Horse Vacations Accommodations and Transportation Info

Participants in the equine learning vacations and summer internships have a wide variety of hotel, motel and room-for-rent choices.

Accommodations for vacation participants and interns in or near Aptos can be found at Hotels & Motels. Interns might also be interested in rooms for rent for their one month stay. An Internet search for rooms for rent near Aptos, CA will produce a list of possibilities.

For information about airport transportation to and from Aptos, please see Airport Transportation.

• San Jose International Airport - 39 miles, about 49 minutes to Aptos (depending on traffic)
• San Francisco International Airport - 74 miles, about 1 hour 25 minutes to Aptos (depending on traffic)

Car rental information is available at Car Rentals. For those participants who do not rent a car, transportation between the Equine Research Foundation and Aptos is available as follows: participants will be picked up at a designated location in Aptos in the mornings and dropped off in the same location at the end of each day.

For breakfast and dinner, there are many restaurants and cafes to choose from in Aptos and other nearby towns. Lunches at the Equine Research Foundation are included in the price but participants may go out on their own if they prefer.

When not at the Equine Research Foundation, participants have the opportunity to enjoy the nearby beaches, go hiking, or explore the resort towns between Santa Cruz and Monterey.

Aptos is a quaint village, established in 1851, located southeast of Santa Cruz, a popular seaside resort. The Foundation is located in a rural wooded area with an elevation of 500 to 700 feet. Temperatures are quite moderate, summer ranges from 55° to 85°, winter from 28° to 65°. Occasional fog occurs in the summer months but usually dissipates by mid-morning. Our woods consist of redwood, pine, fir, oak, madrone, eucalyptus, bay, as well as others.

We are close to the several thousand acre Nisene Marks Park which has miles of hiking trails through varied terrain. There are miles of beaches for walking, beachcombing, sunbathing, swimming, surfing and scuba diving. At the ranch we have a resident population of deer, coyotes, raccoons, bobcats - all are often seen traversing the ranch during the daylight hours. Resident birds include California quail, Steller's and scrub jays, thrashers, woodpeckers and raptors (hawks, falcons, owls, occasional golden eagles). Being on the Pacific migratory route, we are visited seasonally by an exceptional number of species of birds.

A 15 to 30 minute drive brings you to Santa Cruz with the famous beach boardwalk, numerous beaches, Henry Cowell and Big Basin Redwoods State Parks, Roaring Camp Steam Railroad, the University of California and Long Marine Laboratory, as well as many other parks and points of interest such as many small but award winning wineries. Within 30 to 90 minutes drive to the south are Monterey and the Monterey Peninsula, site of historic and scenic beauty including the renowned 17 Mile Drive with its fantastic shoreline and golf courses, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Fisherman's Wharf, and Cannery Row. To the north are Natural Bridges State Beach (migratory stop-over of the monarch butterflies), Ano Nuevo State Reserve (home to thousands of elephant seals, sea lions and sea birds seasonally), more beaches and parks and rugged, scenic coastline. For those interested in an excursion of greater length, some points of interest include the majestic Big Sur coastline, Hearst castle, Yosemite, San Francisco, and the Napa Valley.

Please see Schedules & Prices for dates and costs for our learning vacations and internships.

Copyright Notice: All literature and photographs on this website are the exclusive property of the Equine Research Foundation or the scientific journals in which articles appear. The literature and photographs may not be downloaded or reproduced, copied, used or altered in any way without the written permission of the Equine Research Foundation.