Ben Kelly Surfboards
Hidden GemSanta Cruz, California
Ben Kelly hand-shapes custom surfboards in Santa Cruz under his own label. Each board is made by hand to order.
Best for Custom hand-shaped surfboards
Shopping in Santa Cruz
Shop by craft
Best of Santa Cruz; search or filter for all 6
Visit official site ↗Cat & Cloud Coffee
Hidden GemAptos & Santa Cruz
Cat & Cloud roasts daily for its Santa Cruz County cafés, sourcing single-origin coffee from Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia and Honduras. Its Best Friends Club sends $1 of every pound sold directly to producers.
Best for Santa Cruz coffee supporting producers through Best Friends Club
Cat & Cloud grew out of Aptos into a small chain of cafés across Santa Cruz County, but the roasting stayed centralized and constant — beans go out roasted daily rather than sitting in a warehouse queue. The company's producer relationships run through what it calls the Best Friends Club, a program that commits a fixed $1 from every pound sold back to the growers themselves, turning a marketing phrase into a line item rather than leaving "direct trade" as an unverified claim. Current single-origin offerings pull from Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia and Honduras. Cat & Cloud's identity extends past the counter: the team runs its own podcast about small-business ownership and leadership, and collaborates with artist Nick Vargas on cafe murals and merchandise design, giving the brand a visual signature beyond the standard roaster logo-on-a-bag look. On the calendar, "Every Second Sunday" is a standing monthly public coffee tasting open to anyone who wants to cup through the current lineup rather than just read the tasting notes on a bag. Retail customers can join a subscription for a standing 10% discount. It reads less like a single-café roaster and more like a small company that treats content, design and grower economics as part of the same operation.
Visit official site ↗Santa Cruz, California
Veteran shaper Doug Haut has built custom Santa Cruz surfboards under his own label for decades, from shortboards to longboards. His range includes the classic Santa Cruz designs the region is known for.
Best for Custom shortboards and longboards shaped by veteran Santa Cruz surfmaker Doug Haut
Visit official site ↗Johnny Rice Custom Surfboards
Hidden GemSanta Cruz, California
Johnny Rice ranks among Santa Cruz's longtime surfboard shapers, working custom orders under his own name. His boards are shaped to each rider's specifications.
Best for Johnny Rice ranks among Santa Cruz's longtime surfboard shapers
Visit official site ↗Stretch Boards (Stretch Surfboards)
Hidden GemSanta Cruz, California
Stretch Boards makes custom boards in Santa Cruz and traces William “Stretch” Riedel’s board-building work to 1979. The company describes producing each board under one roof, with EPS and epoxy construction a particular focus. Its models and custom options should be discussed in relation to the surfer and intended conditions rather than selected by appearance alone.
Best for Custom surfboards and EPS/epoxy construction from Santa Cruz
Stretch Boards is the Santa Cruz board-making business associated with William Riedel, known as Stretch, whose work began in 1979. His background includes boards for surfing and other forms of wave riding, with custom construction central to the company's story. The maker identifies a factory in midtown Santa Cruz rather than an outsourced retail-only operation.
The company describes building each board under one roof and gives particular attention to EPS and epoxy construction. Its approach combines materials and shape with feedback from riders, rather than treating every board as the same product with different graphics. The current catalogue presents different models, including variations on the Fish design developed with rider input.
Start a board enquiry with the surfing you actually do and the conditions for which you need it. A model name alone does not settle the dimensions or construction that will suit an individual surfer. Discuss those decisions directly with the maker, and keep ordering or factory-visit arrangements separate from assumptions based on old workshop photographs.
Visit official site ↗Ventana Surfboards & Supplies
Hidden GemSanta Cruz, California
Co-founded by master artisan Martijn Stiphout, Ventana builds hollow surfboards from reclaimed wood and makes eco-focused surf supplies, with the team living and working in Santa Cruz. The company donates at least 5% of profits to ocean conservation and treats its boards as surfable works of art.
Best for Reclaimed-wood surfboards & eco surf gear
Visit official site ↗Neighbourhood walks
Walk by recorded area.
Area names come from each shop’s published address record; ORBIS does not invent neighbourhoods.