Pacific Wave

Although this store is pretty expensive, they do carry a wide variety of items and brands. Just the other day they had a sidewalk sale and had shoes marked down as low as $ 10-​$ 30. If you’re looking for some Santa Cruz clothing, this is the place because they have every style and color. Cheaper than going to the boardwalk for that stuff.

Went in to get a piece for my old snowboard fixed before Tahoe. Everyone was super nice and welcoming. A smile goes a long way in my book, but they went above and behind tediously finding the right part that could get me on the slopes by the next day. Super appreciative of their help. I’d definitely recommend them. I also bought two beanies while I was there at only 20 bucks each. I think that’s a pretty fair price for Santa Cruz and especially in winter. Thanks for the killer service!

I actually ordered from them off of EBay and they got the jacket here in a flash. Unfortunately it was too small. When I contacted customer service via email they responded quickly too. I reordered the right size and already have it! I can’t speak for the store itself but everything handled on line was as it should be!

Even if you have to spend more money, shop someplace else. The staff is so so, and the company doesn’t appear to give a Damn about customer service. They like to ramble on about deep community roots and they are a branch off from Nolands… bla bla
All in all they seem to be just another mindless drone of a store. Spend your money where it counts in the community more

Awesome staff. Great selection. Very helpful and always a changing selection of the newest shwagg…
All the best clothing to choose from.
Great restaurants nearby and always some fun street entertainment.

Overall, good store. Great selection of items. Love all the variety of SC clothing and other brands like Hurley, volcom, RVCA, Nor Cal, etc etc. Prices are steep but what’s new. Their return policy sucks. Their staff 98% of the time are completely rude and unhelpful. Been treated poorly more than a handful of times. Store is over crowded with merchandise and is not stroller/​wheelchair friendly at all. I come back every now and again.

I wanted to get a new skateboard for my little nephew and walked in to this store to look around. I wasn’t planning on buying anything Intel I talked to one of the staff members. I believe is name was Jordan. He was extremely knowledgeable and very helpful. He went way above and beyond to make my nephew feel comfortable and excited to try skateboarding. I didn’t feel pressured at all to make a purchase but he created a great experience for my nephew and I. We ended up getting an awesome board that my little nephew is in love with. If you want a good experience ask for Jordan. He’s the man to talk to!!! I will for sure be shopping here again.

Shopped here for over 20 years and great selection of surf/​skate clothing and other assorted paraphernalia. But the Labor Day and sidewalk sales are the real deal. Really fine $ 60-​$ 80 hooded sweatshirts like 3 for $ 48. Great quality and other amazing deals back packs for 10 $ 15 regularly $ 50-​$ 60 and some were made out of recycled Coke/​milk bottles :-) beware if you see something at the sales grab it because it will not be there long…

This is a great shop.
I’ve been a customer for over 10 years now, and will continue to support this awesome shop.
They have a great selection of all things surf/​skate/​snow for men and women of all ages.
The staff has always been super friendly, and more than willing to answer all of my stupid questions.
For some reason, they seem to have the largest on hand inventory of Tom Penny decks I’ve ever seen. I’ve gotten 4 from them for my collection so far, and they are always on the short list of places to check when a new deck becomes available.
I’m sad I moved away and can only visit a few times throughout the year. This place is top notch!

Very cool store featuring ‘California style’ clothing, sunglasses and shoes; they sell skateboards and associated accessories.
The clothing was all very stylish and included skateboard brand t-​shirts and sweatshirts (plenty of Santa Cruz designs, Independent Truck Co, etc), and also more dressy button down shirts and sweatshirts. The prices I saw were all reasonable.
This place is like a higher end version of Zumies, with merchandise that is suitable for older people, not just teenagers.

After school shopping was compounded with no service staff and a general lack of anything other than a pulse.
Why do I return you ask? Funny, I ask myself the same question.
Location helps, nice selection of Tom’s shoes and skate fashions for the middle school subset means I shop with the best intentions of exiting the building yet buy because shopping online is a completely soul-​less experience.

Gabe provided the utmost amazing service! Very knowlegable about surfing in general and helped us get around, what a nice guy!
My friend and I were visiting from San Francisco, he was happy to answer any questions we had, because of him I will recomend your shop to all my friends :)
Keep up the great work Gabe.

Pacific Wave has some cool Santa Cruz t-​shirts, but they’re pretty overpriced for t-​shirts. The store is also so crowded with racks and shelves that it makes looking at things without getting in other people’s ways extremely difficult. I also couldn’t find someone to let me into the fitting rooms for a good 5 minutes. It was a pretty annoying shopping experience.

This is my favorite shop on Pacific Ave and the best surf shop I’ve ever been to! I’ve been coming for years. They have such a great selection of clothes, surf and snow gear, shoes, backpacks, purses, accessories, etc. Awesome customer service. Great prices. An all-​around awesome local business with a huge selection of products. I highly recommend this place to everyone– surfers, skaters, snowboarders, non-​athletes, locals, tourists!

Wow — incredibly horrible customer service. There were about 6 plus ppl working, however none seemed to mind that customers were in the store. Instead, it was really important that they take pics of themselves and chat with each other eve though we had been waiting to purchase merchandise. I set my sunglasses down while trying on a sweater. 10 minutes later they are gone and shockingly no one can help me… Wonder where they went… I don’t recommend this place obviously.

Lots to chose from. Nice neat store. Crazy selection of TOMS and other shoes. Workers are not helpful and talk among themselves the entire time. Kinda expensive. No great sales. I’d rather buy online with their coupon code and free shipping.

Even though I’m not a surfer/​skater, my fashion sense tends to lean in that direction. Really strange, especially with a no-​nonsense personality and overall lack of coordination.
Was bopping along downtown Santa Cruz over the weekend, killing time, and ran across Pacific Wave. I *almost* passed ‘em by completely, but a cute sweater in the window forced me to backtrack. Worth the extra few steps, for sure.
What did I find?
+ Comfy, fleece-​lined sweatshirt. Perfect for grey, rainy Bay Area days.
+ Geometric designed cardigan. 100% organic cotton. And it dresses up fairly well with boots and black jeans.
+ Billabong Laptop bag. Totally random, I know. But the tote-​bag is properly cushioned/​set up for carrying a laptop. Or in my case, laptop inside of sleeve. Never can be too careful.
No, I don’t usually get my clothes from a skater shop, but it’s fun to mix it up with items from a store like Pacific Wave, which carries all sorts of brands/​styles for guys and gals. And the staff was perfectly friendly. Would definitely come back!

I’m not a skate/​surfer/​snowboarder type. So much so, that I bet there is a different word that I should be using, but I don’t know it. I stopped in this shop because my 14 y/​o brother was visiting from Ohio and I was trying to show him a good time in Cali. He is more of a skate/​surfer/​snowboarder type, but lives in Ohio. So I don’t think he has actually ever participated in any of the above activities.
At first, this store reminded me of the Pac Sun stores I visited in my youth in the MidWest. And then I realized this is probable the store that *inspired* Pac Sun. They actually sell boards and the associated gear — not just the clothes and shoes. Maybe only tourists shop here, but it didn’t seem like it. Yet, it didn’t feel like you needed to know a cool-​Northern-​California handshake in order to get in. I didn’t buy anything (as you might tell, not quite my style), but I had a neat «I am in Santa Cruz» moment!

I am from Santa Cruz and over the years this store and its popularity have been consistently growing. I find it kind of a nuisance to shop here because it is so packed with people and the store can’t take over any more space so stuff is jammed in. The staff is cool and about what you’d expect, I don’t mind their lack of attention to my every shopping whim. They still sell a decent selection of boards, but it’s not a real surf/​skate/​board shop. Go upstairs for a few boards and occasionally they will have a used surfboard or two. No one in their ever loving mind would buy a new surfboard here. Skateboards are within 10% of what they should be so buy up. I have no idea about snowboards because I hate being cold.
The prices are absolutely not competitive for the same items in the area, but I think this place caters more towards valley’s and beyond and from the reviews that seems to be the main clientele. To give you an idea I bought a Santa Cruz baby shirt for a friend and found it CHEAPER at Noland’s on the Wharf which is arguably the touristy of the tourist areas. The only more expensive place for Santa Cruz dot style shirts is the place in the Capitola mall to give you some perspective.
All that being said this store is a good one stop shop if you’re not a local or want to see a big selection in one place and the locals appreciate you buying a bunch of crap here.

So being from the Santa Clara Valley, I really wanted to represent where I come from. This set off a quest to find a specific brand of clothing called NOR*CAL. We kind of hit the jackpot here because they have a great selection of NOR*CAL clothing. We bought a total of four shirts in varying styles. The store is nice, clean, and well organized so you can actually breeze in and find everything you want quickly. The staff is younger so you may have to take the initiative to ask for some help, but once you do, you’ll find them very helpful. Overall, we’ll be back next time when I need some more shirts.
From the other reviews, I’ll have to check out their website. The physical location is in an area with limited parking and we just found some at a really close parking garage.