Marini's Candies — Local services in Santa Cruz

After watching a show about how candy is made we learned about Marini's "Chocolate Covered Bacon". We headed to Santa Cruz to check it out, it was worth the trip.

The shop offers a lot of different candy for the young and old. We bought a few pieces of "Mango 🥭 and Chili 🌶️ " gummies, ate them and bought a pound. We highly recommend them. We also bought a variety of chocolate covered treats at roughly $8 per pound who could possibly resist. Salt water taffy galore at Marini's were the Tutti flavor was the most memorable for us. The store also features a variety of pre packed candy including some international favorites like Kinder Bueno.

The staff at Marini's are very patient, helpful and enjoy what they do.

There are several locations you can get these delicious treats. Like an express right inside Neptunes. On the boardwalk and Santa Cruz Wharf. We enjoyed Marini's, the Wharf and the Sea Lions.

Parking was plentiful for us. Main parking lot located next to Neptunes was $15. There was also plenty of metered street parking available. A United States quarter will provide about 10 minutes of parking. There was no evidence of broken glass and some police was present. We felt our car was safe.

Making the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and Marini's part of your families routine activities is...

This used to be the best Marini’s location. Sadly the last few times I’ve been in, the staff quality seems to have rapidly declined. Mostly 16-18 year olds who have no basic knowledge of customer service skills. I went in last Thursday to get some shaved ice. Gal at the counter apologized and said the shaved ice freezer broke that morning. Not a problem! I got some candy and milk chocolate marshmallow clouds instead. Stopped by again today (Tuesday) and asked if they had shaved ice and the gal said “the shaved ice freezer just stopped working this morning.” I told her “that’s weird, the girl last Thursday said it broke that morning” She fumbled for a second before telling me “oh, yeah, it’s like still broken then.” Honestly, fairly annoying. She could’ve just said they weren’t doing shaved ice instead of lying directly to my face. That being said, I still got a scoop of ice cream. The candy is usually great, but definitely overpriced as any tourist style candy and chocolate shop is. The fudge, Carmel apples, marshmallow clouds and ice cream are always amazing. And the shaved ice is my favorite when they have it. My dogs also give the dipped...

Great old fashioned candy. I always get the taffy, cotton candy, white chocolate caramel apple, and fudge. If you are feeling adventurous they have chocolate covered bacon that is surprisingly delicious. I prefer the milk chocolate over the dark. They sell various sized jawbreakers including the giant one which was always a treat when I was a kid because it took you a week to eat it. They sell smoothies, ice cream, and some coffee. They also have a variety of cute toys and stuffed animals you don't see everywhere so can be a good place to pick up souvenirs for kids. The store is small and doesn't have a lot of indoor space, and it can be very busy at times so relax and prepare yourself for patience it's worth the wait. The staff is friendly and assists customers quickly despite being very busy. This candy shop is one of my all time favorites, stopping here is part of my Santa Cruz beach boardwalk routine. They have been there for a very long time and I hope they remain in business long after I have no more teeth to eat...