Santa Cruz County announced Thursday that it will reopen all of its beaches starting Friday, following a nearly two-month period where they were mostly closed to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Most beach towns are happy to have just one spectacular strand, but Santa Cruz offers a wealth of possibilities — beach after beach along the city shoreline and more up and down the coast.

SANTA CRUZ — Santa Cruz County is moving forward with new beach restrictions in response to a hot weekend that saw beachgoers crowding the sand. Starting “this weekend,” all beaches in the ...