Punta Cana Tourist Trap Tips by toontown

The only shopping to be had in the Riu resort area of Punta Cana is in a area of the resort called "Caribbean Street." It has a bit of captured market and the prices tend to reflect it, so make sure you take what you need with you, particularly toiletries. There is a beautiful local light blue stone called "larimar" in the Dominican. The jewellers on Caribbean Street were selling jewelry using larimar for inflated prices. I bought a couple of pairs of silver and larimar earrings at a little stall on Catalina Island (on a day trip to La Romana) for $7 U.S. each. We ended up buying a couple of local paintings on canvas at Caribbean Street, but only got a reasonable price after letting them know the price we'd seen the same types of paintings go for in La Romana.

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At Least Do This: Make sure you know what an item is worth and be prepared to haggle if you shop at Caribbean Street!
Alternative: Bring your own necessities and only shop locally for souvenirs.