Playa del Carmen Shopping

Playa del Carmen is a great place to do shopping. The most of stores and malls are along “Quinta Avenida” (5th Avenue).  5th Avenue is the commercial district of the city, in this place you can find almost every thing that you wish.
Along this avenue, there are a great variety of clothing shops, where you can find designer clothing, shoes, sandals, dresses, shorts, t-shirts, tops and fashion accessories.

Besides, there are also many souvenir and specialty shops; where it can find jewelry, art, Mayan handcrafts, gourd lamps, beach toys and artworks.

Prices can vary depending on your purchases. There are crocheted tablecloths between $10 and $15, “pareos” between $5 and $15, beautiful hammocks between $25 and $40. There is also amazing Mayan jewelry since $20 for a simple bracelet until $250 for an  intricate and precious stone inlaid necklaces. Nevertheless, you must be careful, mainly when you are buying jewels, Mayan handcrafts and cigarettes; since many of these articles could be fakes. Usually the majority of vendors are honest; but you may find dishonest people everywhere. They will attempt to sell you fake things as authentic items. The most of cigars labeled as Cubans like “Cohiba” are false, but there are some stores like “La Casa del Habano” where you can find authentic Cuban cigars.

In Mexico buying can be an art. Except some places like big malls and pharmacies, almost everything that is sold in the stores is open to price negotiation. You must find the cheapest price for an item that you want to buy and make an offer. Later the vendor will make another offer and step by step, both agree on the final price. It is a slow process but it can be fun, mainly if you like shopping and have patience.

Another thing that you should remember is, that if you take a tour, the tours operators often will stop anywhere to eat. Normally there will be a great number of stores next to the restaurant. Usually these shops will be the same price as Cancun or Cozumel (quite expensive); but if you go down the road to a group of venders, the prices for the exact same stuff will be quite minors.

Some of the main malls and stores in Playa del Carmen are:

Walmart, one of the most famous stores in the World (30th Avenue and 8 Street)

Chedraui, a big supermarket (corner amongst Juarez and Highway Avenues)

Plaza del Carmen, new mall with many shops and restaurants (situated at the ferry pier)

Plaza Pelicano, big mall with movie theater ( 10th Avenue)

Super san Francisco, one of the biggest groceries of the city (30th Avenue and 12 Street)

Sam's Club (Highway 307 and Juarez Avenue)

Zocalo, clothing store and Mayan handcrafts (Juarez Avenue)

 

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