Shopping in San Diego

Specializing in outdoor products, Adventure 16 provides daring travelers with a large selection of high-quality apparel and gear that is not only built to last, but also designed to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Trailblazers can charge confidently through cactus fields or scorpion pits with a pair of durable The North Face Paramount convertible pants ($65), which can be morphed from pants into shorts. Protect built-in binoculars with a pair of Native polarized sunglasses ($89) and further deflect UV rays with a fashionable Tilley Airflo hat ($76). Spelunkers will be glad for the company of a Nalgene Tritan water bottle ($9.50) that keeps thirst quenchers tightly bottled, as well as a Black Diamond Cosmo headlamp ($29.95) to light the way out of any cave, dense rainforest, or haunted house.

Elizabeth Cecilia Leffler-Agia named her boutique after her fashionable grandmother, Cecilia, who sketched and then crafted dresses with her own hands. A bounty of fashion tips and refreshments awaits shoppers, as Leffler-Agia strives to create the comfortable atmosphere reminiscent of rummaging through a stylish friend's closet without having to pick her house’s locks. Crown moldings top the vintage French-style wallpaper while chandeliers cast light over the racks of carefully selected styles from local designers such as BCat Threads and M. Dot Design Studio, as well as famous names such as French Connection and Paige.

After studying metalsmithing and design at San Diego State University, certified goldsmith Julie Simpson journeyed to distant corners of the globe to capture nuggets of inspiration, from learning yoga in Croatia, to living in Italy, or surfing the shores of Bali. She breathes her life experiences into her artwork, drawing from her travels and studies to create inventive rings, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets glittering with silver, gold wire, and precious crystal. A team of skilled artisans craft each piece in the studio adjoining the show room, breathing life into designs that fuse a rustic, earthy sensibility with chic urban style. Many of the handmade adornments in the shop are culled from recycled metals, such as the signature constellation series, a collection of silver pendants studded with conflict-free diamonds depicting the wearer's favorite astrological sign or connect-the-dots puzzle.

PB Sports’s facilities extend beyond the walls of its pastel-yellow shop and into the glistening waves of the nearby Pacific Ocean. The full-service store’s seasoned crew outfits aquatic adventurers with the equipment and skills necessary to conquer the picturesque waterscapes, renting out diving gear, paddleboards, and boogie boards that allow riders to glide along the shores as swiftly as a jet-powered starfish. They also harness their in-depth knowledge of the area to pilot guided snorkel tours and shore dives through naturally beautiful locales such as La Jolla Cove, where seals, fish, and other wildlife frolic past swimmers. Back inside the shop, staffers line shelves with new and refurbished surfboards, and they train nascent underwater explorers how to feed peanut butter to jellyfish during scuba-certification courses.

Inside Tinsmith, a specialty shop in Old Town San Diego, dozens of light fixtures made from punched tin illuminate shelves stocked with shiny baubles. The fixtures come in a range of shapes and sizes—the most popular are three-dimensional stars set with colorful pieces of glass. The shop even has holiday pieces including tree ornaments, angel-shaped candleholders, and repair parts for Santa’s sleigh, all made from punched tin.

Pick up a Steel Grip six-piece screwdriver set for $8.49, a VPT rip hammer for $6.29, and a whole bunch of screws, anchors, and bolts (prices vary), and you'll be ready to finally mount every buffalo nickel and steel penny in your coin collection. Illuminate the newfound décor with a 12-pack of Ace light bulbs ($21.48), the better to see by as you make use of a Purdy four-piece premium paint-tray kit ($19.99). If you need to match paint to a favorite coverlet or choose a hue that complements a pleather recliner, most stores offer a paint-matching service free of charge. Get keys made, or clean a barnacle-encrusted carpet with the help of a rented carpet-cleaning machine (inquire about pricing at your preferred location).