The municipal market near the riverfront is the place to feel the pulse of working Cumaná. Fishermen arrive in the early morning with the night's catch — grouper, snapper, king mackerel, and the small sardines that fill out countless local dishes — and the rows of stalls cover everything from tropical fruit to plantain dough and arepa fillings.
It is colourful, loud, and unselfconsciously local; nothing here is staged for tourists. Bring small bills, mind your belongings, and arrive early — by mid-afternoon many of the best vendors have packed up.