Hummer Tours of Santa Barbara and Wine Country

When you come to Santa Barbara, don't deprive yourself of that great California weather! Come aboard the finest fleet of OPEN air vehicles in the Central Coast.

Santa Barbara Backroads offers daily wine tasting tours.  They are like 2 tours in one. You will pass the historical areas of Santa Barbara including State Street, the famous courthouse and the Mission. Your guides are local experts and will follow the old stagecoach road to the San Ynez Valley and the danish community of Solvang to taste the finest wines. Join us on the backroads and see what you've been missing! 

All Tours provide:

• Daily Departures
• Open Air H-1 Hummers
• Tasting fees included at four vineyards including where the filmed the hit movie, "Sideways".
• Expert guides and wine stewards
• A gourmet picnic lunch is included - 19 gourmet sandwiches served at a winery or vineyard.
• Taste 30 different wines
• Open air experience, better then a bus or limo

For more information, call them at (877) WE-HUMMER!!! or www.santabarbarabackroads.com 


Contact Wish Upon A Star Travel for pricing on a hotel or for more information.  You can reach them at (805) 964-3601 or e-mail. 

Bacara Resort & Spa

8301 Hollister Avenue
Goleta , California 93117
Tel: (805) 968 0100

Just a few miles up the coast from Santa Barbara, on 78 beachfront acres, the whitewashed collection of buildings known as the Bacara Resort & Spa—think ritzy Spanish Colonial—is the kind of status-y getaway that attracts new money, old money, wannabe money, and everyone in between.

Room rates aren't cheap ($550 is the starting rate in high season), but the doting service makes it worth every penny. All the rooms are designed with a clean and comfortable beach-chic vibe, but the ocean-view suites hold the key to Bacara's secret weapon: dramatic sea cliff vistas that open onto a wild stretch of beach.

With three swimming pools, a 220-seat screening room, the nearby Sandpiper golf course, and hiking trails galore in the nearby Santa Ynez Mountains, it's tempting to stay put rather than head into town.

Good thing, then, that the on-site dining options run the gamut from top-notch Basque-Catalonian cuisine at Miró to calorie-conscious fare at the Spa Café. However, even dinner at the resort's more casual option, The Bistro, will run you around $70 a head.

At 42,000 square feet, the spa and exercise center is impressive in size but can feel somewhat factory-like, and the massages (the treatment of choice for most guests) are nothing to write home about.

CLICK HERE for a direct link to this luxurious hotel's website.

Contact Wish Upon A Star Travel for pricing on this hotel or for more information.  You can reach them at (805) 964-3601 or e-mail.  

Condor Express - Whale Watching

Condor Cruises @ Sea Landing
301 West Cabrillo Boulevard
Santa Barbara , California 93101
Tel: (805) 882 0088 or (888) 77-WHALE

"Whale watching with a guarantee" is the motto of Condor Express—that's what they all say. But the waters off Santa Barbara are home to one of the world's largest concentrations of migrating blue and humpback whales, plus orcas, minke whales, dolphins, and other finned mammals throughout the year. And, if you go out and not see a whale, they will give you a whale-check for another FREE cruise!!!

Best time to see blues and humpbacks: May through September. Dolphins can be seen throughout the year, and orcas surface occasionally between late February and March. Catch the gray whales during their winter migration to Mexico between December and March, or between February and May, when they head north with their newborn calves.

Condor Express offers two-hour coast cruises and half-day tours of the Channel Islands, depending on whale migrations. The only time that spotting a whale is not guaranteed is during the fall. They also offer private charters and adventure cruises.

CONDOR Cruises is recommended by, and affiliated with, the University of California Santa Barbara's Marine Science Institute, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. With qualified naturalists always on board, the CONDOR EXPRESS offers an interesting, informative and exciting trip on the most advanced & comfortable excursion vessel on the West Coast.

CLICK HERE for pricing and options.

Contact Wish Upon A Star Travel for pricing on a hotel or for more information.  You can reach them at (805) 964-3601 or e-mail.