South American Imports

Chris is the best! He deserves a raise! He helped me and my friend out and we left with more than we expected to buy!

Omg love love love this place !! First time coming here and was blown away with amazing items !! Will be coming back for more crystals

Update: I still love this place.
I drive over an hour just to come here.
& free parking !

I can’t believe I haven’t written a review. I come here so many times with my sister brother and cousins. We buy a lot from here. I love that they always Carry every type of stone you need. And it’s not even pricey. I love the dollar rose quartz. I love buying the hand made dolls for my daughter she loves them. I have bought a salt candle crystal holder and I love it. This store is awesome!

Great selection and affordable prices. Staff are very knowledgeable. Perfect stop to add more crystals to my collection.

Super casual and fun place for tourists and locals. Prices are AMAZING and the staff is super sweet!!!

I was so glad I had a chance to go back to this wonderful store. Dave was not in but his Son Chris was there. What a very nice young man. Also very knowledgeable. Really enjoyed my visit and shopping Love the fun bracelets and choice of stones the best place, See you next time I am in San Diego.

I’ve been to a lot of crystal/​metaphysical shops and Dave has the best prices by far! Nice selection of smaller pieces and the large pieces he does have are nice quality. If you want to see the bigger pieces, ask to go in the back room.
Dave and his son are both helpful and nice to work with. This is a great place for beginners to get a variety of crystals/​stones to start their collection OR a great place for experienced collectors to get larger pieces. You can also buy in bulk for grid work, crafting, or business. Highly recommend!

A must stop in San Diego for me. It has a lot of variety of stones and reasonable prices!

This place was awesome! I had heard a lot about this place and wanted to check it out. They have so many crystals/​gems/​stones. Dave was a very nice and generous person. He actually gave me some crystals and velvet bags. I felt like I was I heaven with all the stuff in there. I highly recommend this place. I will definitely be back.

This is located in a breezeway hall behind Café Coyote next to Birkenstock and a candy store. They on the main street directly across the street from Cold Stone. Café Coyote is usually busy, so you might have to navigate though the people waiting for seating to get to the store.
Parking is like you might expect in touristy Old Town — street, public lot or take the trolley.
This is a nice place to check out some pretty crystals, rocks and gems. You can get pretty much any rock you have imagined here. They come in many sizes and various states of polish.
If you just want a geode to crack open yourself, they have it here. Want some South American bags, craft items or worry dolls? those are here too. Books about gems and crystals are on the right wall towards the back.
They have orange/​pink salt lamps and candle bases for purifying. There is sacred wood (palo santo) that you can burn that smells pretty nice and is to purify and cleanse.
The more polished, smaller rocks are towards the back left by the register and have little papers with descriptions of what they are and what they do.
They also have jewelry.
If nothing else it is fun to just look at all of the items that they have. It doesn’t have the mystical crystal vibe that you might get elsewhere, more like these are crystals and gems and here is what they do.
Everything seems to be a fair price.

I love this place! Every single time I come in I fall in love with everything all over again. You can feel the love and amazing energy the crystals are putting off and the experience is just blissful. I have only had the pleasure to deal with Sally and let me tell you she is a Jem! I love how knowledgeable she is about everything in the store. She’s super friendly and has an amazing heart! If you are looking for a small crystal to a Large crystal, lamp or a pendant she has it all. I know if you go in you can’t leave without buying 1 thing. There is no store that compares to South American imports. Will definitely be a lifetime customer!

This is a fun store, with interesting products, fair pricing (especially given the trendy area it’s in; I would have expected higher prices), and a very kind owner. Great for kids and tourists.
My only criticism is that it doesn’t have much to offer serious collectors. There are a lot of nice/​more expensive pieces in the back, but those are private and are not on display. I wish there were more of those.

My friend stumbled across this place by accident when she went to use the restroom. SCORE! This place is awesome and a hidden gem. I wish I knew about this place sooner. The owner Dave is so nice & knowledgeable about gems. He even gave my niece & nephew a little science project stone to soak in water, to watch it crystalize. He also gave my friend and I a piece of Santo wood so we can cleanse our new crystals with. Smells so much nicer than sage. :) We got a little tour behind the register of even more beautiful crystals.
HUGE selection of different gems, crystals, jewelry, and other fun things. I couldn’t leave this store, but we had to since my nephew was getting bored waiting for us! :) Must go back.

David and his shop are simply amazing! I walked in and immediately felt at home. The store has a great atmosphere and is very welcoming.
There is a HUGE selection of different stones ranging from agates to dinosaur poop! Everything is very reasonably priced, maybe even too low!
I’m not from the area but if i ever make it back to San Diego this store will be the first place I visit.

Every girl wants a rock right? Take her here, tell her to pick one she likes (^_​~) just kidding haha. Unless she’s into crystals, geodes and gemstones! Then this is your spot!
SA Imports is wall to wall rock formation. No, I mean it. There are literally a dozen display cases with agate slices, geodes, cathedrals… you name it, it’s probably there. Then, there are several rows of tables filled with crystals (rose quartz, clear quartz, malachite, etc), magnetic stacking stones, hematite rings, pendants, pendulums (for dowsing or scrying).goodness the list goes on. I promise you, it’s a lot. It is kind of hard to find, being tucked away behind Café Coyote, but it’s a hidden gem (pun fully intended!), and doesn’t feel cramped even though it looks like it.
The shop carries raw and polished stones, as well as a few neat little gadgets and gizmos (like the magnifier, haha yes do get that!), jewlery (made with the stones), and all of their crystals come with cards so you know what each one is for or about. They even have Himalayan Salt tea light holders (^_​^) so I don’t always have to use my large HS lamp, I can light a relaxing candle instead.
As many reviews stated, SAI has an extensive and exhausting selection of just about every stone and crystal out there. Dave is fantastic and his employees (Craig and Sally) are super cool, and they bring great energy to the shop. Always good to have positive vibes around your crystals! (^_​^)

I love buying my crystals here. The staff is a always knowledgeable or they will try and find out the info you need on a certain stone. There are many places to buy stones but I drive from OC because I like the energy of the stones.

I love this place. I’m here at least once a month. It’s my secret spot. I just started reading about gemstones and their healing powers and this is the place to find them! Their collections range from geodes, agates, amethyst, citrine, etc. I can stay in there for 2 hours just looking at every item. The pocket Angels are so beautiful and a great gift for someone you love!

Best Crystals, Best Staff, Best Deals in San Diego!
Ok, so I’m kinda new to the crystal scene but I was directed to this place a few months ago by a coworker of mine and WOW! was I impressed!
Situated in the shopping area of the Café Coyote restaurant with easy parking below, the first thing you notice upon walking in is that there are stones EVERYWHERE! Tumbled, rough, faceted – they have it all!
This place is GREAT for anyone into wire-​wrapping and cabachons, geodes, agate slices and more! I come back every week to see what’s new!

Definitely the best place to (especially if you’re a beginning collector or on a budget) buy crystals and minerals in San Diego!!!
Sally is absolutely wonderful and they have great quality products for extremely reasonable prices!
Whether you are looking for healing crystals or like the more scientific side of mineral collecting, this shop has something for you!
Parking is a bit tricky though, since it’s in old town, so try to go during off time for restaurant business (think before 12 or after 2 but not after about 6) to get a good spot!