Capitola / Live Oak / Pleasure Point

Capitola Village: California’s Oldest Seaside Resort Town

Capitola is California’s oldest seaside resort town — a designation it has held since 1876 — and the village still carries that unhurried, sun-bleached charm. The Esplanade is the heart of it: a promenade of colorful beach bungalows, restaurants, and cafes that runs directly along Capitola Beach and the mouth of Soquel Creek. It’s the kind of place where people linger over coffee, rent kayaks on a Tuesday afternoon, and know their neighbors by name.

Real estate within Capitola’s city limits is genuinely scarce. The city is small, and turnover is low because residents don’t want to leave. The housing stock ranges from historic beach cottages near the village core to mid-century homes on the bluffs above and newer construction in the surrounding hills. Properties within walking distance of the Esplanade command a meaningful premium that has proven durable through multiple market cycles. When a well-positioned Capitola Village home comes to market, serious buyers need to move fast.

Pleasure Point: World-Class Surf, World-Class Views

The Pleasure Point neighborhood takes its name from the surf break that puts it on the map globally. The point produces consistently long, peeling right-hand waves that have attracted serious surfers for decades — it’s home base to numerous professional surfers and is the setting for significant events in surfing culture. The community that has grown up around the break reflects that heritage: unpretentious, outdoors-oriented, community-minded, and deeply local.

The blufftop above the break is among the most desirable real estate in Santa Cruz County. Homes with unobstructed views of the break — watching surfers ride long rides in the morning from your living room — have a draw that transcends ordinary real estate calculus. The neighborhood also benefits from what longtime residents call the “Pleasure Point effect”: appreciation that has steadily outpaced surrounding areas as word of the neighborhood’s character has spread beyond the surfing world.

Price ranges in Pleasure Point run from roughly $1.2 million for smaller homes without views to $3 million or more for blufftop properties with premium surf-view positioning.

Live Oak: The Accessible Coastal Entry Point

Live Oak is the unincorporated community that connects Capitola and Santa Cruz City along the coast. It’s the most affordable of the three neighborhoods in this corridor, making it the primary entry point for buyers who want genuine coastal proximity without the premium attached to Capitola Village or Pleasure Point addresses.

The housing stock is diverse — older beach cottages, duplexes, triplexes, and multi-family properties sit alongside updated single-family homes and small condo developments. Twin Lakes State Beach and the Santa Cruz Harbor are the neighborhood’s recreational anchors. Restaurants and coffee shops along Portola Drive and East Cliff Drive have improved significantly over the past decade, reinforcing Live Oak’s reputation as a neighborhood coming fully into its own.

Live Oak also has a strong vacation and short-term rental market, and its mix of property types makes it interesting for buyers seeking investment properties with rental income alongside a primary residence. Entry-level homes start around $700,000 for smaller properties needing work, while updated homes with any ocean proximity trend toward $1.5 million and up.

Frequently Asked Questions