Mystery Spot, Santa Cruz

First, I want to confirm that there are no “puzzling variations of gravity, perspective, and height” as the Mystery Spot (MS) claims. All of the constructions at MS were built for one purpose: illusion. The tilted cabin and fence were built in the background to heighten the illusory effects. The slanted road leading up to the hill and tilted cabin floor add to this effect by making it difficult for visitors to move about the area. When I came to MS about 15 years ago, I sensed something fishy, but at that time but I had no tools to prove anything. Time went by and MS was pushed to the back of my mind, but I always knew that there something was not right about it. On Tue 8/09/11, my wife asked me to take the family (7 people) to visit MS. I had not planned to bring any tools to prove my theory, but as we approached Santa Cruz, I realized that my new Nikon D7000 camera came equipped with a leveler. At MS, using the same old trick, the guide also had a leveler with him. Close to the entrance, the guide showed us that the compass had changed the directions. Since I did not have a compass, I will not discuss this part of the visit. The guide asked the group to go up the hill. In front of the slanted cabin, he placed a three-foot wooden bar horizontally at the window. About one foot hung outside the window, the other end of the bar laid on the bench inside the cabin. He put the leveler on the wooden bar; he even carefully flipped the leveler a couple times to make sure the wooden bar was level. Then he placed a pool table cue ball on the wooden bar. The cue ball rolled from the cabin and out of the window. The guide poured a bottle of water on the wooden bar and the water ran in the same direction as the ball. He asked the visitors if they had anything they wanted to roll. My wife gave him a lipstick. He put it on the bar and the lipstick rolled the same direction as the other objects. As all of the objects rolled in one direction on a perfectly level bar, everybody stared in wide-eyed shock and wonder. I, however, was in doubt. After the tour, my wife and I walked back to the area where the guide demonstrated with the wooden bar. Nobody was there. I positioned the wooden bar the same way the guide had. I then placed my camera on top to check the level and discovered it was off about 10 degrees. I pulled the bar out about two feet and hung it outside the window. The camera showed that it was level at this position. I put the lipstick on the bar and there was no movement. This time, I was in shock. Thanks, Nikon. Thanks for the new technology. How has this scam lasted over 70 years? How many children believe in this scam? How much money has this business collected the last 70 years? This place is destroying the innocence of our children. At home, I told my children the truth about this place and they could not understand why people would scam the public like that. I had no answer. Do you? Where are the scientists and professionals? How would you explain if somebody asks you about MS? Where about the city of Santa Cruz? Where are the new papers TV stations? This spot has no mystery. The only mystery here is how this ruse has survived over 70 years. A few other things that made me suspicious: Only cash or debit for admission but there are NO TICKET. Visitors received receipts, which were later collected by the guide.

This place was a waste of money. $5 a person, Plus $5 for parking on a road. The tour guide was rude... very, very rude. She was the geeky girl wearing the glasses. She talked in an attitude way throughout the whole 15 min tour. We waited 1 hr and then when it was finally our turn, we just get to walk to the top of a slanted cabin in and out and that was it. I will never go back.

my last trip to the mystery spot was a few years ago, they charged for parking on a shitty road better to walk in, youde think they would repair the road since they want to charge you. stay away on weekends in the summer time as you have rude foreigners who hog everything in this case they were indian, so your five bucks goes to waste. if you can go and enjoy the place without these ridiculous distractions totaly worth it but otherwise my advice would be to avoid at all cost.

Today June 2,2009 i came to the mystery spot with my son who is 5yr my daughter who is 1yr and my husband so we got there about 15 min Early and waited which was no problem but no one informed us until 2 sec from walking in did they tell me no strollers well my 1yr old wasn't to happy about that so i took her out but that still wasn't to much of a problem but an inconvenience to us so as he is explain the mystery of how tall one person to another my daughter stared to cry because she didn't want to walk, so she was just crying we only have been there for about 2 sec into the tour until our 10:30am tour guide stopped talking and in front of everyone asked us to leave and get our money back because it he couldn't think because of her crying i was so pissed but didn't say anything and quiety walked out now by the way we drove 3 1/2 hours to get there i have thought that it was a family deal not adults only as it seemed it wasent like she was crying for hours but for only about 4 sec we were still standing by were you buy tickets so thanks alto for the family fun I'll never come back again or tell anyone about this so called family fun place to check out this had to be the rudest place on earth !!!!!!!!!!

After sitting with our family of 5 (one in a wheelchair) for about 20 minutes,still waiting our turn for the tour, a man describing himself as the owner (and attorney) hostily asked us to leave. My husband showed him the service dog identification and he still angrily insisted we get a refund and leave saying he didn't have to follow the law "I own this and I'm an attorney". On the way out, we spoke with the assistant manager "Drew" who apologized, confirmed he was the owner and and attorney and that it wasn't the first time he had done that. Terrible experience!

ok so i live in Santa Cruz and i could never imagine myself anywhere else in the world. best place ever a guarantee you will like it

This was a complete waste of time and money. This place is set up just to make a buck. If you go to the gift shop, you will understand what I am saying.

I visited the mystery spot with my family who had no idea what to expect. I had read about the place & knew that it was optical illusions. However the one thing that amazed me was that none of the trees had any branches growing on the side that the cabin was on. That was a little spooky since that definitely was no optical illusion. i wonder if anyone has any explation to this phenomenon. Dont go expecting too much since its a 15 min tour for $5 per person. Keep an open mind & enjoy the illusions of the tilting house. The fantastic drive to Mystery spot more than makes up for the lack of things to do.

had to wait an hour to get in and what? it's a tilted cabin on a hillside! the "tour" is 100ft of walk and takes fifteen minutes tops. there are no "magnetic" or "gravitational anomalies" whatsoever. given, standing tilted on the floor and wall feels interesting and the pendulum seems to swing asymmetrically. plus couple of optical illusions exploited by the tourguide. most of the miracles are make-believe - the crowd nods just because the guide sounds so confident, not that you really see any differences but if they say so... in fact 2/3 of the "experience" is the presentation by the guide. sleight of hand - letting you check the carpenter's level the first few times and then claim say the roof is horizontal when it ain't.

Pay for parking PLUS each person. Yep---the mystery is why did I part with my family's vacation money? Kitchy gift shop---folks are dressed like park rangers yet this is not a 'national park service' site. Once is enough!