (if they even send to the address they told you they would). Giving two stars instead of one because apartment manager let me use the office bathroom when my roommates locked me out of my cockroach infested bathroom and because she asked me to leave a positive review. (Yet– that was before the deposit return was mailed to the incorrect address and was not given a phone call back)

My roommate and I lived at this apartment complex for a little over 2 years. The unit was nice and spacious and as many people have commented pricey. I don’t know that the rising prices throughout our stay at breakwater was exclusive to this particular complex but rather to the outrageous state of rent prices in the Santa Cruz area. The location is incredible. Walking distance to Sunny Cove beach, close to Capitola, East Cliff and the harbor. Management was always great and professional; Darcy at the main office always addressed our concerns and requests in a quick, professional and helpful manner. If Santa Cruz rents hadn’t become so ridiculous, I’d love to be living there still! Thank you Darcy for all of your help over the past 2 years!

This is my second review because I am still living here (had to sign a 1 yr lease on move in day), and I HATE it so much that I need a place to vent.. I wouldn’t wish this place on my worst enemy. I have lived in Santa Cruz for 15 years and moved many times, all over this town, this place is by far the worst and most expensive.. There are billions of cockroaches and possibly mold in the walls/​under the floor as there was a leak which caused our bedroom floor to get wet every time it rains and they still haven’t officially fixed it (lucky for us there is a drought). The latest fiasco is NO HOT WATER for the past 24 hours. The apartment manager was a bitch and told us that we could not receive any sort of refund on our rent during the time that we did not have hot water. I have a baby and need to bathe and wash bottles, etc so this is totally unacceptable. We only moved in here bc we were desperate but looking back, I would rather have lived with my parents or in a vehicle until something better came up. Sometimes I come home and cannot find parking, have to walk blocks to get home (with groceries, a baby etc, this is really inconvenient), and you are PAYING for parking. It’s a total slum run by a greedy corporation of slumlords. DO NOT MOVE IN HERE unless you want a shitty life.

Updating this since I have moved out. About a year or two ago Breakwater was bought out by a company called Greystar. Greystar has done nothing but raise the rent, nearly monthly. When we first started renting at Breakwater we were paying 1550 a month for a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath. If we were to resign a lease when we moved out, it would have been 2k a month, utilities not included. Cockroaches have become a real problem for many tenants. It is disappointing to see a company only in it for the money (though not a real surprise). We were faithful, quiet, polite tenants who paid rent on time every month for 3 years. The rent was raised on us every time we resigned a lease, and finally, we couldn’t afford it any longer. Due to the increase in rent prices, many people have started bringing in more and more roommates to make their monthly payments. What this means is louder, more crowded apartments catering to a lower income demographic, and they now accept section 8. When we first started renting here, it was mostly quiet couples and young families. When we moved out, nearly everyone who was there when we initially moved in was gone, and everyone was seemingly being replaced by enormous hispanic families crammed in tiny apartments, or a half dozen college bros packed into too small a space. Breakwater Apartments: The value keeps going down, but the price only goes up and up. Would avoid. Try some places in Seabright.

God I wish I could leave no stars. This place was awful. Where do I start?
So I found cockroaches after only living there for a few months! And I called the office and I had to set up a time for them to come spray something down (which I still don’t understand what it was) and I had to move everything out of my kitchen bathroom and closets. And I had to be out of the apartment with my dog for up to 4 hours. Then guess what?
I found them the very next morning!!! Seriously! And then they were trying to argue about what do to come back! I was still paying for peat control and we defiantly had pests. All the way until we moved out on march 27 2015
Then there’s the garbage situation! It’s everywhere! And overflowing all the time. And the recycling too and there is always furniture by the dumpsters! Gah. I hate this place so much I could go on and on.
Then they raise your rent 300 $ or more! These places are not that nice seriously.
Please read all of these comments the bad ones are all true this place is ridiculous!
By the way don’t live in #107 there was definitely cockroaches.

I wish you could leave less than one star!
This place blows. Lived here for a year and a half (into 2015) and have had bad experience after bad experience.
First off, they WILL raise the rent price on you after your lease agreement by more than $ 300.
Garbage costs way more than it should and there is garbage overflowing all the cans and all over the walkways the day after trash day.
Kids will be running around screaming until 10 or 11 at night and yes, there are some dogs that enjoy barking at every sound.
Office staff is very inconsiderate of others. They are solely there to collect rent and fines.
Breakwater Apartments is the least forgiving apartment complex I have ever encountered.
My direct deposit was delayed one day because of a holiday and Breakwater charged me $ 100 for the late rent. Since I did not agree with it I did not pay it. 3-​day notice to pay rent of quit on our door NEXT DAY for $ 150.
DONT MOVE HERE IF TOU WANT HAPPINESS!

This place has cockroaches, and when I told them they forgot to fumigate. DO NOT RENT HERE! I moved out on 4^th February as yet I have not had my deposit back!!! My daughter and I were sick due to the cockroaches!!!

Just moved out of my apartment after living there a whopping 2 months. Terrible rental experience.
The move in was easy enough, we pretty much rented sight unseen from Oakland, ironically for a higher quality of life. After I viewed in person and the manager seemed pretty nice I thought moving to breakwater was a great choice. Boy, I was wrong. It is nothing but a bug infested dump strewn with dog feces everywhere.
I have my 3 year old son half the week and the first week he stayed there, he broke out in red bumps on his entire body. I was pretty alarmed and took him to a nurse practitioner and she (mistakenly) diagnosed him as having chicken pox due to the sheer volume of the bumps. Bummer. I’ll come back to this in a few paragraphs.
At this point, my boyfriend and I had seen cockroaches in our kitchen, bathroom, living room and had even seen a strange beetle looking thing in my son’s bedroom. I was pretty disgusted and complained to management, and nothing was done. When I turned on a light at night, they would run into the wall from the electrical outlet.
There was a dumpster right next to our unit and it was constantly overflowed with heaps of trash bags and furniture. It also attracted vagrants going through it. The pictures here on Unilocal don’t even do it justice– the entire walkway at some points was a dump, literally. This probably explains the cockroach infestation. I was so disgusted, I stopped buying groceries and ate out for all of my meals.
My son continued to break out in bumps. They were severe, only happened at night, and cleared up when he was at his dad’s the other half of the week. I suspected they were BED BUG bites and took him to a doctor this time to re examine, and she said they were in fact insect bites consistent with bed bug bites. They were mostly on his back and trunk, which is also consistent with bed bug bites with a certain pattern to them.
I talked to management about this and she immediately blamed both infestations on us and took no responsibility for their unit’s bug issues. I was shocked and insulted, but more importantly my son could literally not even stay there. We had to move in with a relative nearby immediately and the bites completely stopped.
We broke our lease early due to uninhabitability laws. They denied the bed bugs the entire time, but an exterminator told us they were hard to find and the doctor was probably right. We are also pretty sure we saw one in my son’s room.
After I moved out, the landlord left me a message proudly proclaiming the unit actually had flea infestation, but not bed bugs. Well, yes it does have bed bugs, also cockroaches and now fleas! (Fleas? Thats especially disgusting because we don’t have pets.)
Stay away, unless you want some unwanted insect roomates that always eat your food, tweaker billy in the dumpster going through the trash bags, as you slip on some dog feces at your front door trying to get into your horribly overpriced unit.
At least I get to buy all new beds and furniture now! *rolls eyes*
Fun fact: Most people don’t react to bed bugs, only children and people with extremely sensitive skin according to my doctor

My husband and I loved our time at Breakwater. We rented our unit sight unseen as we were relocating from overseas… so we showed up directly off our transatlantic flight, with a cranky jet-​lagged cat in tow, signed some final papers and moved right in! During the rental process and throughout our time at Breakwater, the staff was so easy to work with and addressed problems immediately.
PROS: The location absolutely cannot be beat. You’re two blocks from the beach, and at night with the windows open you can hear the waves crashing in Sunny Cove. Every Sunday there’s a farmer’s market right behind the apartment complex. Also, you’re a few steps from Aloha Grill and a short drive from Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joes and so forth.
The units are clean + updated with nice white cabinets and laminate wood floors. The very few times I had maintenance issues, Francisco was over in a flash to fix things. The living area is quite spacious, the bedrooms are nicely sized and there’s plenty of storage space.
Breakwater has a cute little pool, which is always very clean. The premises are landscaped nicely, and the laundry rooms are kept tidy. Also, the friendly, chunky white + black cat that hangs out in the back parking lot will make you smile. :)
CONS: The units get HOT in the summer, so invest in a good window fan or AC. The walls are pretty thin and you’ll occasionally hear loud music or snoring from neighbors. (Awkward.) Parking for guests or 2+ car households can be a nightmare as street parking fills up quickly.
Overall, I felt that Breakwater charged a fair price, and we got exactly what was advertised.

We lived at Breakwater for only 1 year. Price is very high considering the square footage for the small stacked apartments. I feel that we were nickel and dimed for our security deposit when it came time for a refund. Rent and utilities were explained to us in a different manner than what our monthly statement reflected. I also feel we were lied to by management on several occasions regarding «rent». Staff was usually friendly and problems or issues with the apartments were handled quickly. Still, not worth the price or hassle with the money issues.

Decent apartments and decent staff. Natasha (assistant manager) and Francisco (maintenance) do an excellent job of keeping things together and treating their customers with care and respect. Despite their efforts, their name is being tarnished by the head property manager, Monique, who is nothing but rude and condescending. Never have I felt so blatantly disrespected by the staff at any location, anywhere. In addition, there was a MAJOR cockroach problem when we first moved in. The problem went largely unaddressed until a few months into our lease, however, we still occasionally find a stray ‘roach roaming around the kitchen.

Friendly, caring, awesome staff! The apartments are spacious, in a great location, and super cute inside. I have been here for 1.5 years! They allow small pets with deposit, and I have never been more pleased with a landlord!