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Piercing Shops in Santa Cruz, CA

5 of the 29 tattoo shops we list in Santa Cruz have an in-house piercer offering body piercing.

Google Maps can confirm a business does tattoos, but it has no field for whether a licensed piercer is on staff for body piercing — that detail lives on the shop's own booking page or service menu, not in map data. Every shop tagged here has piercing confirmed straight from its website, not guessed from a name like 'Ink & Steel.'

  1. Black Pearl Tattoo

    1135 17th Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062-3014

    PiercingCustom designCover-ups
    Call Website Directions

  2. Black Pearl Tattoo

    3911 Portola Dr, Santa Cruz, CA 95062

    PiercingCustom designCover-ups
    Call Website Directions

  3. Amory Body Arts

    1720 Brommer St, Santa Cruz, CA 95062-3002

    You can visit us in the studio from Thursday to Monday, between 12:00pm and 7:00

    PiercingCard accepted
    Call Website Directions

  4. Midtown Tattoo and Piercing

    924 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062-2102

    Walk-ins welcomePiercingCustom design
    Call Website Directions

  5. Staircase Tattoo & Piercing

    628 Ocean St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

    Piercing
    Call Directions
Ask about needle vs. gun before you book. A reputable piercer uses a single-use sterile needle for cartilage, navel, and nipple work — a spring-loaded gun is fine for basic lobes but should raise a flag for anything else. Expect a 20-30 minute wait for a walk-in lobe piercing, longer if the spot needs numbing or a fresh aftercare rundown.

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Good to know

How much does a piercing cost at a tattoo shop?

Basic lobe or nostril piercings typically run $30-50 including jewelry, while cartilage, navel, or nipple piercings run $50-90 at most street shops. Higher-end studios using implant-grade titanium jewelry can charge $80-120 per piercing. Ask for an all-in total before you sit down, since jewelry and the piercing itself are often priced separately.

Do tattoo shops pierce ears on kids?

Many do, though policies vary — some pierce at any age with a parent present and signed consent, others set a minimum age of 8-10 for anything past the lobe. Mall kiosks like Claire's still dominate for very young kids, but a licensed piercer at a tattoo studio typically uses a safer single-use needle instead of a spring-loaded gun.