margarita island, venezuela

[tiggerlily]

i am travelling withR. C.I. in Jan, i cannot find any info on this island, has any one been?

Could you help with some info, i.e tours etc.

[Scottycruiser]

Very hot. Even hotter than Aruba. We went to the La Playa Beach. The main problem was it took a 1 and ten minutes one way to get to the beach. It was very wavy and if you have smaller kids you would have to keep an eye on them. The beach had a ton of venders on it trying to sell you anything. It was a little bit too much for my wife and I. I would probably go to the resort if I could ever talk my wife to go back. She hated it. The boat is far away from anything. Expect at least an hour to get to anything and there is no beach near by. It is the hottest island I have been to in the Caribbean.

[c-cruise]

Went there in Dec. 2005 on the Sun Princess. Yes, it was very hot and humid, but you are only 25 miles from mainland South America so it was to be expected. The cruise ships dock at a freight terminal that is not in any town to speak of. There was a reasonable sized straw market setup at the pier with locals selling their merchandise. There was also a small bar and a nice little beach where you could swim with a great view of the ship. Water temperature was like swimming in a bathtub. We spent our time at the market and swimming at the beach as we were not in the mood for the hour bus ride into town (Porlamar I think was the name of the town). We wouldn't be in a big hurry to go back, but we enjoyed our time there.

[T8s@sea]

We were there February 2007 and loved it. Since there wasn't much out there on the website for private tours or what to do we took a RCCI sponsored tour and it was great. We did the 4X4 convoy where you had a driver and it carried 12 passengers. There were like 5 of these jeeps and we had very rude and pushy people on this cruise. So we let the masses go to be first and we ended with just 6 of us at the back of the convoy and laughed as we would pull into the stops and see the others packed in like sardines!

 

Anyway, we toured the island, had local beers (warning--this happened at like 10:00 in the morning, the beer is strong, and did I catch a buzz!!) tasted local cheese, fruits, and breads, and then ended up on a beautiful beach that had a restaurant and was miles long so you could escape the crowds. The beach had a active surf and the mountains jet right out of it. I will look to see if I have a picture and try to post.

 

Normally I don't recommend too many ship tours becaue we hate to be in the masses, but this one is well worth it!

 

Good luck

[tiggerlily]

We were there February 2007 and loved it. Since there wasn't much out there on the website for private tours or what to do we took a RCCI sponsored tour and it was great. We did the 4X4 convoy where you had a driver and it carried 12 passengers. There were like 5 of these jeeps and we had very rude and pushy people on this cruise. So we let the masses go to be first and we ended with just 6 of us at the back of the convoy and laughed as we would pull into the stops and see the others packed in like sardines!

 

Anyway, we toured the island, had local beers (warning--this happened at like 10:00 in the morning, the beer is strong, and did I catch a buzz!!) tasted local cheese, fruits, and breads, and then ended up on a beautiful beach that had a restaurant and was miles long so you could escape the crowds. The beach had a active surf and the mountains jet right out of it. I will look to see if I have a picture and try to post.

 

Normally I don't recommend too many ship tours becaue we hate to be in the masses, but this one is well worth it!

 

Good luck

 

Thank you for your reply, we had looked at the tour, you are talking about.

Great if you could get a picture!

What other tours did you do whilst on the ship?

Thank you

[arenamara5]

We went there on Royal Caribbean Two things to do. If you want beach here is a beach adjacent to the ship dock with many stalls selling typical local goods. If you want to see the real Venezuela Island then take the day tour on the bus. The ship is very far from anywhere so you can't do this on your own. The tour is fun and very informative. Takes you to Lady of the Valley basilica the black pearl market and tour the resort area where thw wealthy Venezuelans go. Interesting but takes all day and no time for the beach.

[davidnsteph]

i am travelling withR. C.I. in Jan, i cannot find any info on this island, has any one been?

Could you help with some info, i.e tours etc.

 

Here is a link to a thread with plenty of info on Isla Margarita.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=123457

 

DavidnSteph

[AltaJoe]

We loved the Island and if it weren't controlled by a clown using anti-american blather as his opiate for the people, we'd go back there in a minute.

[lotro]

We too really enjoyed Margarita Island. We took a taxi to La Restinga, a marshy, swamp-like area. I can't recall the price, but you hire a private guide who takes you on a boat ride through the marsh. It was kind of eerie with the tree braches and fog. The guide spoke very limited English, but was very polite and would spot to show orange starfish and other sea life. It was a very interesting tour. After returning to the port, we had some drinks at the port area and rented a small boat to cruise around the port area...again at a very reasonable cost.

 

There were vans to transport people to the town, but it was a rather lengthy drive and we didn't have time for this left.

 

I remember the awesome mountain views of this island and would love to return!

[BabySis]

We've booked a private tour in April with Marcella... called Crusin-N-Style... we found her on casatrudel dot com. We'll post a review when we return.

 

Dinah

[LIMPIT]

Also booked this tour, looking for 2 persons to join us :

 

If anyone is interested I have booked a tour with Crusin_n_Style, see link www.margaritaislandvacation.info/Crusin_N_Style.htm

for a 6 hr tour commencing at 10am on April 30th, reviews on Cruise Critic and Tripadvisor are excellent, the air conditioned Ford Explorer has capacity for 4 persons, so 2 places free at the moment. The intinerary for the day is :

Visit La Restinga National Park with boat trip in the Mangrove Swamp

Juan Greigo Fort

Playa El Agua Beach

La Asuncion (Capital) Cathedral/Town Square

Santa Rosa Castle

La Siierra Mountain

The tour is conducted by Marcella and Steve who speak english and have lived in Isla Margarita for 9 years and have a wealth of Knowledge on the Islands best sites.

Shared cost is $135, so $67.50 in total for 2 persons.

Please submit post if you would like to join us, we are a married couple, mid 40`s, live in Essex, looking forward in enjoying a great day, nice lunch, a couple of cold beers/cocktails along the way, with some great photo opportunities, and to get a true flavour of the island.......interested ?

 

Lee