There are lots of different flavors to choose from and a variety of different sizes. You can also choose to get your ice cream in a cup or a waffle cone. My son is obsessed with blue things and since we came in to get ice cream for him, he immediately wanted the "blue ice cream" which meant getting the bubblegum flavor. The flavor was absolutely disgusting and just trying a bite made me gag, but that's not a reflection of the shop, just the maniac who decided to make bubblegum-flavored ice cream in the first place. There are several tables inside to sit and enjoy your treat. read more

For parking park next to US Bank since Laurel st is closed. Totally worth it. Staff is very welcoming!! I ordered a breakfast bagel jalapeño cheese bacon egg and ham!! Super yummy!! Over all 5 stars if I worked close enough to here I would come every morning to be honest read more

See all

$6 for an adult "scoop" was actually a half-melted, half-full serving that tasted old. Restaurant cleanliness was not up to par. read more

Cowabunga Creamery - This is how my $6 scoop was served. It was melted and half full. Gross. - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - San Carlos, California

The quality of the ice cream is comparable to Baskin Robbins. Good but not great. I ordered a double scoop of matcha and heaven -- which is chocolate, caramel and peanut butter swirl. I think the name sounds more exotic than the actual taste. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great. $6.75 for double scoop. I also felt rushed in deciding what to order. Probably won't be back. Especially since there's gelato just down the street!! read more

Cowabunga Creamery - Double scoop $6.75 - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - San Carlos, California

There aren't too many ice cream spots along Laurel St., but found this one. It's actually a combination of a coffee shop and ice cream shop in one shared with Plantation Coffee Roastery. For ice cream, I opted for a scoop of Green Tea in a Mini Sugar Cone ($3.00). I definitely liked that they had a mini version since I can almost never finish my ice cream at most places. Not too shabby of a spot when you need your ice cream fix. They do offer a good variety of flavors, but I don't think the taste was all that. My green tea ice cream had chunks of something in it that I can't pinpoint and the flavor was lacking. It still satisfied me in the end, so it works when you have a craving. read more

Cowabunga Creamery - Mini Sugar Cone with Green Tea Ice Cream. - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - San Carlos, California

Great place to sit around and enjoy a cup of coffee! Ice cream is amazing too. I love the courteous barista who is so patient with each order. Pay a visit and take a seat..savor the fresh coffee!! read more

This place is the classic ice cream place!! Reasonable pricing in an upscale restaurant area. I love the staff and the Turkish delights in the front! My kids were thrilled with the flavors (bubble gum and rainbow sherbet) very happy to visit here. read more

Cowabunga Creamery - Rainbow sherbet mini scoop. Just the perfect size! - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - San Carlos, California

Man, if I lived in the area I would come here all the time. I've been here a few times for their ice cream and it always hits the spot. There are a ton of interesting flavors and I haven't been disappointed yet. The employees are super sweet and friendly. The store itself isn't the most hip and it does seem a little out of date, but who really cares about that as long as the ice cream is good! It's definitely more of a casual place. There are a bunch of tables indoors and a few right outside the door. read more

Cowabunga Creamery - Mini cups, perfect for a small snack! - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - San Carlos, California

This place has a great selection of ice cream. They have the classic flavors and some.more progressive. They also almost always have 2 or 3 non dairy options. The place isn't really cozy on a cold rainy day but on a warm day its got a cool off vibe. There is also a coffee shop roaster in the same shop, I think that's a new thing but if fits in alright. There is some you can take to go and the ice cream counter. It's always great. read more

Fuck this watery ass bowl I paid for it just to spill the moment the lid came off it tasted decent but might at well get a damn Smoothie. read more

Cowabunga Creamery - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - San Carlos, California

Very slow service and not a welcoming atmosphere. It fells a little....sad. I dunno. And, we paid 8.00 EACH for a small milkshake...wow. That's pretty insane. The older lady behind the counter comes off as shy, disinterested or reserved (not sure which description fits best), but she warmed up after making the milkshakes and was very kind to my girls. She asked them which milkshake tasted better, and was going to give them a little pastry treat for free! They both said no thank you (stunning, I know!) but they also both said she was very nice. A place where you feel bad leaving a review like this. Sigh. read more

On a warm, sunny day while walking down the streets of San Carlos, there was no question that ice cream would fit in perfectly with my afternoon. My friend and I marveled at the ice cream flavors offer. After tasting a few flavors, I went with the vibrant, purple lavender ice cream. My friend went with the strawberry lemonade and raspberry sherbert. We headed out the door and decided to do some people watching outside. We watched families stroll by, pets & owners, children. Surprisingly, looking in was quite a treat as well. Cute families with small children consuming ice cream that ended up mostly on their faces. Oh, how I love people watching! The ice cream itself was pretty good as well, although I have had better. The lavender ice cream was good for the first few bites, but I tired of it rather quickly. My friend's sherbert and ice cream was very pleasant and refreshing. Overall, I loved the experience here and would love to try more flavors. Cowabunga is certainly a great weekend, sunny day visit. read more

See all

It's a clean and nice place to have some ice cream and latte! Place still open due to Covid, and seats are available outside. It's only accept case unless you spend more than $10, which is kind of drawback due to the current situation... read more

So, we've been coming here about 4 times now. Always very enthusiastic about the service. Apart from last time. Did they change owners? The people helping me this time were rushing us, not patient and not friendly at all. Next time we'll check out who's behind the counter before we go in. The ice cream is yummy, but it's nice if you are treated like royal when ordering, and not like dirt. read more

Cowabunga Creamery - Salty caramel and pink lemonade - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - San Carlos, California

I just called them today to ask if they have ice cream cakes. The lady who answered said they don't make ice cream cakes, but they have pies. Then she hung up on me after I asked her for more information like is it pre-made? Can I customize it? Etc. I'm so confused why she hung up on me. Maybe I asked her the wrong questions? read more

BEST AFFOGATO EVER. I tried with coffee ice cream flavor, but I'm sure it will taste better with Heaven flavor too. So happy to find a place that sells quality ice cream who doesn't over sell the concept of it. Love this place. read more

They have hand sanitizer available and of course masks are required. The place looks a bit dated. They have a few tables outside and it's enjoyable for a Sunday afternoon. They have a bunch of different cups on top of the counter to indicate what kind of orders they have available. A sweet lady is available for handling the ice cream and payment. I got the green tea ice cream with a waffle cone. It was good but the flavor isn't as strong as I anticipated. The ice cream is very soothing and not too sweet. We sat outside to enjoy our ice cream and people watched a bit as the street is closed off to cars. read more

"Cowabunga...I found an awesome deal!" After my mediocre lunch at Klutch burgers, I walked around Laurel Street for a little redemption. First I ran into the Nothing Bundt Cake bakery-too crowded. Next, I walked into Vanilla Moon Bakery-maybe. Then I walked into Harmony Frozen Yogurt-too many kids. Finally I saw a fat sign placed in the middle of the sidewalk in front of Cowabunga Creamery. Sign: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/FzwXpeO3jOqrw-iM8vqeJQ?select=b6qVxKN5zsCX88SwKMDgSw#YD7Pd8VYbDGW6VHoRl3gZg With surfboards, ukuleles, garlands and other Hawaiian decors, the spacious creamery has the ambience of Hawaii (Aloha!). I did order the small Cookie & Cream Frozen Yogurt for $2.00. I placed my order to the dude. But he told me to wait until he released a tray of freshly baked Chocolate chip cookies from the oven. After pulling that hot tray out, he swirled me that special fro-yo. Then afterwards, I also asked him to get me one of those freshly baked cookies too for another $.75. He gave me the freshly baked cookie within minutes of releasing from the oven. After I got my frozen treat and cookie, I was sitting at the table. The fro-yo has a creamy and intense chocolaty taste. For $2.00, the treat was a pretty generous size too. And the fresh cookie was gooey and burned my tongue-in a good way. My treat: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/FzwXpeO3jOqrw-iM8vqeJQ?select=b6qVxKN5zsCX88SwKMDgSw#b6qVxKN5zsCX88SwKMDgSw For a total of $2.75 for both of those treats, you can't beat that. What a "sweet" way to cool you off in San Carlos! read more

See all

The first time I wandered into Cowabunga Creamery, I was excited to see that they had cinnamon caramel and cinnamon chocolate ice cream. Cinnamon is my husband's favorite flavor, and it's not that easy to find in ice cream. Oh, and it's delicious. Cool! Other things I liked about Cowabunga: - 24 premium ice cream flavors from Marianne's Ice Cream in Santa Cruz - 2 flavors nonfat frozen yogurt (my son & I had chocolate cones) - some soy ice cream choices for the non-dairy crowd - compostable spoons and cups - friendly service - fun surf décor - house-made Scharffen Berger chocolate sauces The only real minus we noticed was the peppermint stick ice cream was an unappetizing Pepto-Bismol shade of pink (husband had it with the Scharffen Berger fudge sauce). The first time I went in, they were kind enough to offer me some leftover pumpkin milkshake. It was a perfect blend of pumpkin and nutmeg goodness (and I'm a chocolate fiend - I don't usually go for non-chocolate sweets). read more

Yeah, they are finally open! The place rocks! It will definitely increasingly become a center piece and magnet for the community for kids and adults alike. Tried and true flavors along with lots that took some convincing for us to try, but glad we did. Besides all the ice creams they have frozen yogurt and several ice cream substitutes from coconut as well as soy which make you not feel like you are giving up anything. Surfer motif is a blast from the surf board counter top and kids table, wall decorations. Additional touches of surfing cows here and there are a hoot. The owners are local. Their efforts to contribute to the community show through in everything they do. Kids parties, grabbing and going, sharing a sundae or relaxing over a cup of cofee, Cowa Bunga is a great place and a center piece of San Carlos's downtown. read more

See all

You know when you lose ice cream in your freezer for say... 10 YEARS, and when you find it again, it tastes flavorless and packed full of ice crystals? That's Cowabunga Creamery in a nutshell. (see my pictures) Got a scoop of chocolate-chocolate chip ice cream there and it was tasteless and full of ice! Not only did it taste bad, but they are selling you freezer frost at $3 a scoop! Literally! Where is the BBB? Then I looked around and just about all the flavors were covered in ice crystals. I snapped a few pics and uploaded them... take a look for yourself. This stuff would be thrown out even at Rite Aid... and not sold to dopes like you and me. I also like how 'The DUDE' scooping my ice cream picks up the cone with his dirty money grubbing hands and then wraps it with a napkin. I'm glad he's using prophylactics! The Marianne's Ice Cream here is low on flavor and big on crazy food coloring. Go to a real ice cream shop (like Bi-Rite or Humphry Slocombe) and please... stop supporting low quality frost. read more

See all

Friendly to all kinds: fun-loving (Goofy foot), non-dairy loving (soy ice cream), and chocolate-loving (sharfenberger chocolate sauce). 3.5 stars Cost to worth it rating: 4 (2 minis for under $5) Highlights: - Soy flavors: yeay for this, as I hardly ever see it outside a grocery store freezer. Support the lactose intolerant joining in on the ice cream fun. - Goofy foot: as everyone says, incredible. Caramel ice cream with Oreo cookies. They also make this in an ice cream cake--anyone would be happy with that for their next birthday! - Accommodating staff: boy behind the counter offered to do half and half flavors in a cup for us - Mini: I only need small portions of sweets--not self-imposed, it's just all I'd like--so this is a big plus - Recyclables: cups and spoons. My Flor will be happy about this! Lowlights: - Not enough fun flavors: when hearing about the goofy, I thought they'd have more ones like that, but most are run of the mill types (cookie dough, pb chocolate, etc.) Neat place I wouldn't run back to, however my friend wanted to take a "bucket" home of the goofy. 8-) read more

Had the goofy foot ice cream, overall very nice. Great fresh taste, good quality and worth the drive. I do find it unusual that they offer no samples but that may be a wrong expectation from Basking Robbins. read more

Awesome creamery and awesome name, Cowabunga! They serve one of my favorite creameries, Marianne (of Santa Cruz)!! I always like to inquire the person scooping my ice cream what his/her favorite flavor is. He said Lavender, and I went with lavender and was not disappointed. Yumm...ice cream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! =D read more

I seriously thought this business was a chain! Kudos for the design of the shop! Prices are affordable - there's always a featured flavor. I was also impressed by the macapuno ice-cream. And A+ for the eco-friendly cups and spoons!!!! That is definitely enough to make me want to drive 20 minutes from across the bay (This girl don't lie). read more

Dropped by during Covid-19 - everyone wearing masks and gloves, all ice creams covered - take out only. Give them some business!

What a name, what a place (I assume the owner's young kid named it? haha). Three stars alone come from an ice cream place that serves Marianne's AND has a surfing cow theme... Marianne's is one of the only premium brands i've seen that actually use chocolate chips in the mint chip ice cream, not just those chocolate slivers we've been accustomed to all this time. Extra star for using Henry Weinhard root beer for the root beer floats and giving you the bottle to boot. :) So hard to resist this place. it's nice here, if a bit chilly inside, and the bathroom is always hit or miss. they always seem to be training someone new too. This place replaced an old fashioned soda shop-type deal two summers ago. read more

This place is on the main street lined with restaurants and places to window shop. Looks like they changs owners as the sign is still Cowabunga that you can barely see and they have another coffee sign to the left. The surf boards are gone and replaced by coffee bean pictures. So lots of coffee options bagles and icecream or prepacked icecream. You can sit out side and people watch or inside and watch tv. They have some original flavors like pink lemonade and heaven that are worth sampling. read more

See all

I missed the horchata ice cream :'( It was late at night though. I got the root beer ice cream instead. It was creamy and yummy. I'd advise against getting a dessert here if you're full from dinner though -- my stomach was gonna burst after the scoop of super creamy ice cream because I couldn't stop eating it! Their vanilla bean is great as well, and you can even chomp on the little vanilla bits in the ice cream. It's not like I don't like other ice cream places too, but this place uses all compostable utensils, which is pretty great. I just wish more places would do it. read more

Really good! I was craving ice cream after ramen today. Ice cream is the best dessert for me, so I decided to stop here. Since I needed to go to REI near this place, I accidentaly chose here and luckily it was tasty! I got chocolate chip and strawberry cheescake flavors. Happy ice cream! read more

I wanted some ice cream after dinner so I went to this ice cream shop. Their ice cream is actually Marianne's based in Santa Cruz. Kinda weird eating someone else's ice cream but that's ok. The goofy foot ice cream was pretty good. It has caramel, fudge AND Oreos. I am usually not a huge fudge person but you know it actually was good. The TV was on so we sat at the counter and watched for a bit. They take credit cards! read more

My second visit to this place was even better than my first. The portion of ice cream in the mini size is more than generous. And the best part is that it's only $2.25! This time I went with pumpkin and goofy foot. Both were amazingly delicious. The consistency was thick, dense and creamy. I will be making this a normal pit stop when I'm in the area. The staff there tonight was awesome! It was around 8pm and kind of chilly so we didn't want to sit outside. I asked if it was okay to bring Ninja (my frenchie) inside and he was super cool about it. It doesn't get better than this. read more

Cowabunga Creamery - Goofy foot and pumpkin! - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - San Carlos, California

Walked by here on my way to Nothing Bundt Cakes to pick up an order, and I made a mental note I'd take a look on my way back to the car. It was a pretty sunny day with a light breeze, so ice cream sounded perfect. First time I walked by, there was quite a line; second time, no line. It was like it was meant to be, so I went to take a look at the flavors. My go-to is cookies 'n cream, but I was curious to see what else they had. They did have a section of soy-based ice cream for those lactose-intolerant, but I just had to stick with what I knew. I got a single scoop of the Oreo flavor. They also had a fudge cookies 'n cream flavor, but that felt like it'd be too much. Price was fairly reasonable at $2.50 for the single scoop. Flavor was pretty good, kind of light for cookies 'n cream flavor, now that I think about it. Staff were suuuper friendly (and easy on the eyes *wink*). Overall, not a bad place to grab some ice cream if you're in the area, but wouldn't make a trip out here just for it. read more

Cowabunga Creamery - Oreo flavor, single scoop. - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - San Carlos, California

ice cream is just ok, i've had better. Tried lavender, oreo, salt caramel, horchata. Like some reviews said, kinda old and got ice in them, and tables were sticky and dirty. Service was good. But nothing rave about. $2.50 for a mini sounds reasonable. read more

Cowabunga Creamery - Lavender didn't really taste like lavender - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - San Carlos, California

The worst customer service I have ever EVER EVER had. The man that works there needs to be fired... like yesterday. He never greeted us. He never spoke to us... he just stood there, waiting for us to order. When I asked for a spook he pointed, I thought maybe he doesnt speak, until he grunted something at my nephew... no ice cream is worth the rude owner. I will NEVER be back....oh and no samples either. read more

Nice couple run this little mom and pop ice-cream and coffee shop. I had a mini licorice flavor ice-cream I tasted almost no licorice. This will probably be a shortest review I've written in everything I've tried to write as of today. Friendly and nice couple, rather clean place, and the flavors are really neat and different. I only got to try a mini licorice scoop of ice-cream and was a bit disappointed. I would return here if I was in the area again to give it another go because they are nice people and they are serving up some different flavors that I like to see like lavender and lychee. Next time if we ever come back to this area of California. read more

I'm not a huge ice cream fan but I gotta give love and respect to a place that offers a cake cone. I'm sick of this fancy Bay Area artisan waffle cone ish. Gimme the real deal with a classic cake cone or give me death. The flavors here are pretty classic - nothing too crazy or out of the ordinary. Which is fine... though I wouldn't mind the place being a little more artisan in that aspect. And I'm not sure what the rules on calling yourself a creamery are but I was confused because they don't actually make the Ice Cream here. In fact, it's from Marianne's in Aptos, which is still local but I just feel like Cowabunga itself is not a creamery. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to, I guess. Service is incredibly friendly, as you'd expect with any ice cream shop and I just found out that one of favorite coffee roasters moved in with them at this location, so you can now get your bulletproof Plantation coffee at Cowabunga. There's some seating inside and just as Plantation Coffee Roasters was before, it's a little 'midwestern den' inside with stuff you wouldn't expect to see in off places (magazine rack in back hallway) and it isn't modern or vintage but it gets the job done and seems like a great place for families to go for an easy peasy mini scoop. read more

After I dragged my family to Mack's BBQ, I promised my youngest we would get some ice cream after dinner. Like the surf theme of this place, the crowds of people comes in waves. One moment there's just a few people, another moment, there's a line forming. In spite of the shifting crowds, the one person behind the counter was able to handle them well. My youngest wanted in mini-sized rainbow sherbet, while oldest wanted the shave ice. I told her it's not going to be like she had in Hawaii, but insisted anyway. When it came out, it was really a like a snow cone in a cup, with the ice crushed not shaved. I expected so because to have real shave ice, you need to have a steady demand to keep blocks of ice ready and moving. Wife had a mini-sized Goofy Foot, which ice cream with caramel and Oreo cookies. It was gooey-good when it was scooped out. Didn't have a chance to try any because my wife finished it all. I had a single size of the Wipeout, which is vanilla ice cream with caramel, walnut brownie bits, and peanut butter. This was also good and gooey. Sugah Daddy gives this one a thumbs up! I just noticed the prices, and I think the prices are pretty reasonable. My regular size was $2.75, and the scoop was pretty generous. The mini sizes were $1.95 a scoop. Nice to know I can get Marianne's ice cream locally, going down to Santa Cruz. read more

Some of the simpler enjoyable things in life can have so much meaning, history, fulfilment, and be so personal. What is ice-cream to you and me? It's not just a dessert, but a means to an end, a reward, a bonus, a comfort, an expression. Likely your 1st entry to ice cream was at an early age. Either your parents tried to make you eat crap you didn't like... brussel sprouts, liver and onions, other greens, real or faux meat, and used ice cream as a means to an end. To you it was a bonus or a reward of stuffing the yucky savory to get to the sweet finish line. Or it was because you had a physical and mental meltdown of galactic proportions so your folks had no choice but to whip out the dairy option. From Mr Softee to 7-Eleven/Micky's/Ikea's low tech soft serve to some local commercial brand to Dreyer's to Swensen's to Haagen Daaz to gourmet whack fusion ....whether you are young or old, the mentality is the same once the good stuff hits your tongue. You have to have ice cream when you are happy (it's a celebration b**ches!) And you must especially have it when you are depressed and sad. It becomes a miracle quick comforting fix. With that said, for no reason whatsoever, one day Beef No' Guy wanted some frozen creamy bovine diary byproducts to snack on. So he walked into Cowabunga Creamery and got a familiar childhood favorite flavor, Butter Brittle (not quite butter pecan). He had serious memory lane trips of his first butter pecan experience from early childhood...at a Swensen's no less (but now most would think Swensen's ain't that). Fast foward to the present, and the effect the butter brittle has is just as tremendous as that butter pecan from yesteryear. Rich, creamy, delicious, old school good. Even the Froyoda had a cup that was so good, I hear, that he went home after, goofed, and made a Sith lightsaber by mistake . - - . \ ` - - . _ , ' . : : . ` . _ . - - ' / \ / - O O - - oo - - \XXXX/ - - - - - - - - - - { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } === | | | | | | === { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } { | | } COWABUNGA!!! True.....true. read more

Goofy Foot - AMAZING. Caramel, Fudge and Oreo. I don't know what else to say. Get it. read more