What to buy in Costa Maya?

[seasounds]

How are the prices for silver jewelry in Costa Maya? Can anyone suggest a good shop?

 

What can you expect to find and buy as souveniers in Costa Maya?

 

Thanks for your help.:)

[Ali-in-Texas]

Personally, I wouldn't buy anything but cheap souvenirs in Mexico like tshirts or hats. You can never be sure that what you are buying is real. The Mexican government is very corrupt and doesn't regulate things very well. Have seen lots of people be taken on things that they thought were real only to return home to find otherwise.

[SunFunCruiser]

I didn't see anything unusual at all. Silver seemed overpriced to me, they wouldn't bargin at all. I got a couple of Christmas ornaments, that's was about it.

[SharleneinTexas]

the usual t-shirts and some Christmas ornaments. I bought one silver pendant but price shop first.........you'll find the exact same pendant in several stores and the prices vary quite a bit. Even if the silver is not first grade, this is a pendant that is stricly Mexican maya and for what I paid, it could be costume and still worth buying. I've never seen another one like it. We also bought a chair hammock that we love - and they did cut the price drastically for me. I did read where someone on here bought some vanilla that turned out to be water........ugh......

this trip we are making a trip to the ruins and a short look at the beach in Mahajual....using time in Cozumel for any real shopping

Have fun! :)

[hstrybuf]

Costa Maya is not like Cozumel. It's small and limited to a few shops and vendors. If you take a taxi to Mahahual, the village down the road, they had shops and vendors as well, but we didn't venture into the shops. We bought a hammock and several nice quality handmade plates for my collection from the vendors there.

[Oceanwench]

I bought some silver jewelry and pendants. There were no prices on the items, so you had to bargain for them.

I thought I got some good prices.

 

Then I went to the Disney World last month, and in the Mexican pavilion at Epcot I saw similar silver jewelry by the same company for a fraction of what I paid in Costa Maya!

 

I would never buy silver in CM again.

 

What I did like there were paintings on tiles. The artist was sitting by his wares, painting. I bought a large tile that was displayed. It was about $15.

While I was looking at the tiles, the man painted a small one for me. I had to buy it, too!!! :)

I think the small tile was $5.

 

I have them at home and they are nice reminders of the port.

[rosegrower]

We were In Costa Maya last week and I did not have time after my excursion to go to the fishing village so did a little shopping at the pier and thought everything was overpriced compared to Los Cincos Soles in Cozumel. The same silver with inlaid design barrette in Costa Maya was $22, no bartering and only $5.95 or 3 for 14.95 at Los Concos Soles. The sales woman even made 2 sombreros charms for me out of earrings cause thay had no charms and only charged me $4.50 plus the discount Miracle passengers got. The staff at LCS was mostly female and very helpful. In Costa Maya, most of the clerks were men, not very helpful and rather intimidating and at one place downright scary cause he kept trying to get me to come to the back of the store where he had jewelry hidden. My husband was flyfishing so I was by myself. I ended up buying a bracelet there for $12 (down from $30 original asking price)that I could have gotten at Los Cincos Soles for for $6, just to get out of there! Costa Maya was our last port and I needed a few more things but should have bought lots more in Cozumel.

[atlantaCruise]

Did anyone see any vanilla in Costa Maya? If so do you remember the prices? Thanks

[antcyd]

Lots of vanilla. $3 for the small bottle, $5 for a larger bottle seemed to be the going rate.

Prices were the same in Cozumel. I tried negotiating and Costa Maya seemed to be a little more flexible than Cozumel but then again we were the only ship in port so that tends to make them a bit more flexible

[atlantaCruise]

Thank you, this is our first trip to Costa Maya, leave in 16 days on the Glory and we are about out of vanilla. Any other good deals there that you just cant pass up?

[EagerToCruise]

Go to the back of the Majhual Market, left entrance. There is a "fat man at the back of the market" as he called himself. HE told me his name but I have forgotten.....too many margaritas! My friends and I bought several t-shirts from him at the best prices we found anywhere. $5 for adult shirts, $4 for kids sizes. And we each got a free ice-cold beer! This market is located on the right as you are walking south on the beach road, shortly after you get off the bus/taxi. He also had nice silver jewelry but I didn't buy any. I don't know how his silver prices were compared to others. I was shopping for shirts, bags, etc.

[jess43]

How are the prices for silver jewelry in Costa Maya? Can anyone suggest a good shop?

 

What can you expect to find and buy as souveniers in Costa Maya?

 

Thanks for your help.:)

 

There is always the Diamonds International at the Port that has really awesome prices. They are very reliable as there is one in almost every port I've been to.

[infopaul]

atlantaCruise, just to alert you..another cc'er had said they bought a bottle of vanilla for 10 dollars in Costa Maya and when they opened it later they found to their suprise it was water. They also said it was sealed. I have gone to Coz and have bought vanilla for about 4 dollars and believe that is the going price (big bottle). I could only conclude that they (cc'er) may have been targeted as easy marks first overpaying and then getting water. Their post however did give me concern to check what i'm getting since I will be in Mahahual in a couple of weeks. I hope you do the same...Paul:)

[Cruisin'Kim]

We were there in January and took a taxi to the village - the prices for the same things were much better there then in the tourism village, although the Vendors in the village are VERY aggresive.

 

I found the Vendors in the tourism village on a whole great, but we had one Vendor that told us "not to waste his time" when we started to negotiate for a dress - we walked out of the store, and bought the dress in the Village for $10 less than what we were suggesting in the first store when the vendor told us not to waste his time!

 

I agree, Cozumel is a much better place for shopping.

[atlantaCruise]

Thanks Paul, I did get that huge bottle last year in Cozumel, going out on the Glory next Sat ( 25th ) and never been to Costa Maya. Will be on the lookout, maybe we can find some in Belize. What dates will you be there? I can let you know what we find if we get back before you head out.

Thanks again for the heads up

[infopaul]

I'm leaving on the Veendam on 25 Mar. I believe that we will be in CostaMaya, Mahahual on the 30 Mar. Maybe we'll catch up...Paul:)

[atlantaCruise]

Paul,

Sounds good, we would love to hear how the Holland ship is, been wanting to take a cruise with them for a while now. We are doing the 10:30 - 2:00 Beach Snorkel but would like to meet up before or after ( there from 8 - 5 ). You can contact me at kenandkelly6132 at aol if you want, maybe we can find some vanilla or a cold drink.

Ken

[deweydjb]

I am not very good at bartering or talking the price down and I got really ripped off in Costa Maya at the shops near the pier. I only bought some souvenirs like mugs, salt and pepper shakers ect. but it was really really expensive. When we visited the ruins there was a small gift shop and the prices were half than that at the port. I would NOT buy anything at the shops in the port!

[marjoriereed]

The only reliable brand of vanilla I have found in Mexico is Danncy vanilla. It is really recognizable by the red roster on the neck of the bottle.

[cruisergrandma]

What time do the shops open? We arrive very early at 7 am and leave at 2 pm. Since it will be so early we really wanted to do a little shopping first and then go to the beach.