Best Swimwear Shop 2012 | Onda de Mar | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Miami | Miami New Times
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Best Swimwear Shop

Onda de Mar

Every girl needs a great swimmy. It's imperative to the very nature of our femininity. Onda de Mar has our backs every time we stop in. To start, the bathing suits are beautiful and simple. The selection is high-end designer wear (ladies' suits mostly range from $180 to $200), but the store frequently has awesome sales of 50 percent off. The swimwear style is primarily European, which is fantastic because it's a change from the typical tacky, neon prints we see in most other Miami swim shops. Guys, no baggy trunks here. If you want a clean-cut look, this is your place. And ladies, the only decision you'll have to make is which pattern looks better on you: solids, stripes, or polka dots.

Best Psychic

Sandra Cheryl Richardson

Skeptical or not, it's human nature to want to know what the future holds. But the average psychic always says you'll be going on a trip very soon or that the man of your dreams is just a failed relationship away. The more cunning ones will say you need to fork over more cash to get rid of some supposed curse or, worse, the evil eye. That's where Sandra Cheryl Richardson is different. The psychic, author, lecturer, and paranormal investigator isn't looking to deceive you. For $65 for a half-hour or $120 for a full hour, Richardson, a practicing wiccan priestess for more than 20 years, will read you the tarot cards or your aura and give you advice — that's the key difference, advice. She's more counselor than snake oil saleswoman, and perhaps that's why her customers are also her most ardent supporters. Richardson likewise teaches classes on developing your psychic powers and understanding the spiritual world. And you better believe there's an app for that — you can take Richardson on the go with the Wiccan Sabbats app (available in the iTunes Store). And even if you're not interested in a reading, perusing through Celestial Treasures' retail space is a must. There you'll find everything for the avid psychic enthusiast, including books, stones, tarot cards, and a chance to sign up for workshops.

  • 3444 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, 33133 Map

Best Body Piercing

New Age Body Piercing

Ever wanted something pierced? Ever wanted something naughty pierced? We know we're not alone, and so does New Age Body Piercing in the Grove. For 11 years at their Grand Avenue location, artists have been piercing every body part from head to toe. With the cleanliness of the facility, friendliness and professionalism of the staff, and affordable prices, you'll never feel better about fulfilling your masochistic tendencies. New Age Body Piercing has a plethora of body jewelry, from studs to spacers to barbells, so you'll definitely find something to suit your fancy — and to fit your new hole. The average piercing costs about $45, depending upon the jewelry.

Best Tattoo Shop

Salvation Tattoo

Getting new ink is comparable to experiencing a major life event. You're essentially branding yourself with something you won't mind seeing forever. You might have a few stamps already — whether you got them in a drunken stupor one night in college or after having an epiphany, words, shapes, and pictures are all fair game in the tango between ink and skin. The first thing to do after you've decided on a tattoo is to choose a good place. It's imperative that it's clean, licensed, and safe. Friendly — and most important, patient — artists and staff are always a plus. You can get all of that at the finest tat shop in town: Salvation Tattoo on Washington Avenue. With its sultry purple-neon interior, comfortable couches, and topnotch artists, you can ink your body in style. It's only a $50 deposit for your appointment (with tattoo prices varying based on the complexity of the design), so the time is right to finally get that "Mom" in a heart you've always dreamed about.

Best Flea Market

Flea Market USA

It's Saturday morning. Grab your boo. Jump in the whip. And go get a fade, a weave, a brand-new nail job, and matching two-for-one tattoos at Flea Market USA. Tucked behind a ten-foot-tall chainlink fence, flying a bunch of tattered American flags, and painted faded shades of red, white, and blue, this enormous Liberty City shopping spot and ersatz community center is the epitome of 21st-century American capitalism in action. It's filled with teen loiterers, bargain-starved customers, and hard-hustling small-business people manning bootleg-movie tables, dollar stores, Chinese junk joints, barbershops, beauty salons, tattoo booths, and grub stalls. There's even a bunch of (rarely operational) indoor carnival rides for the kiddies. So whether you just need to stay fresh for Saturday night or your shopping list includes a samurai sword with a flashlight for a handle, a few vials of royal ginseng jelly, Hot Latin Head on DVD, a neon Jesus clock, or a supposedly "platinum" pendant shaped like a set of testicles, this is the place. Welcome to the USA, where ballin' on a budget never stops.

Best Lingerie Shop

Oh la la Cheri

Gentlemen, please listen up. When it comes to buying your favorite lady revealing bedroom attire, do yourself a favor and skip the hoochie stores you might find adjacent to I-95 or the Palmetto Expressway. Show her you appreciate her lovely figure with the most refined undergarments this side of Paris. Headquartered in downtown Miami, Oh là là Chéri adds a sophisticated French flair to its wide array of reasonably priced bras, panties, bustiers, and baby-doll nightgowns, made from the finest blends of lace and satin that will have your fair maiden enthusiastically modeling for your pleasure seven nights a week. And Oh là là Chéri understands that beauty runs from size small to extra-extra-large, so even pleasantly plump sweethearts can feel seductive. "Lingerie is meant to be very special," Oh là là Chéri owner Nicolas Attard says. "A woman wants to feel good and sexy when she puts it on. So I put a lot of passion into our undergarments." Items in Attard's line range from $3.50 to $89.99.

Best Action Figure Store

Man of Action Figures

After operating for the past few years as a family-owned online store, Man of Action Figures decided to buck the e-commerce trend by opening a brick-and-mortar outpost in Cutler Bay. Even if you haven't played with an action figure since your mother sold your Boba Fett at a yard sale (dammit, Mom!), this place is bound to make the kid in you as excited as if he just chased an entire package of Sour Patch Kids with a liter of Mountain Dew. Fight the urge to call Mom to demand a set of X-Men mini-mates, a 25th anniversary G.I. Joe, and the entire collection of WWE Classic Superstars figures. You make your own money now, remember? So calmly put the phone back in your pocket and buy yourself that Boba Fett. You know you want it. You deserve it. Oh, and pick up something for your own kid while you're at it.

Best Hobby Shop

Hobby Pro Inc.

Truly old-school Miamians who loved playing with remote control model toys back in the day probably remember a spot in Allapattah they could always count on. Tucked inside an old bowling alley on NW 36th Street at Ninth Avenue, Orange Blossom Hobbies was packed with people buying the latest RC cars, trucks, planes, and boats. Michael Jones remembers it too. He worked the counter there on and off for 25 years, starting when he was 10 years old. Today, the remote control buff is hoping to re-create the familial ambiance he came to know and love until Orange Blossom closed in the mid-'00s. The Homestead native and his wife Shannon opened Hobby Pro in October 2011 on the second floor of a retail plaza facing the south runway of Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport. The couple stocks a wide array of gas- and electric-powered model vehicles and parts. If it's not in stock, you can place an order via Hobby Pro's website. "We're slowly building our inventory," Shannon notes. The shop carries an abundance of Traxxas brand electric RC toys, including the company's popular monster truck replicas such as Grave Digger, with prices ranging from $200 to $500. You can also pick up models for under $150, and at least once a month Hobby Pro hosts its Sunday Funday, when enthusiasts can play in the parking lot.

Best Reggae Shop

Reggae Land Muzik

Tucked behind an IHOP on Hallandale Beach Boulevard, Reggae Land Muzik isn't so much a record shop as it is a reggae museum. Meticulously organized crates of hard-to-find vinyl give way to stacks of epic dancehall mix CDs and carefully catalogued cassette tapes. Whether you're looking to venture beyond Bob Marley for the first time or you're an avid collector on the prowl for a Don Carlos release from back in the day, the affable and informed owner, who goes by "Juicy V" or "Jah V," will be more than happy to weigh in and help you find what you're looking for. "I love this space. I love vibing with my people," the Jamaican-born Juicy says. For more than 18 years, he has been slinging riddims both new and vintage, amassing more than 100,000 vinyls during that time. "What you see up front in the store, that's a teardrop of what I have in stock." Now he's in the tedious process of uploading his collection to the store's website. "In five years, I'll still be uploading 45s."

Best Botanica

Botanica Nena

For all of your religious and otherworldly needs, Botanica Nena is the place to be. Open for more than 42 years, this devotional botanica is a one-stop shop for pretty much anything you might need for practicing the art of Yoruba. The employees are knowledgeable and friendly, and there's a vast inventory ranging from candles to religious artifacts to jewelry. Herbs? Check. Porcelain soup bowls to hold orishas (or spirits)? Check. Libros de IFA (a key Santero text)? Check. Soperas and other tools for the warriors? Check. Incense? Check. Hell, even Anthony Bourdain visited Botanica Nena during the taping of his South Florida stop on No Reservations.

Best Of Miami®

Best Of Miami®

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