Facing the Pacific along California 1, the stretch of coastline that carries the Pacific Coast Highway through Huntington Beach, Antiques of the Sea deals exclusively in nautical antiques from its address at 16811 California 1, a specialty niche within the broader antiques trade that few general dealers attempt to stock in any depth. Where most antique shops mix furniture, decor, and small collectibles across many categories, this business narrows its entire inventory to items with a maritime pedigree: nautical instruments, ship models, and marine lighting fixtures make up the core of the stock, alongside heavier and rarer pieces such as ship telegraphs, anchors, and propellers salvaged or sourced from vessels.
That kind of focused inventory tends to draw a particular type of collector, one hunting a specific instrument, a scale model to complete a collection, or a piece of maritime hardware to anchor a nautical-themed room, rather than a browser looking for general home decor. Ship telegraphs and helm-adjacent instruments in particular are the kind of object that rarely turns up in a general antiques mall, since they require both a source with maritime connections and buyers who understand what they are looking at, and a shop dedicated entirely to the category is positioned to serve both sides of that trade better than a generalist could.
Antiques of the Sea keeps a limited, weekend-leaning schedule, open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from noon until 4 in the afternoon, a rhythm that suits a specialty shop whose customers are often planning a dedicated visit rather than stopping in on impulse during a weekday errand. Parking is available on site, making it straightforward for visitors bringing home a larger find such as a ship’s wheel or a sizable model to load it directly from the shop. The business can be reached by phone at 562-592-1752 to ask about current inventory, and it maintains a Facebook page for updates, though as of this writing its own website remains a work in progress rather than a full catalog of stock, so a phone call or a look at the Facebook page tends to be the more reliable way to check what is currently on the floor before making the drive down the coast.
Huntington Beach’s identity as a beach and surf destination makes a shop built entirely around maritime antiques a natural fit for the area, even if the nautical instruments and ship fittings on offer skew toward serious collecting rather than casual souvenir shopping. For anyone restoring a boat, decorating a coastal home with authentic period maritime pieces, or simply collecting ship models and instruments as a hobby, a specialty dealer like this offers a depth of stock that a general antiques shop along the same stretch of coast is unlikely to match.
Antiques of the Sea is a Huntington Beach shop dedicated entirely to nautical antiques, from ship models and marine lighting to telegraphs, anchors, and propellers, open Friday through Sunday for collectors seeking authentic maritime pieces along the Pacific Coast Highway.
