Between two beautiful beaches on the clear waters of Ventura Harbor you will find a quaint coffee shop – Freedom Harbor, located at 1691 Spinnaker Dr., Ventura. When walking up to the store, you can see all the beautiful palm trees and feel the cool harbor air brushing up against your face, a magical feeling. I took it up on myself to check out this new coffee shop, and it very much exceeded my expectations.

The setting and location of this cool little coffee shop is very good but so was the customer service. After I ordered, they were very efficient, starting it before I even finished ordering. The drink came out very quickly and was some of the best coffee that I’ve ever had.

“I felt like the [barista] taking the order… was  trying to get the drinks done [as] quickly [as possible],” senior Christian Quezada said.

I tried the iced Hawaiian latte, and it was just what I wanted. I also tried their chai, and I was impressed by the quality. I am definitely going to order it again when I go back. At Freedom Coffee there is such a wide variety of drinks

“[My favorite drink to make is an] Orange mocha or cappuccino,” Jason the barista said.

Ranging from a California latte to an orange mocha. The options here are almost endless. There are also many different flavors of syrups if you want to customize your drink even more. This coffee shop, which opened in September 2025 has a unique backstory on how the business idea came to be.

Owned by Andy and Holly Kirkwood, the idea came to fruition after H. Kirkwood managed many coffee houses in Australia before she went back to Scotland to pursue her career in sports broadcasting. 

Kirkwood who is originally from Scotland and attended Ventura High School fell in love with the city of Ventura. He also had a 10-year career managing European fashion, and he managed and launched one of the best delivery stations in the United Kingdom for Amazon.

“The owner used to work in fashion, and then he had a heart attack back in his mid thirties because he worked [too much], and then [decided to sell coffee on the beach] in Southern California,” Jason said.

Both of Kirkwood’s background in business allowed them the expertise and passion needed to pursue the coffee shop dream.

Freedom Coffee was truly amazing. It is a very cozy spot to spend time with friends and family. You can grab a coffee and a pastry and set off on your day that you know you started right because you had Freedom Coffee.