6 Best Shopping in Honduras' Caribbean Coast, Honduras

Local residents send travelers straight to Don Ángel's workshop for masterfully carved woodwork. He makes custom pieces with advance notice, and he sells bowls, canoes, and centerpieces at the central market. Ask your hotel to put you in touch.

The name means "our strength" in Garífuna. A hodgepodge of the coastal culture's woodcarvings, seashell and cocao earrings, maracas, drums, and oil paintings fill the small shop next to the Fortaleza de Santa Barbara visitor's office.

A group of local artisans sell their wares in the pink-and-purple building next to the Cocopando Hotel y Restaurante. The shop offers Lenca pottery, woven-bark purses, and bowls from the Pech, plus Garífuna instruments. Plastic bottles stuffed with plants and herbs are for sale; add rum or cold water, and you've got the Garífuna drink gifiti.

Intricate weavings, handmade leather goods, knickknacks, gourmet coffee, cigars, and even machetes make this well-stocked souvenir shop the best place for gifts. The large selection of artwork, jewelry, and trinkets is ample but not tacky.

Rosario Lobo started the women's sewing cooperative after Hurricane Mitch devastated her community in 1998. Today, the group sells colorful quilts and crafts all around La Ceiba. Lobo transports visitors to the workshop by pumping a basket down a cable cutting through the forest.

This easy-to-spot purple and turquoise wooden house across from the airport means no one has to go home without gifts and souvenirs. Forget carved coconuts and low-budget T-shirts—this place stocks items created by some 80 local craftspeople who have tourists, but also beauty and quality, in mind. Tasteful coffee bean necklaces, beaded bags, handmade dolls, and sewn holiday cards are among the vast inventory. And if time gets away from you before your vacation ends, an online store allows ordering back home.