Tattoo Shops near Scotts Valley

“Justin is one of the kindest souls I met on my travels down the California coast! He helped make one of my visions of a tattoo come true. He’s patient and understanding. His studio is professional and so is his work. It’s an honor to have gotten a tattoo done by him.“

“Cleanliness: Very clean

Stylist: Joseph James - it was my first tattoo and he was really great about walking me through everything! Overall the experience went really well :)“

“Dylan Loudon (@mirthwurm on Instagram) at Lights Out is an incredible artist and raises the bar for the quality of experience one can hope to have when getting a tattoo. He is incredibly creative, always pushing the boundaries of his art, and genuinely open to collaboration. The care he has to leave a positive impact on his clients is obvious, and every experience with him is filled with kindness, openness, and chill vibes. My tattoos all heal wonderfully and are just gorgeous and awesome. I am always eager to return. Thank you, Dylan!!“

“Blake and his work are excellent. Been getting tatts from him for years. Highly recommended. If you're looking for a chill shop and great work look no further.“

“Great experience! My boyfriend and I took a trip to Santa Cruz we both got tattoos by Mehdi after being recommended to the tattoo shop by a restaurant that was close by. Erin was super helpful getting us prepared for the tattoo and redrew my boyfriend’s idea a few times so he could have it just right. They were all very communicative and the whole shop had a fun relaxed vibe. Mehdi was very fast and has a light touch so as far as tattoos go, it didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would because this is the first tattoo I’ve ever gotten on my stomach and I heard that’s a pretty painful spot but it wasn’t bad at all. I am really pleased with the pricing too. I will be coming back to Santa Cruz hopefully gonna stop by and get some more work done. :)“

“Aaron is the best, he has done almost all of my tattoos and has fixed a couple of old ones. His lines are thin so when the tattoo gets old won't loose the shape and they won't disappear either. He will design your tattoo show it to you and give you suggestions about sizes and colors. His shop looks clean and has the right vibes“

“I booked an appointment for a haircut with Tara Murphy at Estrella Collective not quite knowing what to expect. Walking in, the place looks like a party with ivy and twinkling lights hanging from the ceiling. Tara was relaxed and fun and she gave me one of my best haircuts ever- just what I had in mind! Thanks Tara!“

“My favorite shop in town!! Kai, Jason, and Alyssa are all incredible artists who have now provided most of the work I have done. Some of the best vibes in Santa Cruz, it always feels like visiting friends when I'm here :)“

“Jeff did an excellent job on my tattoo and fit me in totally last minute as a walk-in. His apprentice was super helpful and kind as well. I lost the Love of my life to cancer, and this particular day of wanting to get my tattoo is significant for 2 different reasons, and I was just having a really, really hard time. I had been wanting to get this tattoo that represents infinite love between two souls for a long time. And as I was feeling really sad, I thought to myself, I wonder if there is a shop that would at all be able to fit me in this last minute on a holiday weekend. I saw the positive reviews for Triton, so I just drove, hoping for the best. Not only was Jeff awesome enough to fit me in, but he and his apprentice took the time to make sure we got the size and placement of my tattoo just right. Jeff did a fantastic job on my tattoo, was great to talk with, and I love that he uses all natural healing balm products as well. Clearly he takes great pride and care in his work. The shop is a little off the beaten path, and it is TOTALLY worth getting to. Thank you SO much Jeff going the extra mile on such an important day for me.“

“Loved my tattoo from Thad! Super happy and I cannot wait to see him again in the future for more!“

“Bobby is the best around. He touched up a tattoo he did for me 15 years ago and I really like how it came out. Wish I had more time for him to work on it more.“

“This is the second time my wife and I both had Ally work her magic on us. Both times our experiences have been over the top. Not only is her work the best we’ve experienced, but the whole atmosphere is relaxing. Her shop manager was also great. Both are down to earth and do treat you like royalty! I can’t thank them enough for how they made us feel and the work Ally did!!Service: Tattoos“

“Before you read any further I would like make it clear that the piercer herself was AMAZING she made me feel extremely comfortable, shop was very clean as well as everything she used, everyone was very respectful, and the piercing was done with little to no trauma and very quickly. That being said I would like to talk about a few things, I got a tongue piercing and have a pretty small mouth and my piercings don’t usually swell too much, the bar that was used was HUGE, like so big I couldn’t close my mouth properly or talk that well without bruising the bottom of my mouth from the bottom bell. I expressed my concern and she said it’s just in case of swelling which I completely understand, but after about three days I couldn’t talk without pain from my jaw closing on the jewelry, eat properly, or sleep without drooling or bending my piercing in a slightly uncomfortable way that definitely wasn’t good for healing and began to get whitish gunk on and around the piercing so I went into another shop in SLC and the piercer there told me that the bar was definitely too large and could be the source of the irritation from sliding around a ton in my mouth and that the bar needs to be able to sit straight while healing or it won’t heal properly. Overall great experience but if I’m paying 80$ for a piercing I would like to not have to go and spend an extra 20$ on jewelry because the original piercer put an adult man mouth sized bar in my mouth“

“Being from the Central Valley,
I'm extremely grateful to have
found Heavy Water Tattoo and
Tattoo Owner/Artist, Brayton
Furlong in Santa Cruz. Brayton
has used his amazingly
creative and unique talent to
produce pieces of art that I'm
very proud to have
permanently on my personal
canvas, my body.
If you're looking for a Tattoo
Artist who is not only
professional, but who is worth
the drive, who will create a
special piece just for you and
who will make you feel
completely comfortable, you
need not to look any further.“

“Nick V is awesome. Beautiful line work and creative designs. Very respectful service and the whole studio is covid safe with masking required“

“Ethan is so awesome!!!!! Ethan was so patient with us! My close friend, boyfriend, and I all wanted tattoos since our friend is moving out of town. This was our friends first tattoo so we wanted to go to the right spot. We came in for walk ins and Ethan was super knowledgeable. The tattoos came out flawless and it was such a nice experience overall. I highly recommend getting your next tattoo from Ethan at Eights and Aces he will most definitely do an amazing job his line work was so clean I can't wait to get a tattoo with color from him!“

“Traveled from the East coast and would do it again to have Josh design and produce a tattoo! HIGHLY Recommend!!!!!

Requested style: My tattoo represents my daughter’s birth flowers along with my favorite, the gladiolus, original design by Josh.
Josh’s design of the lighthouse for my daughter was phenomenal! The shop is well appointed, clean, and the lively banter makes for a fun, relaxing experience!
Special thank you to Kelly for arranging appointments during a busy traveling time for the shop.“

“Super friendly guy. Helped me with my first tattoo. Helped me pick my size and made sure it looked good. Gave me really good tips to take care of it as well.“

“Clean both physically and tattoo wise ! This is my favorite tattoo location in this whole area!!! All artists are extremely talented and clean. Fair priced for tattoo or piercings, As a local I will continue to come here and always recommend to locals or as tourists.“

“Josi is AMAZING!!! She gave my man and I matching roses and they are absolutely beautiful!!!! Thank you Josi!“

“Many many years ago I had a tattoo done at Freedom tattoo. It came up in conversation today and I decided to jump on Google to show it to my friend.

Almost 8 years ago I had my tattoo done by one of the shop apprentices. I had initially booked an appointment to have it done by Cruz but he was sick that day. Since it was a commemorative tattoo they made it work.

8 years later, many of hours exposed to sunlight and general life wear and tear working construction and the tattoo held up and has been combined with my full sleeve.

*note I'm from Canada and the surrounding tattoos were done here where there is different ink laws for tattoos hence the different colors.

Additionally, I wanted to say shout out to Geoffery for making it happen. None of us would of known back then that this tattoo would also be the symbol of the last time I saw my cousin from California before they passed.“