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    Capitola Seashells

    4.8 (26 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
    Updated 3 weeks ago

    Services - Capitola Seashells

    Gift shops

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    Adrienne B.

    I was on the hunt for seashells to use in an event I organized this October, and I found everything I needed and then some at this store! They had a fantastic selection of beautiful shells at very affordable prices. I'm absolutely thrilled with my discovery and will definitely return soon. :)

    I love turtles
    Janet M.

    Great little store in downtown Capitola Village with a total beach feel. They have some beautiful jewelry made from Hawaii and lots of shells to choose from. There is so much to choose from in this store and the customer service was outstanding. The prices for jewelry were very reasonable and the variety of art pieces to wind chimes, shell boxes, candles, soap and the list goes on. This shop is a place you want to come in and get some shopping done.

    Grey R.

    I was pretty sure that I had written my review on this cutest little shop in the past - apparently, not so. Thanks to my Yelp friend Steven W. for reminding me! Check out his reviews, on this and other Santa Cruz area places, and enjoy it like a local! Capitola Seashells on the avenue has been here for a very long time. We always stop by when driving down to Capitola and Aptos, at least every other week. It's a pleasure to chat with the owner, she's extremely welcoming and helpful, if you want to be helped. The beauty of it is that you feel no pressure of buying as you browse through the myriads of seashells and gifts. This is the cutest little shop with a huge variety of seashells of all sizes, shapes, and forms, so much to choose from. I find it to be a good resource if traveling to the East coast to visit with friends or family to bring a little Cali souvenir. A seashell is always a good idea! They have wind chimes, jewelry case, and other little tidbits for tourist attraction, nothing wrong with that. All shells are fairly priced and that makes them affordable, whether you're looking for a large abalone or working on a project, thus need a handful of small shells.

    Store front
    Douglas M.

    The kids love this place, every time we are visti capitola we have to check out the shell shop.

    Front of store

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    4 years ago

    Great selection! Beautiful shells and great service. Prices are reasonable as well - great variety too.

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    Ask the Community - Capitola Seashells

    Review Highlights - Capitola Seashells

    They seem to specialize in sea shells, pretty much any kind your heart desires they have it!

    Mentioned in 6 reviews

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    Carmel Bay Company at the Village

    Carmel Bay Company at the Village

    (4 reviews)

    Really liked this shop! From the eclectic blend of reasonably-priced merchandise to the friendly…read moreservice. I did read the reviews of the store in Carmel - wowzers. I did not experience the level of horrible customer service that Yelpers complained about at this location. I bought a fun scarf - kind of like a cheap knock off of the striped Missoni-style scarves. They were only $7.50! Acrylic of course. Great spot to buy a unique souvenir or a gift for someone. Highly recommend!

    This is the capitola edition of the carmel bay company, located just a block off the beach…read more Parking is street only which sometimes (weekdays in the winter) possible at other times (weekends, the entire summer/tourist season) the rarest commodity on earth. There is a surface lot a block (off of Monterey) away that has all the same problems as the street parking. Generally speaking I like the odds that the lot behind the police station offers, but in peak tourist season you'd best plan ahead for parking. This is a medium ish sized store very typical in layout for the shops that line this block close to the beach. The entrance faces the street, and the stock is laid out through the store with the cashier at the back. It will seem narrow but isn't really. The stock falls into mid range giftables. It's not a super expensive spot where you can blow 500 dollars on a purse but is the kind of spot where you can pick up a decent clutch for 40 bucks or so. Most of the items fall into the home décor category with a mild beach theme. There are inspirational books, wine accessories, all sorts of beach gear, light clothing, candles, leather craft goods, cups, and yes magnets because of course there are. Overall it's a reliable source of better quality gifts then you'll find elsewhere on the esplanade, the kind of things that won't embarrass you when you get home.

    Ethos - Inside (and there's another room to the right)

    Ethos

    (28 reviews)

    I've been here twice and last time my daughter and I purchased the witch hazel. She liked it and…read morewe came back today to refill it. While they were out of the specific formula we purchased another and the lady working was very helpful and kind. Her name was Mafer and she made our experience special with her outstanding customer service! This store is truly unique and has many products at reasonable prices. I would return especially because of Mafer.

    We need more stores like this in every town: eco-friendly, sustainable, carbon-neutral, and…read moreplastic-free! They sell a variety of household goods, skincare and beauty products, and so much more, with the emphasis on good-for-the-planet and good-for-you. I had run past this shop and driven by many times, always saying to myself that I needed to drop in when it's open (which by the way is 11am-6pm), and finally got a chance to during the Capitola Art & Wine Festival. There's so much more in this store than I expected, and it's a lot bigger inside than it looks from the outside. Not only do they sell a lot of specialty and everyday items from quality and earth conscious brands, they also are a refillery so you can pop in armed with your own bottles/containers to refill with everything from body lotion to laundry detergent! It's awesome! Ethos is also a Certified B Corp, donates some of their proceeds to environmental nonprofits, is locally-owned, and women-owned! So many positive reasons to support and check them out! Do it for your health and for the planet! :)

    Lumen Gallery - Californian Modern Eclectic Vibes

    Lumen Gallery

    (18 reviews)

    $$

    Every time I am in Capitola I love strolling through this place. Always lots of contemporary and…read morestylish things to see.

    I went to Lumen Galery in September for the arts and wine festival. I found the cutest ring and…read morepurchased it. She had a size 5 in stock which I could get sized or I could just order size 6 from her. She looked up how much more the size 6 would be from the designer and I decided to pay the difference instead of buying a size 5, and taking it to a jeweler. I was told the ring is white topaz, diamonds and 14 karat gold. I found it odd she was going to charge me for shipping. Usually when you make such a large purchase shipping is free. And come to find out after finding out who the designer is she also charges free shipping on her website. The owner said she had to ship it to lumen Gallery and then ship it to me, therefore charging me. Not sure why you couldn't just get direct shipping from the designer. Maybe just another way to charge the customer. Just like she charges for bags and doesn't tell you. I think it was 3.50 a bag she charged my friend times two. It was a bit of a struggle getting it shipped. I hadn't heard anything so I sent an email and she said she had just received it that day. Then she said she was out of the office for a few days. Not quite sure why she was the only one who could ship it out. With that being said, I received the ring. There wasn't any information about the ring or who the jeweler was. Which led me to believe something was wrong. I asked her to send me information on the ring and who the jeweler was. And asking her why it wasn't stamped 14 karat gold. She then responded that the jeweler was now using 9 carat instead of 14 carat. Because gold prices have rose dramatically in the last year. And apparently the jeweler did not notify her. I find that hard to believe if you're carrying a jeweler in your Boutique that they would not notify you about new gold standards. Not to mention when she looked up how much the size 6 would be it's right there on the webpage, I later find out and I looked up her information. When I took it to a jeweler, he also said that not all of the diamonds were real. (I can honestly say that part had nothing to do with the owner at lumen Gallery) i jeweler said I would have to pay $350 to do an extensive review. Which I was not going to do. I contacted the owner after receiving the information from the jeweler. Instead of being very apologetic, she was rude and defensive. She should've had no qualm over giving me a full refund under these false pretenses. She then told me I could not get a refund. After I said I would report her to the Better Business Bureau. She said she would give me a partial refund and I would have to pay a restocking fee and shipping. I said absolutely not!! I then decided to be my own advocate and filed a claim with my bank to receive my full refund. Per the bank she has to approve the refund. I filed that on September 30 and I'm still waiting. If I don't get my full refund I'm then going to file a complaint with the BBB. It's really unfortunate that she treats customers this way. I attached the receipt and the return policy and the text conversation. This could've all been solved real quick if she would've just said I'm so sorry. Can I give you a full refund. Or maybe a discounted price. It's unfortunate because she has some really adorable things in her store. But I cannot support a local business owner when she treats her customers this way.

    Sea Level  - A shirt from Sea Level

    Sea Level

    (8 reviews)

    Good selection of adult novelty souvenir tee shirts (work safe adult - not *that* kind of "adult")…read moreat acceptable tourist location prices ($26 OTD). They had a few other things such as kid's tees, baby onesies, postcards, etc. But predominantly t-shirts here. Service was helpful and she was far more polite to the non-mask wearing women who walked in after us than I would have been (FYI, I loathe the dumb mask but generally, rules are rules).

    1. Don't shop here because the clothes are cheap material and over priced for what you get. Trust…read moreme you can get better quality down the way. Just keep walking! 2 ( and most importantly) The woman they have working AS THE CASHIER is rude AF. She should definitely be fired because her customer service is A-palling . If this is how she treats half of the customers that walked by there good luck getting any business. The woman is terrible. I am SHOCKED at the level of customer service of this place! My son, who was NOT in the establishment waved at a dog inside the store. She yells to him VERY RUDELY "watch out for your ice cream" and so I looked at her and said "he's not inside the store" Her response " I don't care , I don't want it there" EXCUSE ME? Don't talk to me like that or my son and secondly you don't own the sidewalk you idiot. Some people! Seriously, the owners need to reconsider hiring someone else if they want more business. And if she is the owner (which I doubt) good luck staying in business. You have a lot to learn about running one.

    Outside-In

    Outside-In

    (58 reviews)

    $$$

    This was a lovely store that had so much to offer. This cute shop was packed full of clothing, home…read moredecor, and other wonderful items. After reading previous review reviews, I was a little apprehensive, walking in knowing what many others had experienced with their customer service. I will say when I walked in there was somebody who promptly greeted me and my husband, when we walked in and made some small talk. As we peruse the store, I did experience a little of what other people were saying as the employee seemed to keep popping up to chat with us as we per the store. I can understand why some customers may think that it may come off as the employees are watching you while you shop. I don't think that was what was happening at all. I think they were trying to definitely just be more friendly and welcoming, but I think they do need to tone down how many times they pop up while you are walking around the store. All of the items they have to offer are a fabulous quality and definitely a great spot to pick up gifts for others. When I'm in the area, I will definitely pop in and shop again.

    This store has a ton of unique items that are PERFECT for gifting. I wish I found this shop before…read moreChristmas. The price point is expensive but expected at a small boutique store such as this. I could spent hours in here looking at all of the different items. My friend was coming in to exchange an item or swap it out for another item. After shopping around and finding another jacket that she liked we inspected the jacket because it was white and we wanted to make sure it was free of damage. We came across black marks on all of these white jackets and brought it up to an employee at the front. They attempted to clean it with a paper towel and maybe water? But unfortunately no luck. They mentioned that she could try to clear it with upholstery cleaner after she purchased it but at the price point of over $100 my friend decided to pass. She ended up returning her item and receiving store credit. The reason for my 3/5 rating is due to the expensive clothing being stained and the awkward exchange. Overall, I would come back and give this place a chance when in need of a unique gift.

    Capitola Seashells - giftshops - Updated May 2026

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