Cancun Shopping

La Isla Shopping Village
Blvd. Kukulcán, Km 12.5
La Isla shopping village is a charming shopping mall with a series of canals and small bridges designed to give the place the look and feel of Venice. There are loads of trendy shops, movie theaters, a disco, restaurants, and feature attractions like a marina and the Interactive Aquarium. Great place to spend an afternoon shopping!

Flamingo Plaza
Blvd. Kukulcán, Km 11.5 Across from the Flamingo Hotel
Medium sized mall good for practical shopping like beach gear, souvenirs arts & crafts and general merchandise. Restaurants such as Planet Hollywood and Pat O' Brien's are in the mall and Outback and Bubba Gump, are right next door.

Forum-by-the-Sea
Blvd. Kukulcán, Km 9.5
Forum-by-the-Sea is more of an entertainment complex than a shopping mall. There are a few stores scattered throughout this multi level plaza but the focus is more on the Hardrock Cafe and the Rainforest Café, which reside there.

Kukulcan Plaza
Blvd. Kukulcán, Km 13
Kukulcan Plaza is a large shopping complex boasting over 300 shops, restaurants, movie theaters and a bowling ally. You can find everything here from electronics to beach gear. A fun mall to visit.

Plaza Caracol
Blvd. Kukulcán, Km 8.5
Plaza Caracol is an up-scale mall featuring numerous galleries, and stores selling jewelry, perfumes and imported designer clothing and accessories.

Plaza Mayafair
Blvd. Kukulcán, Km 8.5
Plaza Mayafair was Cancun's first shopping mall in the hotel zone. It is a smaller open-air mall decorated in a Mayan/rainforest motif. The mall has nightly Mayan dance and music shows.

Mercado 28
Lots of vendors selling inexpensive jewelry, sunglasses, clay pottery, Mayan artifacts [copies], chess-sets etc. etc.. There are Mexican restaurants, beauty salons, a pharmacy and an upscale section called Plaza Bonita that features clothing boutiques, art galleries, cafes and ice cream stores.

Mercado 23
This is more of a local market catering to the local economy. This is where you can buy fresh vegetables and produce, flowers, meat, household products and general merchandise.

Ki Huic Market
Like Mercado 28 but not as big. Good place to go for the restaurants.
Markets are located north of the ADO bus terminal in downtown El Centro Cancun.


Mercado Coral Negro - Hotel Zone
Mercado Coral Negro is in the middle of the hotel-zone strip. Depending where you stay in Cancun you only have to ask any hotel staff in the lobby which direction to go to find the market. You can take the bus [6 pesos] or take a taxi.

Most of the stuff that you will see at the flea market you can also find at the malls. Depending on your bargaining skills the prices will vary. But be forewarned many of the market sellers are aggressive and you have to know how to handle it. They will badger you endlessly like jackals. You have to learn how to play the game to come out ahead.

It has been our experience that when times are good the vendors are not as aggressive. After 9/11 and Hurricane Wilma, Cancun took major blows and tourism was down, way down. The vendors were hurting for business and aggressive, but things are back to normal now.

Although the author of this text has never worked as a vendor I have spent hours hanging out with friends in their stalls watching them work. Some tourists complain that the vendors are rude and abusive however it is a two-way street and I have seen many a tourist treat the vendor with no respect what so ever.

The best way to get a good deal is to be nice to the vendor. It is all a game to them. Most work 6 days a week for little money. The majority of vendors you meet do not own the stall or the merchandise they are selling.