Where to buy souvenirs in Santa Teresa, Mal Pais and Montezuma that were made here: Jardin de Venus, Greenfolk, Ágora, Joyería Scriba, Calala, Neo Collective and the classic souvenir shops at Playa Carmen, plus coffee and chocolate to take home and what is imported.
The best souvenirs from Santa Teresa are the things made on this peninsula: a dress from Jardin de Venus, a bronze turtle from Joyería Scriba in Montezuma, a bar of Indigena chocolate, and a bag of Roastery coffee. The souvenir shops at Playa Carmen sell the sarongs and magnets, mostly made elsewhere.
The short version
Start at Jardin de Venus Collective for clothing designed and sewn in Costa Rica, Greenfolk for a curated mix of jewellery and accessories, and Ágora for books and film. For a classic bag of gifts on a budget, Souvenir Mandala and Tico Souvenirs at Playa Carmen have the widest range and the longest hours. In Montezuma, the artisan market by the beach and Joyería Scriba are better than anything on the Santa Teresa side for handmade jewellery. The Thursday market is the one night a week when the makers sell directly.
Prices in the boutiques run $30 to $150 for a piece of clothing or jewellery; in the souvenir shops a sarong is $10 to $20, a magnet $3 to $5, a wooden animal $10 to $40. Everything below takes cards except the market stalls and some of the smaller Montezuma shops, and everyone adds 13% tax.
Jardin de Venus Collective
Jardin de Venus Collective is the strongest case for buying clothing here. The brand designs and makes its dresses, tops, kimonos and bodysuits in Costa Rica in more than 90 original prints, and the Santa Teresa store, at Peace Lofts on the main road diagonal to La Glida, has been open about four years. Dresses on the brand's site run $110 to $135 and shorts and pants $90 to $110, with custom pieces made to order from the print catalogue, and there is a men's line. Open 9am to 5pm daily. The caveat: it is boutique pricing, and the store is small, so the full range is online.
Greenfolk Concept Store
Greenfolk is a small concept store in the centre of Santa Teresa near the former Selina North, with clothing, jewellery and accessories from a rotating set of small brands, some local and some from elsewhere in Latin America. It is the shop for a considered gift that is not a sarong: a pair of earrings, a woven bag, a candle. Open 9am to 8pm daily, which makes it the boutique you can hit after the beach. Ask which pieces are made in Costa Rica; the staff know, and the tags do not always say.
Ágora, Books and Analogue Photography
Ágora is the bookshop and film counter run by the Beach Film Club in Santa Teresa, and it is the most original gift shop in town. It sells new and second-hand books in English and Spanish, 35mm film, disposable cameras, and a film-drop service so you can shoot a roll on the beach and have it developed. It rates 5.0 from 19 reviews. The hours are the catch: Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm, closed Sunday to Tuesday, so plan it. A used paperback and a roll of film is a $20 souvenir that says more about this town than a magnet.
Calala Colectiva
Calala Colectiva is a collective shop at Plaza Pochote, Local 3, near Playa Carmen, where several small makers share the rent and the shelves: jewellery, ceramics, clothing, prints. Collectives like this are where you find the person who made the thing, often at the counter. It has no published hours and no Google reviews yet, so message on WhatsApp before you drive over, and expect afternoons to be more reliable than mornings.
Neo Collective
Neo Collective is at Plaza Central in Playa Carmen, open 11am to 5pm Monday to Saturday and closed Sunday, with a 5.0 rating from a handful of reviews. It is another shared space for local designers, leaning toward clothing, swimwear and accessories. Between Calala and Neo you can cover most of the peninsula's small labels in one afternoon at the cruce.
Souvenir Mandala
Souvenir Mandala at Playa Carmen is the classic souvenir shop done well: sarongs, hammocks, wooden bowls and animals, jewellery, t-shirts, coffee, and Costa Rica branded everything, open 8am to 8pm daily and rated 5.0 from 11 reviews. Most of the stock is made in Costa Rica or imported from Guatemala and Indonesia, which is normal for this kind of shop; ask, and the staff will tell you which is which. This is where you fill the bag for the office.
Tico Souvenirs
Tico Souvenirs on the Cobano road at Playa Carmen is the other reliable souvenir shop, open 9am to 7pm Monday to Saturday and closed Sunday, with 4.6 from 20 reviews. The range overlaps with Mandala; the prices are similar and regulars say the owners are honest about what is local. The Sunday closure matters if you are leaving on a Monday morning.
Ambar Souvenir
Ambar Souvenir is a small souvenir shop at Playa Carmen with a 4.7 rating from three reviews, open 9am to 6pm on weekdays and 10am to 5pm at weekends. It sits next to the Ambar surf shop and is a quick stop for a magnet, a sticker or a sarong when you are already at the cruce. Small stock, friendly, cash and card.
Selva Somos
Selva Somos is on the Playa Carmen side, open 9:30am to 7:30pm daily and rated 5.0 from 11 reviews, with a mix of clothing, natural products and gifts with a jungle theme. It is a good middle ground between the boutiques and the souvenir shops: nicer than a sarong, cheaper than a designer dress.
Cosas Del Mundo, Montezuma
Cosas Del Mundo is on the second floor next to Super Montezuma in the centre of the village, open 9am to 8pm daily. The name means "things of the world" and that is the honest description: textiles, incense, jewellery and clothing from Central and South America and Asia, with some local pieces mixed in. Come for the hippie-market aesthetic and the low prices, and check labels if origin matters to you.
Tienda Macondo, Montezuma
Tienda Macondo is opposite Super Mama Thea in Montezuma centre, open 8:30am to 7pm on weekdays and 8am to 8pm at weekends, rated 4.3 from 12 reviews. It is a general gift shop with sarongs, bags, jewellery and beach gear, useful if you arrived in Montezuma without a hat. Prices are lower than the Santa Teresa side.
Joyería Scriba, Montezuma
Joyería Scriba is Carlos Scriba's stall at the artisan market on the Montezuma beachfront, space 14, and it is the best handmade jewellery on the peninsula. Everything is made by hand in bronze, silver and stone, and the signature piece is the small bronze turtle, with part of each sale going to the ASVO turtle conservation project in Montezuma. Custom pieces and body chains are made to order. Open most days from 9 or 10am until evening, closed Wednesday, with a 5.0 rating and an online shop that ships if you fall for something after you leave.
Coffee and chocolate to take home
The two edible souvenirs that are actually made here are chocolate from Indigena Cafe and Chocolate in Cabuya, a bean-to-bar maker that works with the Ngobe community and runs chocolate tours (closed Mondays), and coffee from The Roastery in Mal Pais, roasted on site. Both keep for the flight. Costa Rican coffee in the souvenir shops is real Costa Rican coffee too, usually from Tarrazú or the Central Valley rather than the peninsula, and it is fine; the Roastery bag is the one that tastes of this trip. For sauces, Lizano is in every supermarket for about ₡2,000 and travels well.
The Thursday market
The Thursday Market is the weekly evening market on the main road where local makers sell jewellery, crystals, sarongs, art and clothing directly, alongside the food stalls that are the real draw. Arrive between 6 and 6:30pm before the good food sells out and before the road jams. It is the one place to buy from the person who made the thing without paying a shop's margin, and the one place cash is required. Our Thursday market guide has the full run-down. There is also a Saturday market in Montezuma and at Playa Carmen with a smaller version of the same.
Comparison table
| Shop | Where | Made here? | Price band | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jardin de Venus | Main road, Peace Lofts | Yes, designed and made in Costa Rica | $90 to $135 | 9am to 5pm daily |
| Greenfolk | Centre, near former Selina North | Mixed | $20 to $100 | 9am to 8pm daily |
| Ágora | Santa Teresa | Books and film | $5 to $40 | Wed to Sat 11am to 4pm |
| Calala Colectiva | Plaza Pochote | Yes, local makers | $15 to $100 | Message first |
| Neo Collective | Plaza Central, Carmen | Mostly local | $20 to $120 | Mon to Sat 11am to 5pm |
| Souvenir Mandala | Playa Carmen | Mixed | $3 to $60 | 8am to 8pm daily |
| Tico Souvenirs | Cobano road, Carmen | Mixed | $3 to $60 | Mon to Sat 9am to 7pm |
| Ambar Souvenir | Playa Carmen | Mixed | $3 to $30 | Daily |
| Selva Somos | Playa Carmen | Mixed | $10 to $80 | 9:30am to 7:30pm daily |
| Cosas Del Mundo | Montezuma centre | Mostly imported | $5 to $50 | 9am to 8pm daily |
| Tienda Macondo | Montezuma centre | Mixed | $5 to $40 | Daily |
| Joyería Scriba | Montezuma artisan market | Yes, handmade | $20 to $200 | Daily except Wed |
Practical notes
Buy the things that are made here first: clothing from Jardin de Venus, jewellery from Scriba or the collectives, chocolate from Indigena, coffee from the Roastery. Then fill in with the souvenir shops. Wooden sloths and painted oxcarts are Costa Rican crafts, from Sarchí in the Central Valley, so they count; sarongs and dream catchers are usually from Indonesia or Guatemala.
Cards work in every shop on this list except the market stalls. Prices are in colones or dollars and both are accepted; the 13% tax is usually included on the tag in the small shops and sometimes added at the till in the boutiques. There is no duty-free refund scheme in Costa Rica.
Check the hours before you drive. Ágora is only open four days a week, Tico Souvenirs and Neo close Sundays, and Scriba closes Wednesdays. In green season some of the boutiques close for a week or two in September and October; message on Instagram first.
Do not buy anything made from turtle shell, coral or animal parts, however it is described. It is illegal to export and the airport checks. Seeds, raw wood and unroasted coffee are also stopped at some borders, so stick to roasted beans and packaged chocolate. For the rest of your packing questions see the packing list, and for shipping bigger pieces home see the laundry and shipping guide.
FAQ
What souvenirs are actually made in Santa Teresa?
Clothing from Jardin de Venus Collective, handmade jewellery from Joyería Scriba and the collectives at Plaza Pochote and Plaza Central, chocolate from Indigena in Cabuya, and coffee roasted at The Roastery in Mal Pais. Most sarongs, hammocks and dream catchers in the souvenir shops are imported.
Where is the best souvenir shop in Santa Teresa?
For range and hours, Souvenir Mandala at Playa Carmen, open 8am to 8pm daily, with Tico Souvenirs on the Cobano road a close second. For gifts that were made here, Jardin de Venus and Greenfolk on the main road.
When is the Santa Teresa market?
Thursday evenings on the main road, from about 5pm, with the makers and food stalls at their best between 6 and 7:30pm. Montezuma has a smaller market on Saturdays. Bring cash for the stalls.
Can I buy Costa Rican coffee and chocolate in Santa Teresa?
Yes. The Roastery in Mal Pais roasts on site and sells bags, Indigena in Cabuya makes bean-to-bar chocolate, and every souvenir shop and supermarket stocks Tarrazú coffee and Britt chocolate. Roasted beans and packaged chocolate pass airport checks; raw beans and seeds may not.
Do the shops take cards?
All the shops in this guide take cards; the Thursday market stalls and some Montezuma market vendors are cash only. Dollars and colones are both accepted, and there is a 13% sales tax on everything.
Browse every shop, boutique and maker in one place at the /directory/shop hub.
