Travel Safety Tips

Welcome to Santa Cruz County. When traveling, safety is always important. The following tips may help you to make your trip worry free and successful. We wish you a safe and enjoyable journey!


What to Bring:

  • Mark luggage with your last name and phone number.
  • Carry the minimum number of valuables, and plan places to conceal them.
  • Photocopy all documents, including passports, credit cards, and tickets before leaving home. Leave one photocopy of this data to your family or friends at home; pack the other in a separate place with where you carry the originals.
  • Use traveler’s checks and credit cards. Keep a record of serial numbers in a secure place in case they are lost of stolen.

Safety in Your Hotel:

  • Keep your hotel door locked all the time. When possible, meet the visitor in the lobby.
  • Watch your luggage when checking in and out.
  • Familiarize yourself with the most direct route to and from your room to the fire escapes, elevators and nearest telephone.
  • Do not leave money and other valuables in your hotel room while you are out.
  • If you are alone, do not get on an elevator if there is a suspicious-looking person inside.
  • Make sure you have your key when leaving your room.

Safety When You Drive:

  • Keep car doors locked at all times.
  • Always wear seat belts when driving.
  • Don’t leave valuables in the car.
  • Never pick up hitchhikers.
  • Always try to park in well-lit, busy areas.
  • Respect and obey the traffic signs.
  • Don’t drink and drive.
  • Don’t text and/ talk while driving.
  • Don’t get out of the car if there are suspicious looking individuals nearby. Drive away.
  • For real-time traffic conditions and highway webcams in the Santa Cruz County area, visit the Regional Transportation Commission's Commute Solutions Traffic Conditions webpage. For current road conditions by phone, call the CalTrans (California Department of Transportation), (800) 427-ROAD. Or visit the California Department of Transportation website and enter the number of the highway you're taking (e.g., Highway 1, 9, 17, 129, 152, or 156).

Kids' Safety

  • Instruct kids not to open hotel room doors to people they don’t know.
  • Kids must not be left alone in a car.
  • Make sure kids are familiar with hotel or motel escape routes, and which adult is responsible for which child or children in an emergency.
  • In California, children under the age of 6 and weighing less than 60 pounds must use a child safety seat, a booster seat or other safety restraint system when in a car.

For transportation security concerns, please visit: Transportation Security Administration.
For citizen and immigrant security concerns, please visit: Department of Homeland Security.
For occupational health and safety concerns, please visit: Center of Disease Control and Prevention.
For citizen and traveling abroad concerns, please visit: Consulate General of the United States.


The Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce wishes you a joyful and safe trip!


Article by Kylie Chan and George Semfield, May 2011