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Cancun
Travel Guide
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Cancun
Shopping
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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.
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Hotel Zone
Shopping Malls
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| 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.
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Downtown Shopping
Malls
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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.
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Open-Air Markets
(mercados)
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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.
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Fine Art
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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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