You probably know this, but surfing will require a wetsuit…it will be very cold here, and Ocean Beach is for experts only. Driving from Santa Cruz to Berkeley or even Stanford in Bay Area traffic could take several hours and your only choice is 17 which can be iffy. I would stay more centrally, on the Peninsula or in SF, for access to SF, Berkeley, and Stanford. Even then, be prepared for long travel times.
^^^I’d agree with this. Santa Cruz is a wonderful visit and can be done in a day, but your visit is so brief.
You may want to consider a hotel near SFO, like the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame. Near the SFO airport, Burlingame Avenue with lots of nice shopping and restaurants, easy access to Downtown SF, either by car, Bart or Cal Train. You can take Bart from the Millbrae Station, right across the freeway from the Hyatt, to Downtown Berkeley too. And it’s about a 7 block walk to Sproul Hall on the Cal campus. You will have access to anything on the Peninsula, like Stanford, which is about a 20-30 minute car ride depending on traffic. Or you can take CalTrain from the same Millbrae Station as Bart and get off at the Palo Alto station and walk to the Stanford campus, which is right across the El Camino Real. There’s a short tunnel for bicyclists and walkers to get across the train tracks right nearby. There’s a couple nice restaurants right across from the hotel too, if restaurant food is not your thing and you want something close by. Of course, PA, Berkeley and SF all have boatloads of fine dining.
And most of all, you can take a 5-minute shuttle to the airport for Wednesday’s departure. Just an idea.
^^ I agree. If your priority is seeing the colleges and the towns surrounding them, you are going to have a difficult time getting to the schools while staying close to the beach. I think it would be wiser to spend a couple of days in the South Bay and then a couple of days around Berkeley. Make sure your brother is prepared for cold and rough water.
Berkeley - If you go on a weekday, take a tour and then walk inside some of the buildings such as Le Conte. Berkeley is an old (150 yr old) public school and it is important to get a feel for what lecture halls and the inside of buildings are like. As far as the surrounding community - Telegraph is safe and will give you a feel for the south side. You might also look at the north side of campus and even drive up into Tilden Park/Strawberry Canyon. Definitely ask about housing and do research into the housing crisis in Berkeley. Views may be beautiful but you aren’t going to sit atop the Campanile while going to school. Look inside buildings, classrooms, dorms, etc. Watch the students and see how it would feel to be part of that environment with that student population.