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UCSB brings performers, authors, and other lecturers to town. Some performances are on the UCSB campus, others are in town at some of the venues mentioned above.
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Almost universally referred to by locals as "Henry's" or "Hendry's" beach, and more isolated than the downtown beaches. Dogs are permitted to be off-leash, and one end is a nude beach, where you'll often see nude dudes frolicking.
Santa Barbara offers year-round flying, and some of the best flying in the United States. You can fly solo on your first day at Elings Park. Tandem Flights are also available from the Mountains, the Beach, or the Elings Park Training Hill.
Known as "The Queen of the Missions," Santa Barbara's "Old Mission" is a superb example of California's Franciscan Spanish architecture. The tenth California Mission to be constructed, it was consecrated in 1786 as the first of Father Lasuen's nine missions. Today, Mission Santa Barbara is both a scenic wonder and a fine anthropological study of original native culture in the surrounding area. Santa Barbara is the only California mission with twin bell towers, owing to its status as a cathedral in the early days of California statehood. It also has had a longer continuous association with the Franciscans than any other mission, and a longer continuous history of choral music than any other mission. The headquarters of the mission system in the 1830s and 40s, it is where many of the archives of the California missions are held. Note the adjacent pottery kiln and tanning vat ruins. The mission also features a small but well-regarded rose garden. The mission continues to be used as an active church, with regular masses on Wednesdays, Sundays, and holy days. Admission to Masses is free, but a small donation is customary.
This large, well-presented museum is - literally - a hidden treasure. Highlights in the eleven exhibit halls include regional natural history, a life-size Blue Whale skeleton, and a rare skeleton of a pony-sized "pygmy mammoth."
Roughly bounded by State St to the west, Micheltorena Street to the south, Olive and Laguna Streets to the east, and Constance Ave to the north, this area was where most well-to-do residents lived when Santa Barbara first started to attract that class. As a result you'll see large, impressive houses in a variety of architectural styles, including late Victorian, Craftsman, Mission Revival, Romanesque, and even including a couple of eye-catching Mid-Century Moderns. As anywhere if you're looking at residential architecture, please respect the residents' privacy.
A 2,000-seat single screen movie theater, used mainly for blockbuster films, but also hosts occasional live performances. Also has a restored theater organ, that is used occasionally for solo performances or to accompany silent movies. Even if nothing special is going on, it's worth catching a flick there just for its charming interior design, with a faux "Spanish" village around the walls and a dark blue ceiling that even has a few pinpricks of light to represent "stars"