O’Neill Yacht Charters

I had taken a cruise on the Chardonnay a week prior with another group, and enjoyed the experience enough to want to sail on the harbor again. I spotted the O’Neill catamaran in the harbor and wondered if they had tours too. Turns out they did… for nearly $ 30 less, and what would probably be a smoother ride? Yes, please! At this price point, you’re not getting personalized attention from a crew member, or pastries, fruit, and mimosas, but it didn’t matter (I’m gluten intolerant and was driving, so…). Bring your own snacks and enjoy the journey!
(And yes to what others said below: bring quarters for the meter and layers for unpredictable Monterey Bay summer temps)

Fun! Affordable! Amazing! not to miss. this local crew gives a great ride for a totally reasonable price. We love to bring guests on the catamaran cruise to get a view of Santa Cruz from the ocean side. We love it and often just come ourselves.
wonderful!

I cannot say enough good things about this group. I first went on a charter cruise, when they had Bonny Doon winery aboard for an event, about a year ago.
Delicious wine and a Santa Cruz sunset… I mean… come on!
Since then I drag all my out of town visitors onto the boat and they love it.
The price is great, the crew is wonderful and laying on a catamaran is a pretty damn good way to spend an evening.

Went with my girlfriends and we had a great time! We saw dolphins! The weather was great, even around this time of the year. They even have a little bar so you can enjoy wine, champagne or beer. it would be nice if they can extend the sail time, 1.5 hour is not enough! Friendly staff. Overall, we had a good time.

Great value and staff, including the Captain, who let my granddaughters, age 3 and 5, take the helm. Drinks reasonably priced.

We went for a birthday and had a great time. The boat wasn’t too crowded, and you get to sit on the catamaran’s «net». We did a wine tasting cruise; the hors d’oeuvres were nothing spectacular, but the wine was good and the cruise was comfortable. We saw whales, dolphins, and sea lions. My fiancé even spotted a whale in the distance, so they turned the boat and took us out there. That was a year ago, and we’re about to go again!

A very relaxing and fun tour of the bay. The staff was really friendly and easygoing. A great value as well. Bring a sweatshirt, even on a hot day it gets cold out on the water. Easy to book online as well.

Awesome crew, great boat and super affordable! Such a cool setup, and we managed to see otters, Dolphins, jellyfish, and a whale. Totally an amazing experience for the family. My daughter has spent all evening talking about how cool it was to steer the boat and get to be captain for awhile! We will be back…

Great trip, easy access and they were out on the water for the advertised time frame. Lots of room to move, friendly staff. The sailing and wave excitement is pretty low key, but its beautiful out on the water. If you want more of an authentic sailing experience (less motor cruising) go for a smaller craft or private charter. For groups of all ages, this is the best bet! Best harbor on the coast.

Sailed on their catamaran on a private cruise around the area. It was 90 minutes of total fun. I usually get sea sick, but the catamaran was pretty stable on the water. Thanks for a great time!

This was amazing and not overcrowded like the Chardonnay!
I will be back!

While in Santa Cruz area for vacation, we decided to book a sunset sail in the bay with a few other family members. We shopped around but not sure how we finally landed on OYC as the winner but was not disappointed with the choice.
Parking was easy and the staff was very friendly as we boarded and got our safety briefing. The boat is pretty large so there is plenty of room to move around. The fact that the night we cruised had free finger foods and wine tasting was an added bonus. The weather was great and views were impressive.
Suggestions for future travelers: bring change for the parking meter since they only take coins. Bring a sweater or wind breaker. It’s much cooler with stronger winds once you get out on the open water. Bring tennis shoes or flat shoes that have a good grip since the boat does get a bit rocky, though no one in the group of 20 ever complained of feeling seasick.
Will do it again I’m sure.

A beer tasting, whale watching with wonderful view and very friendly crew experience. The boat we were in was very clean and overall it was a very good experience! Will do again…

Great view, great crew and honestly one of the best deals in Santa Cruz at $ 30 a head. Went with my husband, 8 week old baby, dad, brother and sister.
I was the only one who had gone (work party) before. Everyone loved it.
Not something locals think to do, necessarily, but so much fun and a great perspective you don’t often see of Santa Cruz.
Highly recommend.

I first went on O’Neill for their beer tasting sails in September 2014 and had an amazing experience — the staff is amazingly friendly and great at what they do. It was the perfect hour-​long sunset cruise.
I booked this boat again for Father’s Day and my family was just as impressed as I already was. In addition to the already great service and friendly staff, we had a slight conflict that the team helped resolve right away. It was very windy and the hat I was wearing flew off in the middle of the boat ride. The staff slowed the boat down, and worked to ultimately retrieve the hat back for me. It meant so much to me and I couldn’t be more grateful.
I highly recommend this team for any type of boat cruise!

Went on the Local Brewery Cruise last Friday night. This was my second time doing this and absolutely loved it! Although it was a little cold, that didn’t make it any less fun. All the beer and pizza you could want. It’s my summer goal to make it to every cruise for each of the breweries!

I chartered the O’Neill Yacht for a memorial trip to scatter my mom’s ashes out off the coast of Rio Del Mar. I cannot say enough about the O’Neill Yacht team, especially the marketing manager Jenny Garza. She is the most helpful person I have ever dealt with over the phone and did everything she could to make a most difficult time as easy and memorable as possible. Her sparkling personality shines through the phone and she made the planning for this event super easy and seamless.
I also want to compliment Captain Mike and his crew as well. On the day of the trip, they were super friendly and efficient. They knew exactly when we needed to have just family time allowed us to have that moment of personal reflection. Not only do they have lots of experience doing this kind of trip but you can tell they are truly empathetic for their passengers. They do everything to make sure you have a wonderful and memorable trip.
I highly recommend O’Neill Yacht Charters for any event you want to do on the water out of the Santa Cruz harbor. And if you need a memorial trip to celebrate the life of a loved one you cannot go wrong with this wonderful team. A 5-​star rating is just not enough! Thank you O’Neill Yacht Charters for making our day a very special one for my family and myself.

What can we say about these folks that hasn’t been said? Fabulous!
I booked a team event for my boss and his direct reports. (including me, of course) It was a fairly small group, only about 9 – 10 people, so very cool to have the whole thing to ourselves! Also, we got a nice deal on our sailing due to time of day. (discount for before a certain time and we did 90 minute sail)
There was someone waiting for us when we arrived and he helped carry some wine and snacks on board for us. Totally unexpected and appreciated! Hopped on board and ran through the safety message and we were off.
They have a great beer selection and they did all the set up, walked around and made sure our cups were full, and put on one of our guys Beastie Boys Pandora channel on for us. Awesome attention to detail and just overall great service.
Special bonus, the weather was perfect! Not always the case in Santa Cruz, so we felt very lucky.
Would highly recommend this charter for team building event or just a lovely cruise with your family.

I organized a meetup for a catamaran sail in Santa Cruz with ONeill Charters. It was mid-​September 2014, Saturday and had beautiful sunny and warm weather. The Zerve payment process was easy. The location of the meeting place was easy to find too. There was a short introduction. All the staff were professional. We went on a 1 hour cruise ($ 22) and there was enough space for people on board. There were 20 of us and a few more families and a group of girl scouts and their teachers. The weather was perfect, 72 degrees. We went on a loop and at the farthest point out saw some water spouting. Someone mentioned it was a whale. Also at the farthest point, the catamaran stopped for about 15 – 20 minutes. So I sat on the floor, let my feet hang over the water and just closed my eyes and enjoyed the experience. It was a great outing, and one I am inclined to repeat.
Parking tip: We thought parking would be hourly and expensive but there was a portion of the parking lot where we paid only $ 5 for the whole day.

We took the 1.5 hour cruise through O’Neill this past Sunday and had a wonderful time! We purchased our tickets online about a week in advance and joined ~30 others for a beautiful afternoon sail. It was $ 32/​person ($ 30 + $ 2 service fee).
There was ample space for people to stand or sit (there were a few benches, but seating was mostly on the ground or on the «trampoline» net, which was bouncy and gave us a peek at the ocean below). The inside area was quite small and mostly for people to buy drinks or use the restroom.
There were both families with children and couples aboard the cruise. It was fairly smooth during our sail (3 – 4:30pm) AND we were lucky enough to see both dolphins and whales!
We sailed along the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, made a loop out into the ocean, and then came back towards the Harbor.
A really nice afternoon activity and great for locals or out-​of-​town visitors. Highly recommended!
*We felt that a 1 hour cruise, rather than 1.5 hours, is sufficient
*We found street parking just outside the Harbor, and it was free on Sundays
*Bring layers because it can get windy and cold!