Benito Ortega Vargas, Sculptor
Sculptor Benito Ortega’s studio and gallery showcases evocative, often sea-inspired works in wood, bronze, stone, and other materials.
We've compiled the best of the best in Mexico - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
Sculptor Benito Ortega’s studio and gallery showcases evocative, often sea-inspired works in wood, bronze, stone, and other materials.
Bésame Mucho is as much a tourist attraction as a shop, as the patio outside is the most photographed in Todos Santos: just try not posing in front of the colorful Aztec Calendar or on the romantic kiss bench. Inside, the boutique sells a wildly wonderful variety of glittery goods: everything from clothing to accessories to home decor. Owner Rouss Del Toro's tastes may be more eclectic than most, but the people who love her merch will love it.
Mérida's biggest English-language bookstore is relatively small, but it still offers a nicely curated selection of recent popular titles as well as a number that are focused on Mexican culture, cuisine, and history. The store also has bookish gifts including journals, bookmarks, and more. Several stores in the Carmesí complex, where the bookstore is located, are worth a stop, too; they mostly sell local, high-quality handicrafts. There's also Volta Café for a snack and drink.
From snacks to groceries to organic soaps, lotions, and shampoos, this little shop has a little something for every health-conscious traveler. There's also an organic restaurant attached.
Be the best-dressed person at your next party wearing one of the many styles of casual, breezy, tropical white clothing for sale here.
A two-story home goods store on a quiet street, Bomboti is where you go to find unique decorative pieces. Head to the second floor for larger pieces.
Brilanti Fine Art is a showcase for the stunning jewelry and design works of famed Taxco silversmith Ana Brilanti, in addition to a number of other contemporary jewelry artists whose work shares the same dramatic aesthetic. Be sure to look at the silver tea services and other functional pieces. You'll also find selected stone carvings and bronzes from local artists. Extended members of the (clearly gifted) family have gone to open a total of five distinct jewelry shops to sell their work, all on Centenario.
The aroma of roasting coffee lures locals and visitors alike into The Cabo Coffee Company, where you can also find refreshing smoothies, cookies, and muffins. The organic green coffee beans are flown fresh from Oaxaca, where they are roasted and bagged for sale. The store sells a number of Starbucks-like flavored coffee drinks and chai tea, as well as ice cream. There is also a book exchange with a few good beach reads.
Looking for souvenir swag to take home with you? Feel free to skip over the made-in-China kiosks surrounding the marina and make your way to CABO The Store, instead. You'll find chic apparel stitched with the town's name, along with illustrated logos of The Arch, a fish, golf club, and cactus. It's pricey, but really high quality.
Café Colón sells 20 varieties of coffee for about $2.50 a pound.
The friendly folks at the Café de Avelino will show you how the experts rate the beans.
Cafécali serves a wide selection of excellent coffees at good prices.
At this farmers' market in the middle of the Corridor, you can find organic food, plus kosher and imported products. You can also enjoy a fresh, healthy meal at their next-door sister restaurant Baja Fresh Kitchen.
The area's best organic grocery store, California Ranch Market, offers a good selection of imported wines, cheeses, and other gourmet delicacies, as well as American food brands. Freshly squeezed juices and handmade paninis are also available at their second location, in the Corridor-based shopping center The Shoppes at Palmilla.
Callejón del Diamante, also known as Calle Antonio M. Rivera, is a captivating pedestrian street with vendors hawking inexpensive jewelry, handwoven baskets, and fleece-lined slippers.
At Camino Silvestre ("wild road"), an eclectic and slightly eccentric selection of gifts and home furnishings delights the eye, all arranged as if in a home or garden rather than a store. Bird and nature themes predominate: choose among hummingbird feeders, birdhouses, framed prints, fine linens, wool rugs, art prints and paintings, and much more. Adjacent is a pricey but pretty tea room. There's a second location at Zacateros 46 (Tel.415/121–3359).
The oversized, handmade candles that you see lighting the night so elegantly in Playa's restaurants and hotels are sold at Candle Boutique.
Browse the painterly, old-style majolica ceramics at Capelo.
Everything at this island-inspired chain, which sells bed sheets, mattresses, and apparel, is made out of sustainable bamboo. T-shirts bearing cute Cabo San Lucas designs are light, breathable, and very soft---perfect to wear on hot days of exploration.
Linen dresses by this Mexican designer are done in palettes and patterns that bring to mind (and sometimes incorporate) traditional Mexican textiles, embroidery, and lace. The draping and layering, however, are very contemporary. Skirts and wraps that flow elegantly—often in vertical lines—are juxtaposed with structured, sometimes architectural bodices and tops. Ties, fastenings, and jewelry are equally tantalizing, the latter often combining wood, silver, and seedpods. Rion has been recognized not only for her unique designs, but also for her ethical practices, which have included working with Mexican artisans to create her garments.
Casa Antigua, in the former home of Mazatlán's first bishop, sells crafts from throughout Mexico in all price ranges and mediums—silver, ceramics, black clay, and papier-mâché.
Purchase a full-size love seat or a doll-size miniature at Casa Artensenal de Tlacotalpan. Doña Rafaela Murillo's shop, housed in a building that once served as the town's prison, also carries various objects made of carved wood, including fanciful animals and birds.
The government-run Casa de las Artesanías sells wooden toys, ceramics, embroidered blouses, bags, and handwoven textiles from throughout the state. You'll also find honey, marmalade, and locally made liqueurs.
Beautiful handicrafts and folk art—including alebrijes animal figurines, carved masks, bracelets, ceramics, and Día de Muertos decor—are sold in the rooms of this alluring shop set inside a rambling 18th-century mansion with a gorgeous courtyard and exterior gardens. It's a few steps from Plaza San Jacinto, offering a bit of calm from the bustle of vendors found there.
Casa Etnika sells a funky mélange of non-kitschy Mexican and world crafts, from jewelry to carved wood statuettes to nature photography of Sinaloa State. Some items are made from recycled materials.
Casa Kiamy is like a bazaar, with something for everyone: silver jewelry, woven and leather bags, ceramics, and Yaqui Indian masks.
Casa Marina houses excellent small shops selling Yucatecan hammocks, Oaxacan rugs, and a smattering of folk art. It's generally closed Sunday during low season.
Casa Maya has silver and gold jewelry; silver tea sets, platters, and urns; and Talavera place settings.