Beware of merchant named Argan at the Puerto Costa Maya port

[JamesPhil]

All of the merchants at this port are VERY aggressive. But Argan takes the cake. My wife overpaid 3x for a skin care product over and above what you can find it for on Amazon.  When she got home, the product was old and dried out. Worthless.  No recourse.  This port in general has nothing going for it. Very discouraging.  

[Xaa]

Buying skin care products from a stranger in a foreign country on the street.  What could go wrong?

[ChessE4]

Just say no....and keep on walking while you hold your bags close! We found Turkey worse than Costa Maya, but dealing with aggressive vendors is a skill.

[wordell1]

For the record, my wife and I have shopped many times in the secured port in Costa Maya - It's actually one of the nicer ports.  I'm not sure if OP is referring to this area, or the downtown area of Mahahual.  The secured area is one of the largest of any port and has lots of shopping.  The vendors in my experience are active (standing in the door asking you to come into thier shop), but not aggressive.  In town can be more aggressive and there are vendors on the beach itself.  In either case, a simple "no thank you" is enough.

While there are deals to be had in some ports, generally you are probably not getting a deal on most items.  If you want to buy something, use google to check prices - it doesn't take a minute.