Located on the coast of Venezuela is “La perla del Caribe” (The pearl of the Caribbean), named by the inhabitants of the country. The smell of salt water, the sun, sand, and breeze, the sound of birds, the joy and warmth of the inhabitants of the region; a combination that makes of this place an undoubted wonder. An island full of beautiful white beaches covered with sunlight almost every day of the year, and with the most impressive sunsets; the mixture of colors orange, yellow, red, pink, paint the sky in Juan Griego, a city on the north coast of the island.
If you want to capture and admire the best views of this island, you definitely have o go up to La Galera, a very old fortress where the islanders fought a battle for independence against the Spaniards in the 19th century. If you want to know more about this story, in this place the staff will give you a tour and tell you about the events that happened there, you can take pictures, contemplate the views of the bay and then enjoy a quiet afternoon on the beach.
In the town of Santa Ana, you can get into the past and present life of the island, you will see women sitting in wooden benches, weaving the traditional hammocks with multicolored threads. In the village El Cercado you can see the artisans making clay pottery with their bare hands.
On the other hand, in Punta de Piedras you will find the fishing port, full of floating boats, fishing nets, and food shops, as well as the respective local houses.
In this same sense, towards the west side of the island is the Laguna de la Restinga National Park, a large stretch of sand, marshes, mangroves, and coral sand beaches. This park houses more than 100 species of birds, including flamingos, scarlet and white ibis, pelicans, hawks and the great white heron. You must take a whole day to visit this place. On the outside, there are seafood stalls, selling oysters, clams and lobsters, among others. If you wish, you can choose 2 types of routes, one in which a boat takes you directly to a beach and picks you up at a specific time, and another in which a boat gives you a tour around the lagoon, showing many of the species from the place, until you reach the beach.
Another place you can not miss is the island’s marine museum, located at the mouth of the river, very close to the Restinga lagoon. A place where you can find many species of animals, an outdoor aquarium with cat sharks and sea turtles,many species of fish, starfish, sea urchins and corals, and you can even get to touch some of them. It has a showroom, sailboats to scale, gardens, audiovisual rooms, murals, and rooms with animals already dissected. From the second floor, there is a window that gives you the perfect view of the “Tetas de Maria Guevara”, some mountains known for having the shape of a female bust.
During your stay on the island, you should try the typical dishes, like the pabellón criollo, a mixture of shredded beef, white rice, black beans, and fried plantains. The dish is accompanied by arepas or bread. In lent season, chigüire or capybara meat is eaten, along with fish. The fish and in general all the seafood is what you will find mostly in this place.
The island of Margarita is mostly visited between the months of July and mid-September, as well as times of Christmas and Easter. And don’t worry about the weather, there is no rainy season, most days are sunny and temperatures are between 27º and 30ºC.
To get to the island, you can take direct flights to Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, from Houston, Miami, and Europe. Once there, you can take a flight from Caracas for 30 minutes or go to one of the ports and take an express ferry that takes about 2 hours, but the ride is incredible. Besides, on the way you can see dolphins in the sea. Once on the island, you can rent a car or hire a tourist agency that will take you on a tour of the island’s most iconic sites.
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