Isla Margarita

[kellanderson]

there is also an isla margarita on the western coast of baja...very small fishing communities but beautiful

[Toscana3]

My husband and I were on our honeymoon in Febuary with Celebrity's Constellation. Our ship stopped at Margarita Island and we did took the Cubagua Island Sailing trip offered by the cruise line. It was great!! We didn't know what to expect because there were no cruise critic reviews of this excursion that we could find. The catamaran left at 7:30 (early! we almost didn't make it out in time!) we laid in the nets over the water and listened to music- trying to get a few more minutes of sleep in. The staff was wonderful. They were very attentive- bringing us drinks and fresh fruit. We stopped at a wreck site of a ferry boat for snorkeling then headed for Cubagua Island. The island is truly deserted. From what I could tell no one really lives there- there were no vendors selling stuff on the beach! We stopped at a quite little beach with chairs and palapas for shade. There was an open bar and the staff served us while we walked on the beach or laid out in the sun. There is a natural marine-mud bath on the island and those that wanted to participate could cover themselves in the black mud and walk the beach until it dried. After rinsing it off in the ocean your skin feels really soft. The ocean spray cooled us off as we sailed back to the pier to do some shopping. It was a great day!

[kely53]

Kloused....I have enjoyed all the information you have provided. Re: the pearls I purchased.....I am not concerned if they are genuine or not. They werent that expensive and I chose them because I thought my daughter would like them. So, no can of worms opened here!! Thanks again for the time you take on answering questions on cc!1

 

Karen

[RNay]

Louise, it was nice to meet you when we stopped at IM. My husband and I really liked that port. So much to choose from as far as souvenirs go. I was impressed by the variety. We bought quite a few different things and had a chocolate "taste testing" last night with the kids.

 

I did buy two inexpensive pearl strands, one for me and one for my daughter. I also bought them because I like them and was not looking for expensive jewelry. Your shop was lovely and had many beautiful things.

 

We hope to get back to IM some day and hopefully stay longer. I would take this port over St. Kitt's for sure and probably even over Aruba.

 

Thanks again,

Renee

[Jumbo70]

We just got back. Isla Margarita was great. I just wish we would have had more time to explore more of the island. Maybe another year.

 

We did the Dolphin encounter. Basically it is a 40 minute bus ride to an old amusement park and long abandonded dog racing track. The Dolphin tank was small but well taken care of.

 

Once there it was a 15 minute orientation. For 15 minutes the dolphins swam around everyone spaced out in the tank. As they went by you could touch them. For 15 minutes everyone lined up in the middle and the dolphins "gave kisses" or rubbed their face on your cheek. Then everyone got a Dorsal fin ride.

 

It was a fun experience and we enjoyed it. If you are expecting more time in the tank or a Disney quality park then I would do a different excursion.

 

Jumbo

[TMull]

We just returned as well. We stayed on the beach at the port. The port appears to be in the middle of nowhere, and we didn't what to spend 1.5 of the 3.5 hours of our visit on a bus. The area is industiral, but they have done a nice job of making it bright and welcoming. After seeing the black and white photo from earlier in this thread, I was pleasantly surprised.

 

The beach was nice and we had no nasty salt flat smells. The first of the three sections of beach is the nicest.

[donanderson]

Hummmmmm.....I don't think so. It seems like she was probably in her 50's and her hair was grayish and short. It seems like it was straight. She bought one pair of bone earrings that were dyed blue and I can't remember the other pair. I hope that she sees this posting or someone else does that can tell her to contact me. Thanks all the same.

Louise

 

Kristina (or Louise)...Was at SM several weeks ago and really enjoyed meeting and talking with you Louise -- she said you were gone, Kristina. Anyhow, would you please send me an EMAIL so I can start a private conversation with you. I'm at DAANDERSON(TAKE THIS OUT)@socal.rr.com. I have a favor to ask of you. Thanks. Don

[Toto2Kansas]

If you are sailing on Princess and enjoy a great sail and day at the beach, try the Coche Island Cruise. Wonderful sail over, the best service we have ever seen, and drinks the entire day are included. Only draw back is that there is no food at all served. We would do it again in a minute.

Beautiful Beach there and a very good excursion for the price.

[ED49404]

We were at IM last week wednesday. My friends and my wife throughly enjoyed our experinence. The variety of vendors and the lovely beaches were great.

 

We have one question I hope someone could answer for us. On the way back to the ship my wife stop in the building next to the ship. She purchased some pearls she really liked and they really look great with the outfit she bought them for. Only problem now is that my daughter show them and now she would like a set of them for herself.

 

Question - Is there anyway we can contact the vendor in that building to see if we can purchase another set of pearls??? Hopefully they have a email address we can contact them.

 

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

Ed

[Northender]

Enjoyed our quick stop in IM very much. Bought some jewelry from Louise for my daughter in law's birthday and she just loved the piece. Also picked up a T-Shirt for grandson. He loves wearing it with the Marguerita part in larger letters.:D Also bought some chocolate which was delicious, especially the white chocolate. Yummy.

Nice beach. Places to sit near the vedor area and have a cool one and enjoy the view while the band is playing Carib music. Hopfully on a future cruise we will be there longer. As our ship pulled out, the people were waving their flags and cheering us. Of course, we cheered back.:)

[Taiger]

Hi Ed, I am going back on April 24 for a vacation there, email me, maybe I can hook you up when I get back.

 

 

 

We were at IM last week wednesday. My friends and my wife throughly enjoyed our experinence. The variety of vendors and the lovely beaches were great.

 

We have one question I hope someone could answer for us. On the way back to the ship my wife stop in the building next to the ship. She purchased some pearls she really liked and they really look great with the outfit she bought them for. Only problem now is that my daughter show them and now she would like a set of them for herself.

 

Question - Is there anyway we can contact the vendor in that building to see if we can purchase another set of pearls??? Hopefully they have a email address we can contact them.

 

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

Ed

[klouised]

Ed,

You asked the question about purchasing more pearls from a vender at the port. As you know from previous posts I work at the port and the best advice that I can give is that you hook up with another person that's planning a cruise here and see if they will purchase the pearls and send them to you. The reason for this is because if I or another person working at the port did this for you the shipping from here would be astronomical. I've been asked this before and it's really better to have someone from the states get them for you and then mail them to you when they get home. For example, for me to mail a small package of aprox. 1 lb. it'd cost aprox. $30. I don't think you'd appreciate having to pay that kind of postage. Another option is to buy them from my daughter who is now living in FL. She took a supply of pearls with her and would gladly make them and ship them to you. If you're interested in that option just let me know.

 

Thanks,

Louise

[cruisetoscrap]

I feel the need to post info on Isla Margarita first since as we were planning our Southern Caribbean cruise I couldn’t find much information on this port.

There is a nice series of beaches very close to where the cruise ship docks. You walk though a line of shopping stalls they have decent prices for souvenir like items like lots of pearl jewelry and beaded necklaces. We almost bought a terracotta statue of a woman that was made by the sister of the seller. They were very well made and painted beautifully and ran about $30 US dollars we saw the same artists work in a gallery in San Juan for $65. You don’t walk though many stalls so don’t let that stop you from wandering off the ship.

After the shopping stalls you reach the first beach which has basic 2 chairs and an umbrella setup for $10 and they give you and ad for a massage on the beach. The sand is a bit cluttered. The second beach is smaller with dirty sand and the water seamed murky. The third beach was just right the sand was very clean and the water stayed very shallow knee deep for about 100 yards. This third beach ended up to be where we parked ourselves under a thatched roof bar. The food and drink prices were a bit high and they also have a $10 beach set up and massages but you don’t have to spend any money to enjoy this beach stop. Also: other then the one card they gave you for massages there were no vendors or interruptions.

Overall this is a short stop but a great way to have some very accessible and free beach time on your trip. We were on the Golden Princess in April 2006 and the short stop on this small Venezuelan island is a running joke on the ship.

On a side note my sister-in-law did a dolphin encounter through the ship and had a great time. She said the place was run down but the animals where in clean areas and they also had a petting zoo.

[ED49404]

Louise,

 

Thanks for the reply. We would be interested in what your daughter might have. I have a secondary email address she may contact us on. The address is: edhenk@cs.com.

 

Thanks again for your assistance.

 

Ed

[Arubalisa]

Does anyone know of a private tour operator who could accommodate a family of 10 people (6adt/4adt) for a 4 - 6 hour island/beach tour?

[augie]

We'll be here on the Sun Princess on October 17, scheduled to be in port from 10:00AM until 4:00PM.

 

Does that six hour timeframe mean that our best bet is to hang out near the pier rather than take an island tour?

 

From past experience, when a ship arrives in port that late in the morning (as opposed to a time that is before breakfast for a lot of folks) it may take a while to get off of the ship.

 

It sounds like the pier area would be fine, but some of the descriptions of the other side of the island sound inviting as well.

[SqueakyDust]

Lisa, sorry don't know of a private tour company from personal use - we booked via the ship (not the same ship as you).

Our main concern was the language barrier. Very few residents speak English, and we don't speak Spanish - if you do, you're in luck!

 

Augie, with that time frame I'd stick to the pier. You can shop, relax at a bar or sit at the beach - all within very easy reach of the ship. Yes there are great things to visit on the island, but unless you take a ship's tour (where they'll hold the ship for you if you're late!) I'd not think it worth the risk.

 

There have been a couple of recommendations (in this thread too, I think) on an American couple who do tours on the Island.

[katyj]

HI Kristina,

I have been reading through a lot of what you have posted on this thread and have found it all very interesting and informative. We are looking at taking a last minute deal in August and coming to IM for 2weeks, the hotel we are looking at is the Laguna Mar, in Pampatar. Could you possibly give me any info on the resort and its location, is it miles away from anything or are taxi's easy to get hold of there. I know its 8km from Porlamar, but would we feel isolated. We are myself,DH,DS and mum in law.

 

I would be very grateful for any info you could give

[flycatcher06]

Hi there, Can anyone tell me is the 30 minute tour of Resinga enough to see the seahorses or do you have to do the 1 hour? We have reserved Marcella for our excusion in January - but i would really prefer to do the shorter boat tour so more time to see the island and more time for shopping and even a little time for beaching. I understand Playa Aqua is 45 minutes from Resinga - anyone been here that can give me information.

 

Thanks, Debbie

[Arubalisa]

Celebrity just cancelled our stop here in December, substituting Grenada instead. Wondered if anyone here knew the reason?

[SqueakyDust]

Hmm, Debbie, you know that's quite a good question.

I've no idea how long our Restinga boat trip was, as we did tear around quickly.

I guess the 30 mins should be enough, as long as you can communicate with the boatmen that your main wish is to see the oysters/seahorses etc and not just the trip around the mangoes. The oysters and star fish are easily seen, but the seahorses aren't.

It's a great stop and on our trip (not the same ship as you) we did loads and still would have had beach time (but prefered to shop)

We were in port for a full day.

[vlnovak]

The best beach massage is on the third beach at the healing Center. They give massages from $25-65 for an hour. The one man has 30 yrs exp, it beats any ship massage. Worth the trip and there is a bar nearby too.

[DEP274]

I am looking for hammoks and wood carvings of dolphins,turtles and iquanas, has anyone seen these items, and where can I find them. Thanks for info.

[klouised]

Hi, this is Louise, Kristina's mom and I'm answering this for her because she's currently living in the states. If you've read this thread you'll know that we have both worked at the port for a few years now and we try to give the best info that we can concerning the port and the items that are for sale there.

 

In answer to your question concerning the hammocks and wood carvings... You can find the hammocks at the port. I can't tell you if they'll be there again next year as the port season doesn't start up again until mid Oct and we never know who will return or which booth they'll have till we find out ourselves, as it often changes from year to year but last year they were located about half way down the row of booths.

 

I'm not positive about the wood carvings that you were asking about but I highly recommend this guy that does stone carvings of dolphins and turtles. His name is Victor and he does EXCELLENT work. His booth is usually toward the end of the row of booths under the awning.

 

I hope this is of help to you and I hope you enjoy your visit to Isla de Margarita!

 

Louise

[klouised]

Hi there,

This is Louise again, and I'm sorry but I don't have a whole lot of info on Laguna Mar for you. I've only been there a couple of times selling my jewelry and I was coming from the other side of the island and it was "difficult" to find in my opinion, but you'll probably be taking a taxi there so you shouldn't have any problems at all as all taxi drivers should know how to get there. It's a very beautiful resort with well kept lawns and beautiful scenery. I seriously imagine that they would have taxis always ready and waiting or at least they could call a cab for you. It's considered one of the best resorts on the island so I wouldn't worry too much. It is out in the country but you'll enjoy the scenery so much that you won't mind it at all. I recommend that you look it up on the internet and perhaps you will get your questions answered better that I can do.

 

Sorry I took so long to answer. I don't check this site as often during off season at the port so I missed your question. Hope you enjoy your stay.

 

Louise (Kristina's mom)