Margarita Island Information

Isla
Margarita

Where to find us, how to reach us

MARGARITA ISLAND with his world famous surfspot EL YAQUE
is situated ca 90 miles westwards from Trinidad - Tobago and ca 25 miles north of the continent Venezuela.
Within the Caribbean you can find direct connections between Trinidad - Tobago, Grenada, Barbados,Los Roques

Ther are many airlines operating International Charter Flights to Porlamar, e.g. from
USA, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands, also with connecting flights from other countries.
You also have connections several times each day from all capitals with KLM, Lufthansa, Airfrance, Iberia, TAP, Alitalia, Avianca, American Airlines, Air Canada and British Airways via Caracas to Margarita.

ARRIVAL/ DEPARTURE:	Your passport still needs to be valid for 6 more months. If you are travelling with children, please bring an identification card with the child´s photograph. Upon arrival you will fill in a tourist card which serves as your tourist visa; do not lose the copy of it as you will have to hand it to the customs officer upon departure. Always carry a copy of your passport with you and leave your valuables including airline tickets and passport in the hotel safe. You might have to pay an exit tax of approx. US$ 20.— if your airline hasn´t included this fee when you purchased your ticket.
MONEY:	The venezuelan currency is named after their liberator Bolivar. Our tip: do not buy Bolivares in your country but earliest at the airport when you arrive in Venezuela. It is best to bring US$ in traveller checks or cash, also Visa and Mastercard are widely accepted. At the moment you will get approx. 690 Bolivares for 1 US$.
CLOATHING:	Light cotton cloths are best. There are countless shops to buy nice and trendy summer cloths, so maybe you want to come lightweight and buy your vacation wardrobe here. In Margarita one dresses casual but there is definitely a difference between what you wear at the beach and what in town (shorts for men in the city at night are tolerated but is not what Venezualan men would wear).
CLIMATE:	The island of Margarita is situated only 11 degrees above the equator and is its weather is influenced by the northeast passat. Sun protection factor 20 and up are absolutely recommended! There is little difference in between summer and winter in temperature but noticable in rain (more rain in winter). Average temperature is 82 degrees, water temperature is between 76 and 79 degrees.
TIME DIFFERENCE:	Venezuela is in winter 5 hours, in summer 6 hours ahead of middle European time. It is one hour behind Miami-time in winter but same time in summer.
VOLTAGE:	110 Volt
HEALTH:	Although ist is absolutely safe to shower and brush your teeth with tap-water we recommend to only drink botteled water (bars and restaurants use filtered water for the drinks). There are good doctors and clinics on the island. Should you regularly have to take a special medication, please bring sufficient supply with you as medicins sometimes are sold under different names.
VACCINATION:	Not required or necessary for the island of Margarita or for guided short trips to the mainland Venezuela.
GENERAL:	You will spend your vacation among friendly people with big smiles. But do not expect the same efficiency as in your country. Everything is a lot slower here and you should enjoy it, after all you are on vacation.

Shop until you drop!

Margarita is duty-free zone and is therefore very popular for shopping with visitors from the mainland and other caribbean islands. Mainly summer- and beach-clothing, alcohol (excellent Rum!), cigarettes, pearls, jewellery and perfuemes are sold at good prices. If you are looking for tipical souveniers then you should go for hamacs, pottery, wickerwork by Indians of the Amazonas region and, of course, the local rum.

There are three commercial areas in Margarita. The first one is the market “Nuevo Mercado Municipal de Conejeros” located in the western part of Porlamar. One part of the market offers food whereas all the tropical fruit and the fish section are worth seeing. Seperated by a big parking lot you will find hundreds of little stands where you can buy just about anything and at very popular prices that can still be negotiated.
Another shopping area is right in the center of Porlamar between Bolivar Square and the sea.
There are two main shopping lanes (no traffic) with lots of shops and an always busy atmosphere. The many wholesalers concentrated on these lanes attract many Venezuelans and shoppers from other Caribbean Islands.

And if you still didn´t get enough, then visit the shops along Avenida Santiago Mariño and 4 de Mayo. Here you will find the fancy boutiques, jewellers and perfume shops. Shopping might be somewhat more expensive in this area but the much better quality makes up for it and especially the brand-name articles are sold at much better prices than in Europe or the United States.
Should you decide to rent a car and drive over the island, do not forget to stop in Santa Ana, a small village between Asuncion and Juangriego, to look at hamacs and drive through El Cercano so find local pottery.

Nightlife

Start your evening with a good meal in one of the many good restaurants in Porlamar offering an incredible variety of different food from all over the world. After dinner you can go for ice creams at the famous 4D or to one of the street cafes because the real night-life will not start until after 11 PM.

But it is worth waiting and you really should let yourself get carried away by a lively Latin Night.
A Must certainly is the famous disco “Latinos” with a mix of Western and Latin music. Other good places to go are the discos “Subsuelo” and “Eye” but also local bars with live music and dance.

Activities - Trips - Excursions

1. On Margarita:

Jeep Safari
Islandtour
La Restinga - Mangroves
Trekkingtour
Horseback riding
Ultralights

2. Snorkelingtours to the islands surrounding Margarita. This destinations are offered as day trips with motorboats and sailingboats

Isla Coche
Isla Cubagua
Islas Los Frailes
La Blanquilla
Tortuga

Diving
Deap-sea-fishing

3. Daytrips with an airplane to the continent and island hopping.

Caracas - the capital of Venezuela
Canaima with the Angel Falls, the highest cascades in the world
Kavac, with Angelfalls
Uruyen, Angel Falls
Orinocodelta
Gran Sabana
Merida - top of Venezuela
Archipel Los Roques
Barbados
Grenada
Tobago

All about Windsurfing

Surprisingly steady wind and warm water is not all that El Yaque has to offer. The windsurf center VELA, located at the El Yaque Beach Hotel provides best F2 and Neil-Pryde equipment. Under Coconut trees, right in front of the center your beach chair is waiting for you. Here you can relax, enjoy your drink and have a great view of what is happening on the water. “Mike´s Bar” will supply you with the necessary refreshments.

Spot Info:

Windsurfing in El Yaque means a 3/4 miles long sandy beach and side-shore wind. Flat, waist deep water for the first 300 yards make it ideal for first encounters with the elements, to learn how to beach- or waterstart or to work on your maneuvres. More advanced sailors head out and after a stretch of rather choppy waters will find nice swells of up to 5 feet, that invite to jump on the way out and to surf the waves coming in.

Windsurfing conditions:

Light wind in the mornings that builds up around noon, to be best between 2 and 5 PM. In other words: Ideal conditions for beginners in the morning, and in the afternoon perfect for intermediate and crack sailors.
From October until January and in June - July you are most likely to sail between 5 m2 and 7 m2 while during February, March and April 3.5 m2 – 5.5 m2 are the most used sails. In May the wind gets a little weaker but less gusty than in the highwind months (which makes it the most ideal month for learning maneuvres) and you´d still only be on 4.5 m2 – 5.5 m2.
An average air temperature of 82 degrees and water temperature of 79 degrees allow to wear your shorty or lycra.
But be aware of the strong sun and use waterproof sun protection factors 20 to 30, after all, El Yaque is only 11 degrees above the aequator.

The Vela Center
Expect to find an ideal combination of about 100 F2 and JP boards in combination with Neil Pryde sails, all on carbon masts and with adjustable harness lines. The equipment will be renewed every year in November but Tom and Kathy (since 7 years the owners of the Vela Center) always keep some new equipment stored to be able to renew wasted equipment all through the year.

The equipment is constantly checked. Fins will be sharpened regularly, masts and booms closely examined every week and, if necessary, changed.

Service and Lessions:

The Vela Center offerst best attention to their clients and “Service” is not just a word to their staff. Every morning, from monday to friday, Vela guests are welcome to enjoy free clinics on topics like waterstart, planing, jibing, etc. Group or private lessons of all levels can be arranged with any of the skilled center staff.

For your security there is a lifeboat on the beach.

Should you get tired of sailing in El Yaque you can book either a daytrip to Coche for speedsailing or to Los Roques Island with its turquoise crystalline waters and white sandy beaches.
Of course you can book directly with us.

OPTIONS:

Although we highly recommend to sail with Vela you can, of course, bring your own equipment or sail with Mistral or Fanatic which we can also arrange for you.

Under water Margarita Island...

Warm and clear waters and a huge diversity of submarine species makes Margarita Island and its archipelagos the most wonderful opportunity of making this journey the vacations of a lifetime. Places like Los Frailes, with its group of small keys offering natural transparent lagoons ideal for diving and snorkeling. El Farallon, in the northwest of the island, a rocky formation located 3 miles from Pampatar Bay, is nothing more than an appetizer before going on to the impressive sites you will find in places like Los Roques Archipelago, Los Testigos and the Blanquilla Island, leaving for the more adventurous the nocturnal dives in Cayo Norte at the National Park Morrocoy, only known by the expert dare devils. These locations have very little rain during the year making them very low in silt content maintaining waters extremely clear and with a visibility up to 30 meters (100 feet) and temperatures around 25 ºC on average. Margarita also counts with a reliable infrastructure of diving centers very capable of organizing excursions for small or big groups and all of them licensed by the international organizations.

*Access*		B=Boat Dive; S=Shore Dive; X=Shore or Boat Dive
*Level*		N=Novice;I=Intermediate; E=Experienced; AL=All Levels
*Type of diving*		RD=reef dive; DD=deep dive; XD=extreme dive; CD=current dive; WD=Wreck Dive ND=Night Diving;C=Cave
*Visibility*		L=low; M= medium; H= high

*Diving sites*	*Depth*	*Access /* *level*	*Type of* *diving*	*Visib*	*Localization*
Mochima	30 pies a 120 pies	AL	RD,DD, XD, CD WD,ND C	H	Parque Nacional Mochima
Cominoto, Payape, La Pecha	16 m / 50pies	AL,B	RD,	L,M 10´- 64´	Los Frailes, IM
Farallon	12 m / 36 pies	AL,B	RD	L-M	Pampatar,IM
Piedra de la Guasa	35m/110pies	I,E,B	DD	H 40´- 80´	Arch. Los Roques
Boca de Cote	Up to 200 pies/	AL,B	RD	H 60´- 90´	Arch. Los Roques
Mucura	10m/30pies	AL,B	RD	L-M	Porlamar,IM
La Ahogada	20m/70pies	I,B	RD	M-H	La Blanquilla
Los Hermanos	20-40m/70-140p	E,B	XD	M-H	Los Hermanos
Los testigos	20-40m/70-140p	E,B	XD	L-M	Los Testigos
Cubagua	18-22m/60-70p	E,B	WD	M	Cubagua
Punta Salina	20m/70 pies	I,E,B	Cave	M,H 60´- 80´	Los Roques
Dos Mosquises	20m/70 pies	I,E,B	CD	M,H 40´- 100´	Los Roques
Boca del Medio	10-15m/30-50p	AL,B	RD	M,H 40-80p	Los Roques
Noronqui	10m/30pies	AL,B	RD,WD	M,H	Los Roques
La Buceadora	20m/70pies	I,E.B	Cave	M,H	Los Roques

On wish we can organize for you everyone only imaginable diving-trip.

Below some possibilities:
Boattrips to the Margarita surrounding islands.
These destinations are offered with motor-yachts, sail-yachts and fisher-boats.

Isla Coche
Isla Cubagua
Islas Los Frailes
La Blanquilla
Tortuga

Deap-sea-fishing

Divingtours with motorsailboat 14,5 Meters:

Isla Tortuga - Mochima Nationalpark - Isla Cubagua or
La Blanquilla - Tortuga or
Los Testigos - Mochima Nationalpark

La Blanquilla
Los Testigos
Isla Tortuga - Isla Cubagua

Isla Tobago

6 Days, 5 nights, Sunday to Friday
incl. flight Margarita - Tobago, Transfer, Hotel
10 divings, as you wish shore-dives or boatdives

The Roots of Margarita

ISLAND OF PEARLS

When Columbus first came across the islands of now Margarita, Coche and Cubagua in August 1498 it didn´t seem to be a too important find on his exploration tour. Only after the Spanish spent attention to the Indians wearing a lot of pearls they discovered the richness of pearls around these islands.

From this day on the islands of Margarita, Coche and Cubagua became important trading places for exotic goods, pearls, salt, but also slaves. And this made the islands also a target for countless adventurers and pirates that have assaulted and plundered the islands many times. “Costa de las Perlas” and “Golfo de las Perlas” were the names for these islands that appeared on the log books of the early sailors.

The first city was founded 1512 on Cubagua and from this little island southeast of Margarita was it that the colonisation of Venezuela began.

The Beaches

There are few islands with as many different beaches as Margarita. You can find everything you have dreamt about in a bathing holidays. Stormy sea with big waves, calm bays to swim, palmtrees, fine, soft sand - and a lot of sunshine. The top beaches are:

Playa GUACUCO:

A wonderful palm beach, not overrun by the crowd with shallow waters, ideal for families with children.

Playa El Tirano:

A picturesque bay, typical of Margarita with its colorful fishing-boats.

Playa Parguito:

Near El Tirano; soft sands and strong surf. Ideal for surfers and horse riders, as those wishing to ride can hire horses nearby.

Playa El Agua:

The "Copacabana" and sign-board of the island for those who love the crowd - the best choice.

Playa Manzanillo:

My favorite beach and for me one of the most beautiful bays of the island. Ideal for swimming. You can watch the haul-in of the fishing-nets and even take part in it.

Playa Guayacan:

Small bay between Manzanillo and Puerto Cruz with recluded beach , without restaurants.

Playa Puerto Cruz:

A deep bay with strong descent and rough breakwaters - the wind built sandhills provide the special appearance to this beach.

Pedro Gonzales:

A small town in the northern part of the island. Their beach, Plaza Zaragoza is fine for a calm and relaxed day. Parallel to the coast is a boulevard where you can find excellent food and drink.