Santa Cruz Boardwalk Self-Facilitated Treasure Hunt

Santa Cruz Boardwalk self-guided scavenger hunt — a self-facilitated treasure hunt your team runs on its own schedule. This is the do-it-yourself version of our classic Santa Cruz Boardwalk treasure hunt, built for distributed and remote teams that rarely share a room. There is no on-site host to book and no prize to coordinate — just a ready-to-play outdoor scavenger hunt your group unlocks whenever you are ready, on any day and at any hour. Two hours of clue-solving, photo challenges, and friendly competition turn the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk into real, in-person connection for groups of 10 to 500.

How the self-facilitated hunt works

The hunt runs entirely on your timeline. After you book, your organizer receives an email with everything needed to play — the full set of clue sheets and a printable route map. Print one packet per participant, hand them out, and your team is off. Because nothing has to be scheduled around a facilitator, you can run the experience the same day you book, start at whatever time suits your group, and move at your own pace. Availability is around the clock, an easy fit for busy teams, last-minute offsites, and hybrid schedules across time zones.

Why a self-guided team building scavenger hunt works

Colleagues who usually meet only on video calls get two hours of shared, hands-on problem solving. Teams decode clues together, split up tasks, race between landmarks, and laugh their way through creative challenges — the kind of wall-breaking experience that builds rapport people carry straight back to work. The goal is not a trophy; it is a team that genuinely knows one another, collaborates more comfortably, and communicates better once the hunt is over. It is one of the most flexible outdoor team building activities for remote and hybrid groups, and a favorite among corporate scavenger hunt organizers.

Explore Santa Cruz Boardwalk along the way

Your route follows clues to real landmarks around California's classic beachfront boardwalk. Teams pass the Giant Dipper, the Beach Boardwalk, the Municipal Wharf, Pacific Avenue, and the sand and surf, discovering local character, hidden details, and the rhythm of the Santa Cruz coast as a familiar (or brand-new) place becomes a course full of small surprises.

Customizable augmented reality

Every hunt runs on an augmented-reality (AR) app that guides teams from clue to clue with location-based challenges. The AR experience can be tailored to your company goals, team interests, or event theme, so a corporate outing, a birthday, or a school group each feels purpose-built rather than one-size-fits-all.

Please note: customization requests (such as tailoring the augmented-reality experience to your company goals, team, or theme) must be submitted at least two weeks before your event date so the app can be prepared in time.

What's included

• A self-guided, app-based scavenger hunt for groups of 10 to 500
• About two hours of play at your own pace
• Printable clue sheets and a route map emailed to your organizer
• Photo challenges and creative team competitions
• Flexible, around-the-clock scheduling with same-day start
• Fully self-facilitated — no on-site host required

Great for

• Remote and hybrid team building
• Corporate offsites and company outings
• Birthdays and celebrations
• School and university groups
• Networking mixers and reunions

Two decades of experience

With 24 years of experience designing live scavenger hunts and roots in the San Francisco Bay Area, every route is crafted by people who know these destinations firsthand. That local expertise shows up in clues that connect to the real character of each location and in an experience that consistently earns strong reviews from corporate and private groups alike.