Margarita Island Venezuela

PandaPants_2

Has anyone been? We are seriously considering it for our summer holiday this year.
Just wondering if anyone has any advice, tips or comments?

Thanks

tazzababe

Ooooh, my friend and I were thinking of going, looks like some good reviews on Tripadvisor BUT... When we went in to travel agent, she got it up on Gazeteer thing- it was not good. High crime rate, mentioned muggings and some other pretty grim stuff. Was gutted because really fancied it. I don't know how relaible the Gazeteer thing is though

tummy_tank

i got married there 6 years ago today!! (still married!!)
We stayed at the Costa Caribe it was nice, food OK (AI) but you were confined to your complex and a security guard patrolled the beach at night. We did a few tours and saw some of the island. The main town was a bit run down back then, haven't been back since. The sun shone for 2 weeks solid.

dmg24

My friend works out there - he should be online over the next few days (usually works on a ship!) so will get his opinion.

One thing to note though, they are currently in the middle of a five day festival where no alcohol is allowed. He has had to stock up in his hotel room beforehand! x

trets77

heard vert bad things about the food cooking ( or lack of it).

be warned

katepnlo

went about 8 years ago..............wouldnt go back, building site..rough...we paid bargain basement prices so wasnt to upset, but there were people who paid top ££ and were really upset about the whole thing

rlc22

I went in 2004 and stayed at the Laguna Mar for a week.

We had a great time. Weather was great, did some really good trips and generally really enjoyed ourselves. Plus it's duty free over there so shopping is cheap :T

Had a little problem with dodgy stomach at the end of the holiday, but have also had exactly the same problems in loads of other places too.

Spookydel

We're off there at the end of September for 2 weeks.

Mixed reviews of the place in general - but I always find the info on Virtual Tourist (https://www.virtualtourist.com) to be pretty accurate, and it doesn't rate it too badly.

Will report back when we return

Ria

Visited Margarita and stayed in Polamar several years ago. Can't remember which hotel but it was not a tourist complex and was in the middle of the town. It depends what you want but we had a real authentic south american experience by going local. We ate & drunk locally and enjoyed live tijuana type music in several places and the Venezualans really like to salsa so every restaurant we went where there was live music, people stood up and danced at their tables. It was so infectious and we found the people delightful even though we had hardly any Spanish. Accommodation & food ranged from not so good to really good but it was all very cheap and rooms always had aircon.Having travelled in Venezuela (Caracus was rather intimidating) we did we did not find Margarita in any way threatening. There was a very relaxed Spanish Caribbean vibe and people bent over backwards to help us in any way they could. The population is not rich and I would not advise flaunting your wealth as like anywhere else you would be inviting trouble, so leave the bling at home. We felt sorry for the holidaymakers who never ventured outside of their fenced off complexes as they missed so much. The island has some beautiful beaches and is well worth exploring.Would go back.