Anyone been to Isla Margarita ???

[CrazyKanuck]

We are sailing on the Sun Princess March 28th - have been to the Caribbean many times but never to Isla Margarita.. Anyone been there and can suggest the best sites to see or beaches to snorkel??

Thanks...Kathleen

[crisp1]

We were there last year, but only for 5 hours, which didn't give us much time. Part of our group did the dolphin swim. My dd and I just stayed near the ship. There is a beach with very shallow water right there. You can rent airboats and I think some kind of dune buggy. There's a nice straw market. I found a nice sculpture by a local artist, there are all kinds of pearls at very good prices, music and dancers. Hope this helps. You can also try the Ports of Call board under 'other caribbean' or s america

[Scorpiorose]

Isle of Margarita? My name is Margarita so I have to go there cruising one day....what ship and ports are you going on? Have fun!:p

[marvelous M]

Was there three years ago on the Galaxy. There is a beach where the ship docks but we did not go there. I thought it was too close to where the docks were. It takes about an hour to get in to the main town. Stayed mostly either on the dock next to the ship ( they sell all kinds of native stuff) or on the ship. Those people that went in to the town came right back. They said that it looked very shady.

[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.

[glenneagle]

Yes we were there in feb 2006

Awful island.Lots of starving dogs at the dock.Beach near the dock smells awful. there is a market near dock with pearls and usual t shirts ect.Some friends took ships beach trip to a beach on the otherside of the island and said the trip was very long, roads were bad and it was not worth the ride

[Shogun]

Hi There,

 

Been here on every cruise I done in the past 3 years.

 

The market stalls at the dock are very good.

 

The people are very nice.

 

 

The main towns are very run down, it is like a boom town that one day ran out of money loads of things just have built now falling apart.

 

The dolphin swim is nice but is a hard one to call, Dolphins are not kept in big pools but in above ground tanks. The people where very nice and the dolphins were great but its not the way to keep them.

 

Have done the 4x4 island explorer tour very good, goes off road totaly mad not for the faint hearted but very good dirty fun.

 

People either love , hate or feel sorry for this island.

 

I would say do a tour but not to the towns.

 

Word of warning if you do internet search for info you will find adult hotels were the menu is made up of different girls etc etc.

 

Would I go back yes, but I would head for the hills and go wildlife spotting etc.

 

yours Shogun

[Toto2Kansas]

We were there about a week ago. We booked the Coche Island Cruise through the ship and it was fantastic. Only thing wrong with it was there was no food served and not much to purchase there for a tour that lasted most of the day.

We have never had such great service in our entire lives. All drinks are included from the moment you step on board the boat for a leisurely cruise to a very nice and clean beach that also supplies a shady chair for each person.

[cozgal]

We were there for one week and would have come home earlier if we could. Found the island to be dirty,we were robbed of our video camera, found many of the people unhelpful(including the policia) and many facilities less than described. We stayed in Juan Griego, not Porlamar where I think the cruise ships dock. Some of friend go there every year and love it but it was not so for us. Do alot of research before you go!

[blastofftosj]

We also did the Coche Island Cruise, we had a fantastic time, they had a volleyball net set up and oter water sports, the rise to the beach was wonderful the crew on the catamaran had us laughing all the way, they were great. I didn't care for the beach at the port or the straw market, it was very crowded and hot. I would go back on this excursion again.

[flamomo]

If you read the thread re: Isla Margarita in the Destinations section, under "Other Caribbean", you will find a lot of very positive comments by other cruisers who visited and loved the place. There were a number of complaints that the visit was much too short.

We are looking forward to our visit in February when we sail on the Sea Princess.

[bhopal21]

We took the La Restinga Lagoon Tour and had a great visit. We also had time for a short gardens tour and a brief stop at a shopping area that had reasonable pearls and dirt cheap rums of all sorts.

 

Most people in our group agreed that it was the most understated stop in the southern caribbean explorer route.

 

Mike:)

 

Also, ditto w/toto2kansas about the people, they couldn't have been nicer.

[cottagequilter]

While looking for my chat line for an upcoming Golden, I spotted your inquiry. On the Constellation last December we did Margarita Island. We booked an all day trip through Celebrity for a resort called Dune. We had an large airconditioned bus, English guides which took us to the resort by way of the Pearl Factory somewere in the center of the island. It was fantastic. My husband and I both agree that it was one of the best beaches we have been to(and that includes St. John's). The resort was terrific....there was a drink greeting, some dancers(ok), all you could drink and lunch as well. The beach was VERY clean, there were wonderful chairs, huts and some shelling. The sellers of wares on the beach were respectful as well and limited. Maybe Princess has this available. If not, I would suggest calling the Dune and having them help you arrange for their day and appropriate transportation. Hope this is useful. I'll bookmark this and check back just in case I can be of any other assistance. The whole day was just highlighted by the Pearl Factory stop....they were very reasonable and great quality. It was suggested by our tour guide that because of the politics of the country it was wise not to be traveling the island alone.

[showdog]

We did the ship tour of horseback riding. It was very worth it. Rode along the beach and moutains and had enough time to get a very cheap set of pearls right at the dock.

[BullinOhio]

Stay on the ship there and you will have a great time. The Sun Princess is wonderful, Isla Margarita sucks.

 

Edit: Now that I see the dates, I see you have already taken this cruise. All other ports on that cruise should be good. Dominica is FABULOUS. Just Isla Margarita stinks. I would not let Isla Margarita deter me from taking a cruise that was otherwise good and happened to stop there though.

[espmass]

We were just there last week on the Golden. We docked right at the pier and walked off the ship onto a path lined with vendors. We found the people very friendly and not at all pushy. Quite a few had limited English skills but we managed. They do bargain on the prices by the way. I found the usual magnets, shot glasses etc. but also some very unusual items including beautiful flowers made out of small shells which I had never seen before. The pathway led to a beautiul beach at the end of the vendor area. We weren't there too long so we passed on renting chairs. The water was smooth and we were able to walk way out and still only be hip deep. None of our group of 12 went into the town or saw the rest of the island though so I can't comment on that. We didn't feel there was enough time especially when we were told that town was a 45 minute ride and $50! I actually enjoyed the stop even though I wasn't expecting to.

[crusdiva]

I know this is an older post but I thought I'd add my 2 cents.

My husband and I visited Isla Margarita on the Dawn, November 2000 and loved the Historic Margarita and Porlamar half day tour, which I believe Princess now calls Discover Margarita.

We visited the capital of La Asuncion - which has an ancient cathedral that is just beautiful, we visited the home of Santiago Marino - a traditional colonial home and the beautiful pink stucco Shrine of the Virgin of the Fisherman in El Valle a little village nestled in the mountains (don't miss the museum, it's awe inspiring).

The final stop was a local marketplace (naturally) where there was music and dancing and you could buy local crafts and spirits.

The island was beautiful from it's lush mountains to it's sweeping beaches.The people were friendly and outgoing more than happy to share their culture and history.

I had thought about cancelling this tour because the shore excursions desk seemed less than thrilled with this stop, it has become one of my favorite cruise memories.

[cpayne]

We visited this port last Nov on Princess Golden. Not our favorite port ever, but we enjoyed ourselves. Felt the shopping was pretty good. Saw them offering some different items compared to your typical cruise ports. We rented jet skis right there on the beach right off the ship. Can't remember the cost. There were also 4 wheel ATV's available for rent and a few different non motorized water toys.

 

It was a leisurely day and we did enjoy. However, our friends traveling with us they didn't like it. They had planned to take a cab in to town and the cost was outrageous. Again, can't remember the cost but they felt it was terrible!

[cruiseapril]

We visited Isla Margarita a year ago, on a Dawn Princess excursion to La Restinga Lagoon. We rode a bus to the Lagoon, boarded small boats-zipped around the Lagoon-saw good wildlife. (The boats are not modern-very basic.)

 

After the Lagoon, we took the bus to the Botanic Gardens and Zoo. Very basic, but interesting. We had a good guide. Later, the bus took us to the shopping area, La Aldea.

 

We liked this excursion, but it is not for everyone. We do alot of camping and hiking, so enjoy the adventure of excursions- it sure was better than La Guaira and Caracas, where we had visited, from a cruise, years before!

[CanuckCFAN]

We will be stopping in Margarita Island next week on the Golden and we have booked an excursion through Princess...

 

I think Margarita Island must be one of those "love it" or "hate it" ports...

 

My sister has been to Margarita Island several times, actually she is getting married at Las Dunes resort next year!

 

She absolutely swears it is her favorite island and convinced us to be adventurous, you know, get out of the port and see the "real" Margarita Island (with that being said, she also loved Cozumel and I will never be caught dead there again :().

 

In the end we figured why not, Its a long way to travel and "not" spend the time exploring a new destination.

 

When we get back I will post on my experience over on the "port of call" board...

 

Cheers!

 

CCfan

[makeup face]

Yes we were there in feb 2006

Awful island.Lots of starving dogs at the dock.Beach near the dock smells awful. there is a market near dock with pearls and usual t shirts ect.Some friends took ships beach trip to a beach on the otherside of the island and said the trip was very long, roads were bad and it was not worth the ride

 

How true....don't forget trash EVERYWHERE YOU LOOKED. We took a tour Best of Margarita or something like that.... on the Sun in 2003. Never want to go back....never:(

[Douglase]

We took the taste and sites tour and had a wonderful time. Our guide was very fun person and showed us a wonderful time. Sure we seen some of the bad thing the others talked about. But "we could see the froest thru the trees".

It's a wonderful stop in our eyes

[craven3]

ShowDog, I see that you're posting here, but we haven't heard from you on your Diamond Princess Alaska thread in quite a while. Will you still be aboard? Sailaway party plans and a photo link are now posted there.

 

Charlotte

[jennbill]

Of our 10 cruises, Isla Margarita is one of our favorite ports of call. Lots of ex-pats, friendly residents, the feeling that you are really in an exotic port, nice pier area and some of the best beer in the world (Polar). You make a port stop what you want it to be.

[bhopal21]

Of our 10 cruises, Isla Margarita is one of our favorite ports of call and some of the best beer in the world (Polar).

 

You are certainly right about that! If you ever hear of Polar being imported to the U.S. let us know.

 

Mike:)