Derby Park

Solid historic skate park on the West Side of Santa Cruz, ostensibly one of the very first. Unfortunately, Santa Cruz skaters are haters to anyone else. A friend who recently moved in to the immediate neighborhood was blocked at the entrance by a SC skater who told him «Locals only.» This may be the only skate spot in the world that discriminates in that way. Most skaters worldwide are friendly and welcoming to newcomers. Their loss.

Wow… such a significant skatepark, love the design, very cool! Unfortunately unless you are part of the über-​cool SC, veteran skaters you are not always welcome at this park. I was there yesterday with my 8yr old grandson and his admittedly modest skate boarding skills were laughed at and ridiculed by the big boys. I guest they were born to skate and didn’t need to practice. Luckily, he skated most of the day at SC Skate Park where the skaters were kind, supportive and friendly. Night and day! Hopefully it was just a couple of jerks at Derby who aren’t regulars… but it was a downer

Derby is always fun. Nice park too with bbq’s, volleyball and tennis courts, dog friendly, and playground.

All right, lets face it, the real reason to go to Derby is to skate one of the first skate parks in the world, and one that has remained timeless. Its narrow and tight snake run will always remain a challenge and here you will see the current rippers mingling with the old timers cruising the bowl on their longboards. Might be the barbeque is fired up alongside, and some cold ones being enjoyed. If you want though, there’s a couple tennis courts and plenty of green grass to roll around in after you’ve rolled one!