Best Shopping Malls and Centers in Cabo San Lucas

As the closest plaza to the cruise ship terminal, Plaza Gali is sort of a microcosm of the larger Cabo San Lucas shopping experience. All the types of shops one can expect to find downtown - jewelry stores, arts and crafts purveyors, pharmacies, sunglasses boutiques, duty free shops - are found here first. One store, Fiesta Mexicana, even exclusively specializes in touristy items like t-shirts and sombreros. Tourist-oriented food and drink options are also on display, including a Starbucks coffee kiosk, a Señor Frog's bar and grill, and the bar at the Mayan Monkey boutique hostel. Activities can also be arranged, most notably at Manta, one of the area's premier dive shops. There is even an OXXO (a Mexican convenience store similar to 7-11 in the U.S.), where one can grab cold drinks and snacks.

Plaza Aramburo is only a block or so off the marina, and houses the largest grocery store in the touristy area of Cabo San Lucas. The store, also called Aramburo, carries a variety of goods, from fresh bread to canned foods, dairy, deli meats, beach needs, personal hygiene items, cleaning supplies, liquor, bottled water and produce. For many years, there were high tourist mark-ups on items, but the appearance of City Club, Mega, Sam's Club, Soriana and Walmart, who offered many of the same things at lower prices, has brought prices down at Aramburo. The plaza is also home to a bank, a bar, a pharmacy and a small hotel called Las Margaritas Inn.

A familiar name for U.S. visitors, popular warehouse club Costco honors both U.S. and Canadian memberships at its Los Cabos store. The club is located in the Tourist Corridor, a few miles outside Cabo San Lucas, and has perhaps the most spectacular parking lot views of any chain store in North America. In addition to bulk supplies of many household necessities, Costco stocks beachwear and clothing, beauty and healthcare items, groceries, wine and liquors, and has an onsite bakery, pharmacy, optical center and snack bar. Visitors must be members to make purchases, but yearly memberships are available at reasonable rates (individual memberships are 450 pesos, or about $28 U.S.).

Plaza Bonita is one of the larger shopping plazas in Cabo San Lucas. It's located on the marina boardwalk, near Puerto Paraíso, and counts among its tenants several popular nightclubs (Knotty Social Club, Nowhere Bar) and restaurants (Alexander, Tiki Bar), the town's only Starbuck's and Burger King franchises, as well as a clothing boutique (Dos Lunas) and galleries showcasing traditional Mexican arts and crafts. The courtyard is spacious, and a condo complex sits atop several commercial properties, offering superb views of the Cabo San Lucas Marina. The condos are often available for rental by the week or month, and guests have access to a communal terrace with a pool, hot tub and outdoor grill.

Welcome to souvenir central. Set in downtown San José del Cabo, Plaza Artesanos is home to dozens of vendors selling authentic Mexican jewelry, clothing, tote bags, rugs and ceramics. This is one-stop shopping for tourists looking for high-quality, yet affordable keepsakes in a comfortable atmosphere without any hard sell tactics. There is plenty of gold and silver jewelry, as well as hand-stitched dresses, hats, masks, religious iconography, tequila, and just about every kind of trinket imaginable. The plaza itself is clean and airy, and a great place to spend an afternoon, with plenty of benches and shade-giving umbrellas. The complex also houses a coffee shop and pharmacy.

Plaza San Lucas is best known to locals as the home of Walmart. The shopping center is located just outside of Cabo San Lucas, and in addition to larger stores like Walmart, also houses La Europea, a well-stocked deli and premium wine and liquor store, as well as Radio Shack, GNC, and numerous clothing, swimwear and sunglasses boutiques. La Europea serves food and drinks outside in umbrella-shaded comfort, but visitors can also wander to over to the food court for more varied options. This is one of the best "find anything" shopping centers in Los Cabos, and from time to time there will be a circus set up across from the parking lot, or a bungee jumping crane. There's even a medical office onsite, featuring specialists from the nearby hospitals Hospiten and H+.

Plaza Sendero is a bit off-the-beaten-track for tourists, just past the bus station in Cabo San Lucas, on the highway to Todos Santos. The expansive mall is extremely popular with locals, however, and offers a large selection of clothing boutiques, specialty shops and food court options. Soriana is the best known shop at Plaza Sendero, and this grocery and general goods store carries just about anything visitors might need, as well as offering delivery options. The onsite cinema complex shows first run movies in English and Spanish, and the food court offers plenty of dining options. Parking is always available.

Sometimes referred to as Las Tiendas de Palmilla, but better known among American and Canadians as The Shoppes at Palmilla, this upscale shopping center is, under any name, one of the finest in Los Cabos. Located in the Palmilla resort community just outside of San José del Cabo, near the exclusive ultra-luxury resort One&Only Palmilla, The Shoppes at Palmilla is home to fine food (Nick-San, Cream Café, Chin's Chinese, Blue Fish Seafood), fine jewelry (Talleres de los Ballesteros), and high-end real estate offices (Engel and Volkers), as well as chic arts and crafts galleries (Pez Gordo, Pietra Gallery) and trendy boutiques (Lago, SAX). It's also the site of the only U.S. consular agent in Los Cabos.

Luxury Avenue is a high-end, boutique mall situated next to Puerto Paraíso on the Cabo San Lucas Marina. The mall is accessible from Puerto Paraíso, but it is much more fun to walk up the steps — red carpet accessorized on special occasions — to Cabo's most prestigious address, and what is certainly the area's most exclusive (and expensive) shopping center. If you want to pick out a new watch at Tag Heuer, or browse the latest fashions from Salvatore Ferragamo or Caroline Herrera, this is the place to go. Luxury Avenue is home to chic boutiques from around the world, including Longchamp, Montblanc, Victoria's Secret, Lacoste, Ultrafemme and Ultrajewels. There is another Luxury Avenue location in Cancún.

Cabo San Lucas' large Marina-based mall is a multi-level complex with an excellent variety of shopping destinations. Puerto Paraíso hosts many fine arts and crafts galleries offering handmade goods from México and beyond, plus a large number of clothing boutiques featuring the latest swimwear, sunglasses, and resort style clothing. Drinking and dining options are also noteworthy: Ruth's Chris and other marina facing restaurants, as well as a recently installed food court on the mezzanine level. Entertainment options include a 10-theater cinema, Cinemex, which also serves as a host site during the annual Los Cabos International Film Festival. General services and sundries are also available, from an onsite bank branch with ATMs to a money changing station.