Bargaining skills are necessary at Los Cabo's shopping scene. RELATED LINKS City Guide: Cabo San Lucas

Before filling your suitcase with quaint local handicrafts to take home when you leave, remember that much of what’s for sale at the street stalls and souvenir shops of Cabo San Lucas has been shipped across the Sea of Cortez from elsewhere in Mexico. Depending on your bargaining skills, you might find that for some items, prices and quality here are no better than what you’d find at an import shop back home.

That said, the influx of tourists and expatriates from north of the border has brought depth and diversity to southern Baja’s shopping scene. Look beyond the predictable selection of T-shirts and cheap souvenirs and you’ll find a good range of products from all over Mexico, including silver jewelry, leatherwork, ceramics, rugs, furniture and decorative items. Local products to look for include blown glass, rustic pottery and liqueur laced with damiana, a native desert shrub reputed to have aphrodisiac properties.

Fine art galleries featuring the work of both Mexican and expatriate artists have sprung up in the region as well — in Cabo itself, in neighboring San Jose del Cabo, and in Todos Santos, a charming pueblo about an hour north of Cabo San Lucas near the Pacific Coast.

The wrong stuff: Purchasing items derived from sea turtles, black coral and other wildlife is a bad idea, and many such products may be confiscated by U.S. customs officials if you try to carry them home. Puffer fish really belong in the ocean, not dried and varnished in your living room, and the market for exotic seashells only encourages hunters to pluck live mollusks from the sea. Finally, be sure to test any ceramics you purchase for lead content before using them for food or drinks.