design

Though smaller than the Mercado de Artesanías (see above), this market is easier to get to from the major strip hotels. Bonus: It's open late to accommodate night-owl shoppers. For their pure kitsch factor, we fell in love with the giant burlap yarn paintings of various Mexican tableaus, $30 (see above,).

This rambling boutique, located in Maui's quintessential hippie town, Paia, offers everything from bright, stretchy mesh tees to "forkchops," a bizarre hybrid of fork and chopstick. The petite purses that shop co-owner Patti Pottorff makes from vintage silk kimono fabric are all one-of-a-kind and well worth the 50 bucks.

On Saturday mornings from 6 AM until noon, both locals and tourists swarm this lively flea market. Pass up the predictable sarongs and shell necklaces and zero in on the real bargains, like orchids, funky aloha-print wallets, and beach totes woven from palm leaves.

Odds are you've never seen a housewares shop that also doubles as an international travel agency. But now it's weirdly possible to buy a Vietnamese hammock while simultaneously booking a ticket to Saigon. Proprietor Peter Pomeranze, who travels frequently to places like Australia and New Zealand, always has something new and interesting on hand from his visits. His latest discovery is an exceptionally silky, Auckland-made Echo body lotion.

Sure, there are endless lei vendors at the airport, but the most intricate of these traditional floral necklaces are found in Honolulu's Chinatown. If the incredibly fragrant scents of the tuberose and pikake flower creations at Cindy's (one of the oldest and best-stocked lei shops in this 'hood) don't lure you to buy, the affordable prices (many leis start at $3) will. Cindy's even ships.