 | Punta Cana Shopping | Tips 1 - 10 of 14 |  |
Popular Shopping | Miscellaneous Shopping Tips | All Tips (14)  | |  |  | Vendor Markets on the Beach: Dominican Art is the Best | Tip Rating:   |  |  | |  |
Typically, there will be an ourdoor Vendor market close to any resort in the Dominican. They are very basic, and constructed of blue tarps over wooden frames, but they certainly do the trick! You'll definitely need to barter, but if you're not used that that, like me, trust me, it gets easier. Start by offering 1/2 of their price, and go from there. Decide in your mind how much you're willing to pay for the item, and bear in mind that the Dominican is a very poor country. If you have to go a couple of dollars higher, so be it - it's only a couple of bucks to you, but could mean an extra meal for the Vendor's family. After you do the deal, don't be surprised if the Vendor seems grumpy, like you ripped him off - it's part of the game, just to let you think you got the better of him!! I wouldn't recommend buying anything at the resort without checking the Market first. They will probably have the same thing, and you will definitely pay less. And it's fun!! And everything is "cheapie, cheapie"!!
The bright, colourful paintings are everywhere. There are usually 3 types. Beach scenes, which can range from beautiful, to the Elvis-on-black-velvet variety with gaudy orange sunsets. 'Crowd' scenes, which consist of a very similar person replicated over and over in the same painting. I find the most interesting is the Taino art. Taino are the aboriginal people of the Dominican, and these types of paintings are usually stick figures inside geometric patterns. Sounds weird, but they are very beautiful. You'll know what I mean when you see them. Beyond the paintings, you'll find wood carvings, jewellery, cigars, rum, and lots of trinkets. Be careful with the cigars - they are usually dried out, from what I heard. Leave a Comment Theme: Local Craft
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| | | | In the beach: Local Craft | Tip Rating: | | | | |
In the resort’s beach you will find people selling: . colourful paintings of local customs (or not). Watch out for the vendors. They will try to persuade you that they are canvas with oil paintings and to demonstrate they will throw water at it without damaging. Not true in most cases. They use some kind of fabric and use water paintings, then apply varnish on it so it looks like oil paintings. . fossilized wood: looks like stone, not too heavy and not cold, looking closer you can still see the wooden designs. Usually you can find statues of people and animals in this material. . stones: there are numerous objects made of varied stones, mostly statues of people and animals. . wooden statues: there are lots of wooden goods, mainly some sculptures (Taino Indians’ replicas) that represent fertility, happiness and other "wishes". They all have a handmade look. There are also animals carved on wood, as well as people. Some of them are just plain wood, some other are painted in some bright colours.
It is recommended to barter, especially if it's a street vendor. Sometimes you can pay part in currency and then offer the vendor something - like a t-shirt, some merchandising, ... just in case take with you some pens, or airbrushes or watches or t-shirts that contain adds, ... Sometimes you get to pay just 1/3 or 1/2 of the price initially asked by the vendor. Leave a Comment Theme: Local Craft
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| | | | REsort Shops: Shop at the resort-not market | Tip Rating:  | | | | |
We went to the market on the beach before the shops on the resort, thinking it will be cheaper on the beach.Not. After we bought what we wanted, we went to the resort stores(Caribbean Street)-the prices were either the same or cheaper, plus you don't have to haggle, it is really clean-and you can buy anything!! Bikinis, shoes, dresses etc It is no Gap or Old Navy, but you can get some pretty decent stuff. I bought an awesome bikini and sarong for 80$usd-not cheap-but cheaper than in Canada, and nicer!! Their sandals are really inexpensive, and the cigars are great and cheap at the RESORT!!! My hubby bought a box of cigars for $30(25 in box)-in Calgary-same cigars-$15 each! Rum-at the resort-only 3-5$usd/26er!! Coffee$1/lb(dominican coffee-yummy)
Coffee, cigars, rum, shoes, white flowy caribbean dress/pants/shirt, purses, shot glass, coconut scented candles, pictures, t-shirts, CD's. One cool thing to do - go to the flea market-buy a Cerveca at one of the stands-sit and drink with the vendors-they love to dance!! They will show you how to salsa on the beach-we showed them how to polka to latin music!!mucho fun!:) Leave a Comment Theme: Women's ClothesAddress: Caribbean Street-on resort
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There's a mall across the street from the resort. There's also a strip of shops down the beach...great stuff, don't forget to BARGIN!
Laramar, torquoise....
Not TOO much. But keep in mind it is a relatively poor country, give them a few extra bucks, it won't kill you =P Leave a Comment Theme: JewelryAddress: Down the beach (right side)
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Dominican Cigars are some ot the best and you'll probably be able to find a Cigar shop in every hotel! I bought some quite good ones for $8 each, but there are still cheaper and of course more expensive ones!
some in between $ 5 and $ 20 Theme: OtherDirections: usually within hotel complex, if not somewhere close
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