Venezuela's Isla Margarita is Bargain Among Caribbean Beach Resorts
Written: Nov 20 '99 (Updated Sep 07 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great beaches, great hotels, great prices
Cons: connecting in Caracas
The Bottom Line: Isla Margarita Venezuela is a beautiful Caribbean island, outside the "hurricane belt" but definitely inside the "fun in the sun" belt!
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| mrkstvns's Full Review: Venezuela |
Looking for a caribbean beach resort that's a bit off the beaten track? Someplace a little more exotic than the Virgin Islands? Consider the Venezuelan beach resort, Isla Margarita.
Trip to Paradise...
It was early 1998 when I went to Isla Margarita, a tropical island in the southern Caribbean, just off the coast of Venezuela -- about 250 miles from Caracas. The island is fairly large and is shaped sort of like a lopsided barbell -- it's probably 50 miles or more across with a narrow isthmus in the middle. The island has hundreds of miles of beachfront with about 50 public beaches. There's also some small towns on the island, a cool old Spanish fort, a light house, fishing villages, the fairly large city of Porlamar, and two mountains called Tetas de Maria Guevara (yep -- what you guess that means is, in fact, what it means...'fraid I don't know who Marie Guevara was, but her chest is forever memorialized by Rand McNally).
No Hurricanes!
For the weather wary, Isla Margarita is a good choice if you're worried about your vacation getting blown off track by a hurricane or tropical storm. The south caribbean and south american coast is generally not hit by big storms, as are common in the northern caribbean, Bahamas, Florida, etc.
Island in the Sun...
Isla Margarita is just beautiful! But for being just off the Venezuelan coast, it's surprisingly un-tropical. Much of the island is scrub-land without many trees, except in areas where they were obviously planted, such as near hotels and restaurants, etc. For swimming, the waters are fairly cool, but they can be incredibly refreshing after baking for a while in the blinding hot sun. The beach is definitely the thing on Margarita!
The Beaches of Isla Margarita Venezuela...
There are more than 50 beaches on the island. You can ask around at your hotel to find the best or closest to where you're staying. Here are my impressions of a few of the most popular beaches on the island:
* Playa el Aqua - the most popular beach, Porlamar area, lots of umbrellas and little cabana tents that you can rent to get some shade from the blistering sun. Waiters come around offering drinks as you're sitting in your lounge chair... There are also several excellent hotels on Playa el Aqua, and if you're seriously doing some tan maintenance, these might be your best bet (hotels include Playa el Aqua Beach, Brisas Beach Club, and Flamenco Villas)
* Playa Puerto Cruz - best beach on the island -- very wide with brilliant white soft sand, palm trees along the beach, and palapas for shade
* Playa Manzanillo - north point of the island
* Playa Perto Viejo - nice shallow swimming beach, kind of small, located near Playa Puerto Cruz
* Playa el Yaque - kind of rocky and grungy. Not very nice, though popular with windsurfers.
Prices on Isla Margarita...
Everything on Margarita is pretty cheap. Hotels are inexpensive by beach resort standards, and restaurants don't cost you an arm and leg...really a nice surprise after being hammered on restuarant bills on islands in the Bahamas. You could get lunch at any of several restaurants in Porlamar for $5 to $10.
Getting Around Isla Margarita...
Getting around the island is pretty easy since taxis are plentiful and cheap and there are little mini buses that run everywhere. I was advised to be wary of hiring taxis on the street since there were reports of some drivers robbing passengers. Getting a taxi at a hotel though is almost always safe (this holds true just about anywhere in the world where you're concerned about taxi safety). The minibuses are also generally regarded as safe, and besides, they're cheaper than taxis.
Porlamar: Isla Margarita's City...
Most of the time we spent in Porlamar, the city of some 150,000 residents that dominates the island. This is where most of the restaurants, nightclubs, hotels, museums, etc. can be found. There's lots of shopping opportunities with small shops and markets.
Booze Cruise and Other Stuff to Do...
One morning we were laying on the beach when we were approached by a guy offerring to take us on a "party boat". We'd been on these in the Bahamas before, and they're usually just an excuse to cruise out to a reef or offshore island, do a little snorkling, and get drunk off cheap rum. If you're really a party animal and want to get drunk and make some new drunk friends, these trips are a lot of fun. But if you're not into drinking, avoid them. Instead, I recommend that most people take one of the boat trips that go out to one of the offshore islands, such as Isla Roques or Isla Coche. There are some hotels on Isla Coche if you're looking to escape the tourist crowds of Margarita and really want some seclusion.
One thing that I definitely recommend doing, if you've got the time, is heading out to the swampy lagoon called La Restinga. We took the mini-bus out there from Porlamar, which cost us $2 each way. This is a national park area and a haven for lots of birds, such as pelicans, frigate birds, and more. There are guys who will take you out in a small boat for about $15. There's also a restaurant there serving up some delicious seafood.
Another place that's kind of cool is the fishing village of Pampatar, which is only about 5 miles from Porlamar. There's a fort there called Castillo de San Carlos Borranco where you can roam around on the ramparts overlooking the beach.
The guidebook we had said that the best view and best sunsets were from Juangriego, so we zipped up there one afternoon to check it out. The sunset was, indeed, phenomenal, although the town was pretty small and there weren't many restaurants to choose from.
Getting To Isla Margarita:
The airport on Isla Margarita is Porlamar and it's a fair sized airport, very capable of handling a large jet. The airport is on the south side of the island, about 15 miles from the city of Porlamar. Unfortunately for us gringos, there aren't any direct flights to the island from the U.S. You usually need to fly to Caracas (I say usually, because it is possible to make connections in Aruba and maybe in other south american cities).
From the U.S., American offers two flights a day to Caracas from Miami and one from Dallas, Continental offers one a day from Houston and one from Newark, and Delta offers at least one a day from Atlanta. Venezuelan flag carriers Aeropostal and Servivensa also offer flights from Miami to Caracas. The costs aren't too bad. When I went, it cost me about $350 round trip (with a 21-day advance purchase) on Continental from Houston. I've also seen tour operators offering lower fares, so you might be able to get a better deal by going through a travel agent. Of course fares jump around all the time, so they might be higher, and they'll probably vary from your city's airport.
If you're going to Isla Margarita, I strongly recommend flying American and taking that first flight out of Miami, if you can swing it (even if it means staying over in Miami the night before -- the alternative is that it's very likely you'll need to stay over a night in Caracas). I flew Continental and the flight didn't get into Caracas until 9:30pm -- too late to connect to Porlamar, so I was stuck having to get a room near the Caracas airport for the night and waiting until the next morning to get out to the island.
Also, any stories you've heard about weirdness in south american airports is largely true. The Caracas airport is bustling with people, it's noisy, and there are always lots of young men coming around offering to carry your bags for a small tip. I find it a bit annoying since I usually travel pretty light. It's also a bit unsettling the first time you see it, but there are often armed soldiers at the doors or gates at the airport (I've actually seen this occassionally in Europe too, so it's probably not fair to single out Venezuela). Venezuela doesn't really have a big security problem, but neighboring countries do and there is always some social unrest just about everywhere in latin america because of the huge gap between the haves and the have-nots.
Once in Caracas, you need to catch a flight to Porlamar. This is easy because there's at least one flight going every hour and fares are cheap (about $100 round trip). The last flight to the island from Caracas leaves at about 7pm. The flight is short -- about 50 minutes. The airlines offering flights are Aeropostal and Servivensa (I think there's another one, but I don't remember what it's called). When I went, Aeropostal charged about $20 more than Servivensa.
I took the Aeropostal flight because it was the first available flight for me, and I wanted to be on the beach NOW! The plane was a DC-9 that seemed fairly clean, but what can you really tell from appearance? I'm always a little leery about flying latin american airlines on domestic flights because they may or may not maintain planes according to U.S. standards, but it's really the only way to Isla Margarita, unless you have several hours to blow and want to try taking a bus east to Puerto la Cruz and catch the ferry.
Where to Stay On Isla Margarita:
There are dozens of hotels and resorts on Isla Margarita, but I don't know how you find out about most of them, short of doing a search on the internet or asking your travel agent for advice. Most people stay in or near the city of Porlamar, and this is where most of the big chain hotels are located. There are also other resorts and hotels around the island, many on the more popular beaches (such as Playe el Agua) or in nearby Pampatar, and some around outlying towns, such as Juangriego.
I stayed at the Margarita Hilton in Porlamar (mostly out of laziness -- I could easily reserve the room via the internet or Hilton's 800 number). The hotel was great! Big modern hotel, very clean with modern decor (though I don't always care for rattan chairs, personally, but hey, that's me). Beautiful pools outside with tile deck and sparkling blue waters, and waiters who would bring you drinks. Lots of amenities, including tennis courts. The hotel is right on the ocean with a beach called Playa Moreno, though I don't know why it's called that since the sand looked more like off-white to me, though the waters were not the bright clear turquise that you often see at Caribbean or Mexican beaches. Some of the other nearby hotels that looked pretty cool (and were located on the beach) included Marina Bay and Bella Vista.
Bottom Line:
Overall, I really enjoyed Isla Margarita -- it was a fun experience and had a lot of great beaches. Given the relatively low costs of hotels and restaurants on the island, it's also a standout bargain for anyone who wants to experience a world class beach, but without spending the kids college fund to do so.
Recommended:
Yes
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