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Cancun Shopping

From the typical tourist T-shirt shops, to designer clothing and fine jewelry, to markets filled with authentic Mexican handicrafts, Cancun offers visitors a complete shopping experience. The area has both indoor malls with stores from international brand names and outdoor plazas that provide shoppers with pleasant places to stroll and dine. Most stores are open daily from 10 am until about 8 or 10 pm. Keep in mind that some of the smaller downtown shops will close for siesta, which is from 2 pm until around 5 pm.

The tourist zone is home to the finer shops.  Cancun's abundant variety of high quality shopping malls are filled with the irresistible -- traditional Mexican arts and crafts, gold and silver jewelry, hand rolled cigars, handmade sombreros, native pottery, liquor shops and food courts. Luxury articles like Mont Blanc, Rolex, Cartier and Ray Ban, among others, can be found in all major shopping centers throughout the Hotel zone.

But don't leave without looking for some bargains in El Centro's open air markets or  modern malls.  The majority of open-air markets are located in El Centro, the downtown area. Here you'll find goods such as leather, pewter, carved wood, pottery, hammocks, rugs, baskets, and traditional Mexican clothing items like huaraches (sandals) and huipiles (colorful, embroidered Mayan dresses).

Most stores in the shopping malls, as well as the larger mercados, will accept credit cards. Some will charge an additional three percent if you use your card, so be sure to ask first. If you pay by cash, you may receive discounts, particularly with the small merchants.  You will find that in most cases you will pay a 10% VAT (value added tax) on anything you buy in Cancun. This tax is a sales tax.

 

Hotel Zone Shopping Malls

Kukulcán Plaza  Blvd. Kukulcán Km. 13.  300 Shops.  This extraordinary shopping center offers a wide variety of services: from shopping, fine dining, movies and bowling, to contemporary art exhibits and international film festivals. Open daily from 10:00am to 10:00pm. Indoor & outdoor parking. Handicapped assistance provided upon request. Wheel chairs, strollers and lockers available at the information booth. 

Plaza Caracol  Blvd. Kukulcán, km. 8.5 · 210 Shops.  This two story mall with marble floors and pleasant plant-filled atriums was designed by internationally renowned architects. Plaza Caracol features shops, boutiques, restaurants and galleries.  Open from 8am to 10pm. Two hundred stores featuring everything from world renowned designer labels to traditional Mexican arts and crafts.  Italian, international, seafood and Mexican cuisine are among the excellent restaurant choices. Spacious and air-conditioned, this mall offers plenty of entertainment for both children and adults. Other services such as automated bank machines, public telephones, money exchange, travel agencies and drugstores are present. Outdoor parking. Handicapped assistance provided upon request. 

Flamingo Plaza  Blvd. Kukulcán across from the Flamingos Hotel.  An excellent spot for shopping and eating. Restaurants such as Outback, Planet Hollywood and Pat O' Brien's are part of this mall. Open daily from 10am to 10pm.  A variety of international restaurants & boutiques.  

Forum by the Sea. Entertainment and Shopping Center.  Blvd. Kukulcán, Km. 9. Hotel Zone. Includes various shops but is mostly popular for its food and bars, including the Hardrock Cafe and the Rainforest Cafe, which stay open after midnight.  

La Isla  Boulevard Kukulcán Km 12.5, Hotel Zone.  The newest shopping center in Cancun.  This is a very nice outdoor shopping mall and has a large variety of boutiques, restaurants, and a very nice interactive aquarium.  

 

Downtown Shopping Malls

Plaza 2000  Crucero, Av. Tulum & López-Portillo.  Your standard mall.  Inexpensive footwear and cheap clothing, etc.  Mostly locals shop here.  

Plaza Las Americas  Avenida Tulum SM 4.  Open from 10am to 9pm. A nice downtown mall with big stores such as Liverpool, Sears, Sanborns and JC Penney's, along with numerous smaller boutiques, electronic shops, and a supermarket. This mall also offers 18 screens in two movie theaters, a big food court, several restaurants, the Mambo Café salsa club, and indoor and outdoor parking lots. 

Plaza Bonita Cancun Located on Av. Xel-ha, Behind the Post Office, next to Mercado 28.  Quaint shops located next to Mercado 28.

 

Open-Air Markets (mercados)

The majority of open-air markets are located in El Centro, the downtown area.  The two largest are
Ki Huic Market
and Mercado 28, although there are several others as well.  Here you'll find goods such as leather, pewter, carved wood, pottery, hammocks, rugs, baskets, and traditional Mexican clothing items like huaraches (sandals) and huipiles (colorful, embroidered Mayan dresses).  This is a great place to practice your bargaining skills. 

Ki Huic Market  Downtown.  Avenida Tulum.  100 shops.  Open every day 9 am - 10 pm.  This open-air market in downtown Cancun is the city's oldest crafts market. Souvenir shoppers will find a variety of serapes, blouses, shirts and curios.

Mercado 28 Downtown.  Any cab driver will know where to bring you if you tell them you are going to Mercado 28 ("mare-cah-doh vain-tee ocho").  This is a good place to soak up a little local atmosphere. There are stalls of Mexican pottery, silver jewelry, clothing, rugs and blankets, herbs and remedies, food, and much more. Have your haggling skills ready.

La Fiesta Market  Hotel Zone.  Kukulcán km. 9.  A small market center with Mexican crafts and silver ornaments, located in the hotel zone by TGI Friday's restaurant. 

Mercado Coral Negro Hotel Zone.  Blvd. Kukulcán, across the street from the Forum by the Sea shopping mall, next door to Slices.  A small open air market in the hotel zone with souvenirs, locals arts and crafts, henna tattoos, hair braiding, etc.

 

Fine Art

Excerpted from CafeCancun.com Copyright © by Jules Siegel. Mail: Apdo 1764, Cancun, Q. Roo 77501; E-Mail: jules_siegel@hotmail.com  Used by permission. All rights reserved.  He is also author of the book "Cancun Users Guide," an excellent insider's guide to Cancun that you can buy on his web site.

Fine art is a real bargain in Cancun, with styles and prices to suit every taste and budget. The more famous artists, such as Sergio Bustamante, are carried by galleries and stores that advertise in the principal guides. 

Plaza Kukulcán has the largest general selection of art, with at least two formal art galleries and—perhaps more interesting—many informal spaces in open public areas in which local artists sell their works direct to shoppers. The best time to meet the artists is in the evening.

La Casa de la Cultura in downtown Cancun, behind Wal-Mart often has exhibitions of local artists and is a must visit for serious collectors.

Sergio Bustamante - Xaman-Ek Galleries, Plaza Caracol, La Isla, and Plaza Kukulcán.  Sergio Bustamante’s works of art combine the surrealistic painting style of Salvador Dali with a sophisticated sculptural construction that creates an often astonishing effect of realism. These works would make great magazine illustrations. They are humorous and penetrating at the same time. The workmanship is impeccable. Surrealistic ceramic, papier-mâché and gold sculptures and jewelry.

Mexican by birth, Sergio Bustamante comes from Chinese and Indian roots. He was  educated and trained as an architect at the University of Guadalajara.  Each design is issued in a limited edition of a hundred or less, signed and numbered. Within a given edition, each sculpture is an original work of art. Carried in galleries throughout the world, these are very definitely destined to increase in value as they begin to attract the notice of museum curators.

Miguel Castro - Puerto Morelos, near Motel Eden. Mayan themes by Mexican artist Miguel Castro paints the finest reproductions of Maya art in the area, also has interesting hand-made leather items, bamboo and wood objects. Castro’s Mayan reproductions are based on years of research in the original techniques and styles. Miguel created the trompe l’oeil mural that sets the stage for La Habichuela’s Mayan sculpture garden

Gerardo Espejo - Necesito Handicrafts Shop. Hotel Zone, Playa Langosta, next to Casa Maya Hotel. Naturalistic painter Gerardo Espejo paints and draws in a hauntingly emotional realistic style that combines the fullness of tropical light with a certain special tenderness of his own. These are very direct, compelling works of art that appeal fully to the senses.

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