How to get to the San Jose Airport (SJC)

Getting to the San Jose Airport from Santa Cruz is not difficult. The whole trip takes roughly an hour and a half, and costs between $5.75 and $6.25 (between $2.75 and $3.00 if you're 65 or over), depending on the route. It involves two transfers, both on the San Jose side of the hill. It is possible to reach the airport as early as 6:30 am on weekdays, or 8:30 am on weekends.

There are three alternative routes, all of which rely on the Highway 17 Express service between Santa Cruz and San Jose, the details of which are described here. Once you're in San Jose, there are choices for the route—each of which takes on the order of half an hour, depending on train and light rail schedules. Here are the alternatives:

• From the San Jose Diridon Station, take the 5-minute Caltrain ride north to the Santa Clara Station. The fare is $2.25, or $1.00 if you're 65 or over. (Buy your ticket at the station, before you get on the train.) Then take the free Airport Flyer (Route 10) eastbound to either Terminal A (American and Southwest) or Terminal C (all other airlines), which takes about 13 to 15 minutes. The Caltrain schedule is here, and the Airport Flyer schedule is here. A map of the Airport Flyer route is here.
• From the San Jose Diridon Station, take the VTA Light Rail north (toward Mountain View), to the Metro/Airport stop—a 21-minute ride. (The Metro/Airport stop comes next after the Gish stop.) The fare is $1.75, or $0.75 if you're 65 or over. (Buy your ticket from the machine before you board.) Then take the free Airport Flyer (Route 10) westbound to either Terminal A (American and Southwest) or Terminal C (all other airlines), which takes only 5 to 7 minutes. (The Airport Flyer bus shelter is right there on 1st Street—diagonally across the intersection with Metro Drive.) The Light Rail schedule (trains run every 15 minutes on weekdays, every 30 minutes on weekends) is here; see above for the Airport Flyer schedule and map.
• On weekdays, you can take the Highway 17 Express all the way to 1st & Santa Clara Streets, where a northbound Light Rail goes by every 7 or 8 minutes, since both the 901 and 902 travel up 1st Street here. The fare is the same as in the previous choice—slightly less than the Caltrain alternative. Take one of these to the Metro/Airport stop, and then the free Airport Flyer (Route 10) westbound as described above.

Below is an aerial image showing the airport terminals, the Light Rail stops and the Santa Clara Caltrain stop, along with the Airport Flyer route (the dashed line). The Light Rail is the bluish line at the right; Caltrain is the reddish line at the lower left. The green line is the Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) line, not relevant here.

How to return to Santa Cruz from the San Jose Airport

For the return trip, keep in mind that the last Highway 17 Express bus leaves Diridon Station at 10:42 pm (10:10 pm on weekends), arriving in Santa Cruz at 11:35 pm (11:10 pm on weekends). This means that it works only if your flight arrives at the airport before about 9:45 pm. If you miss the last Highway 17 Express, well, you'll just have to make other arrangements, such as a taxi (very expensive) or a ride from a friend, or…?

Other than that, just reverse the sequence described above. Note that both the westbound and eastbound Airport Flyer buses stop at the Airport Terminals. Be sure to get on the right one—just ask the driver where he/she is going!

If you chose to return via the Light Rail on a weekday, note that in downtown San Jose, both Light Rail lines (901 and 902) run southbound on 2nd Street; however the Highway 17 Express stops on 1st Street. No problem. Just get off the Light Rail at the Santa Clara stop, and walk from 2nd Street on the convenient mid-block pedestrian path to 1st Street and the bus stop.

Below is an aerial image that shows exactly where the Highway 17 Express bus stop is at Diridon Station—very handy to know if you're in a hurry. There's a bus shelter near the bus stop. All the train tracks are at the left of this image, i.e., west of the station building.