Star Surfing Surf Shop

Star Surfing isn't your trendy, corporate type of surf shop. It's more of the low key, mellow, shaka brada kind. When you walk in, you're not worried whether someone’s checking out your bling or not, you’re more worried if your laid back enough to have a normal conversation with one of the cool people who work there. Located near the corner of Emerald and Mission in Pacific Beach at 4652 Mission Boulevard, Star Surfing is hard to miss.
Glenn Paculba opened Star Surfing in March of 1979 in a shop across the street from were he's located now. Growing up in Hawaii he joined the navy and made his way over to San Diego. With a degree from San Diego State, Glen tried different jobs, finally opening his store when he was 30 years old, and since then Star Surfing has been going strong. You can see the history this shop has when you’re there. There are personal photos draped on the wall that Glen has taken of surfing greats who have visited the shop over the years. I saw one picture of a gromish Tom Carroll with a full head of hair.
One huge benefit Star Surfing offers that I've never seen anyone else do is they provide a selection of high performance shortboards and longboards for rent in addition to the store’s soft-top rentals. The main clothing labels the shop carries are Billabong and Reef. They carry O'Neill and Boz wetsuits, Reef and Cobian sandals, and a long list of board labels; Ellington, Olas, Ron Jons, Seabrothers, and Ukelele, as well as boards on consignment.
It's hard not to want to support a shop like Star Surfing, especially when you take a second to learn about the roots of a place like this. Something Glen said to me while I was there struck me as very special.
“My store is all about the people,” he said. “Of course I need to sell things here and there in order to survive, but I just love the whole lifestyle."
They’re planning on remodeling soon, so stop by and see Glen Paculba and Jarred Fox, I’m sure they could tell you a story or two. Three stars.