Three Tans, Five Saturdays: A Santa Cruz October, Planned
Ask anyone who lives here and they'll tell you October is the month Santa Cruz keeps for itself. The visitors go home, the water is still warm enough to argue about, and the late afternoon light comes in low over the bay and turns everything the color of a good pear.
This year October has five Saturdays, which is the calendar's way of saying the same thing twice. Here is how I'd spend them, and the three appointments that carry you through all five.
Tan one: the first weekend
Friday, October 2, and Saturday, October 3. The month opens with First Friday, when galleries and shops across the county stay open from 5 to 8 and half of Santa Cruz walks from one opening to the next holding a plastic cup of something. The next afternoon, Pacific Avenue turns into a country fair for the Harvest Festival, noon to 4, with hay bales, vintage games and local farm vendors. If hay isn't your thing, Gourmet Grazing on the Green fills Aptos Village Park the same afternoon with food from local restaurants, wine, craft beer and live music.
Book this one for Wednesday or Thursday. Every formula develops over a full 24 hours, so booking midweek means your color is fully there, first rinse done, before the long days outside begin.
With good care, that first tan is still with you on Saturday, October 10. The Monterey Bay Festival of Birds runs October 9 through 11 for the fall migration, Open Farm Tours open farms countywide on the 10th and 11th, and Roaring Camp in Felton throws Thomas and Percy's Halloween Party on the 10th, from 10 to 4. That last one is either your children's favorite day of the year or the reason you finally get a quiet Saturday.
Tan two: film festival week
October 14 to 18. The Santa Cruz Film Festival brings more than 75 films to the Colligan Theatre, the Tannery, the Dream Inn, the 418 and the Del Mar, evenings from 5 to 9. It is the one week of the year when dressing up on a Wednesday is completely reasonable, mostly so you can stand around a lobby between screenings with a drink in your hand.
Book the second tan for Monday the 12th or Tuesday the 13th. It carries you through the festival and into Saturday, October 24, the one Saturday this month with nothing on the calendar. Take the long walk on West Cliff, let the coffee go cold because the conversation was better. Color isn't only for the days when someone is looking.
Tan three: Halloween, on a Saturday
Saturday, October 31. Halloween finally lands on a weekend, which means the costumes get more ambitious and the parties run later. If yours shows more skin than a Tuesday outfit, book on Thursday the 29th or Friday morning the 30th. You want the full 24 hours of development and your first rinse behind you before the costume goes on, and until that first shower, something dark and loose is the right thing to wear. If you want shimmer for the night itself, that is a same-day return visit, since Shimmer Hydration washes off with the first shower.
Why three is the number
Three tans across five weeks is exactly what a 3-tan package is for. You buy it once, it's valid for 12 months, and the three appointments are yours to place wherever the month needs them. Packages are available for every formula I book online, from $200 for three Bronze Organics or Classic Bronze tans to $260 for three Unity NR.
If you're choosing one formula for the whole month, Unity NR is the one I'd point you to in October. The bronzer is soft and neutral, and the formula is built around skin care: niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, a peptide complex, and vitamins A, C and E. It is vegan and cruelty-free, and it rinses on your schedule, around 2 hours for light, 4 for medium and 6 for deep, which fits a morning appointment before a workday. I'll give you your exact rinse time at the appointment, because it depends on you, not on a chart.
Nobody needs a reason to book, in October or any other month. But this October happens to come with five of them.
Event dates and times come from each organizer's listing. It's worth checking before you go.
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