7 Best Shopping in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

The Galerias at Puntacana Village lie within a still-blossoming shopping, dining, and residential complex built on the road to the Punta Cana International Airport. Originally the village was built to house employees of the Puntacana Group, but now the shops and restaurants are also a tourist draw. The village is comprised of churches, an international school, and this commercial area with its restaurants, shops, a supermarket, banks (with ATMs), a beauty salon, pharmacy, and doctors' offices. Family-oriented, it has an ice-cream parlor, a playground, and a children's clothing boutique as well as those for adults. The restaurants are less expensive than those at most resorts and very popular. The Sheraton Four Points Puntacana Village is across the street, just a two-minute drive from the airport.

A standout among the region's shopping centers, Palma Real Shopping Village is a swanky, partially enclosed mall (similar to something you would see in Southern California), that is also overall the most expensive. Fountains and tropical plants infuse life into the bright and airy interiors beneath the blue-tile roof. Music pipes through the stone-floor plaza in the center, where seating is available and security is tight. Upscale retail shops, which sell beachwear, clothing, skin-care products, and jewelry, line the walls. Several restaurants give visitors welcome dining alternatives beyond the gates of their resorts, and the shopping center holds Punta Cana's first movie theater. There are two banks, ATMs, and a money exchange outlet. Stores are open 10–10, but the restaurants stay open later. It has the best pharmacy in the area. Shuttle buses run to and from many of the hotels, with pickups every two hours.

The colorful, bazaarlike atmosphere at Bi2JH2O Artisanal Shopping Plaza (pronounced like bibijagua), makes it fun to browse the shopping stalls laid out in the sand on Bávaro Beach. You can find handicrafts, cigars, mamajuana, handmade musical instruments, paintings, sculptures, wood carvings, and ambar, larimar, and coral jewelry, but in cheap settings. And they might not be the real deal, particularly the amber and coral. Expect the spirited shopkeepers to beckon you into their kiosks; you might find a few pearls in their sea of trinkets. Bargain, but don't ask prices if you aren't serious about buying; you'll be hounded. A snack bar with Dominican munchies and restrooms are nearby.

It's hard to walk by the windows of Harrison's Fine Jewelry without stepping in to admire the collection of jewelry, including a large selection of larimar and amber pieces in striking settings, as well as diamonds and other classic gems. Outlets of this renowned chain are also in several resorts of Punta Cana, like the Palma Real Shopping Village itself.

The sprawling Plaza Bávaro Shopping Center has dozens of shops spanning two sides of the main street that cuts through its center. It is a Dominican hodgepodge—like a neighborhood without any zoning restrictions. On the side closest to the beach you can find clothing stores, jewelry, cigars, and crafts, as well as money-exchanges, a DHL shipping station, and a pharmacy, all laid out in a square; in the middle is a bar where you can take a beverage break. Across the street, most of the booths sell artwork and handicrafts. Ladies will likely be approached by women offering to braid your hair.

On the outskirts of Higüey, as you head into town along Carretera Higüey–La Otra Banda, you can find this artisan market on the right-hand side of the road that draws busloads of tourists. Here you can browse through racks and shelves full of souvenirs, such as the herbal mamajuana liqueur, rum, cigars, T-shirts, amber and larimar jewelry in cheap settings, crafts, and ceramics.

You won't find brand-name shops at Plaza Uvero Alto, but it's a convenient 24-hour shopping center for the hotels in the remote Uvero Alto area of Punta Cana. Especially useful are a bank, outdoor ATM, and a money exchange, followed by a small pharmacy, gift shops, and two minimarkets (one in the front, the other in the back row of booths).