Cuale Island Flea Market — Local services in Jalisco

Be careful when shopping here, use cash only never use a credit card. We were scammed by a man name Jose. He sold a bit of everything from table runners, macromai, clothing and other trinkets. He tried to confuse use with pay this much in pesos(cash)then a larger amount(the difference) on card and we would give us pesos back in return (due to bank fees). He took me away from my wife to get ne a worthless trinket in order to leave her alone and vulnerable to the scam. Needless to say when we said we would pay on card in peso he charges us dollars and suddenly a couple thousand pesos turned into over a thousand dollars Canadian. He claims to have friends in Winnipeg and has a younger gentleman help with his scam. As usual they seem nice but once we got home and started to review bank statements a couple days after and noticed this. So be careful I wish I knew exactly which stall was his but it was between the river cafe and bridge. Be careful and pay attention to the numbers, and only pay cash. If you are heading up the river from the river cafe the stall was on the right side had a big board of bottle openers and leather bags in front. Now we have to deal with credit card companies to dispute the charges from his lies. If I ever go back I'll be sure to pay him a visit.

But in full honesty before we encounter this low life we met a real nice man selling beautiful blankets in a kind of circular stall at...

DON'T BUY FROM PACO!! On the first day of our vacation we met him. He claimed he's from the Okanogan, BC, Canada when we said we're from Vancouver. Said his sister lives on a specific street in Vancouver we knew about. Was really nice to us (seemingly) but then we were swindled into buying vanilla at 4x the price you could get from the Pharmacy or Walmart (same brand)...claimed the blanket we bought was handmade, but we later saw the tag he was hiding with washing instructions and looked up the company who made the blanket and Paco sold it to us for 5x the price which he stated was half off his original asking price. Such a terrible experience that made us not want to trust anyone after that. We know you need to barter but when he offers so high at first and brings it down, we had no experience before to know how ridiculous this was.

The rest of the markets have a large selection, but majority of the vendors get pretty rude when you aren't interested in their products and it was hard...

We heard that the Isla Cuale Market was the best in Puerto Vallarta, and so we had to check it out. We totally agree - it is THE best outdoor market in PV!! Even the journey to get there is scenic - you walk across a suspension bridge, and through a tunnel painted in beautiful artwork. You enter at pretty much the middle of the market, and either way you look, you see bright, vibrant colors everywhere. The variety of shops, the quality of merchandise, and the friendliness of the vendors - it all adds up to a wonderful shopping experience. Lots of the vendors are making their merchandise right there, so you can see how they are made, which is pretty neat. There is so much to see and do, and a bunch of places to eat as well. We had lunch at the River Cafe, and it was delicious!! We got there right as the market opened, so it was nice and cool, but even as the day got hotter, it stayed cool down in the market. This is definitely the place to go if you want a great local...