General: Venezuela > Reviews > margarita island venezuela sun sea and duty free

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money
Shopping
Nightlife
Ease of getting around
Family Friendly

Advantages:	duty free prices, weather, food, people,water,fish,trips
Disadvantages:	crooks,airport,cars,first choice

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

hope this review helps i am not a writer so excuse any mistakes i would just like to try and give you an idea of what this was like.
we travelled november 2004 to this amazing island where we had a fantastic time (made ourselfs) the island of margarita is unbelievable place where the weather hits right up into the high 40s,sometimes abit overpowering but if you are after a deep tan this is the place to be.
if you dont know it is a spanish speaking island just off venezuela but most of the people speak quite good english.

we went 2 weeks all inclusive stayed at the dunes beach resort which is a large complex the rooms are nice but basic have tv and showers,fridge (couldnt understand why no mini bar as was all inclusive) the hotel had probably the best night entertainment group ive seen not the usual tacky shows you get this was really well put together,could not fault it apart from if you like the usual tacky show:).
the hotel was great like i said quite large and had small buses running constantly round the complex if you didnt want to walk.
food was superberb a great choice and for once the drinks were every brand,local and foreign,thats because everything in the shops is so cheap.
beach was nice until the tides washed about half of it away,which was amusing to watch each day then of course it did come back.
we did have a little trouble booking a trip through the tour operator and had to use a local tour company which was 10 dollars cheaper and probably better but annoying as we waited for the rep to sort this trip out for 8 days and had to do it near the end of our holiday so didnt get great time for it to sink in,which trip you wondering,well ANGEL FALLS AND THE ORINOCCO DELTA,unbelievable,ther are other trips but we only did this which was a 2 day one night,if we had not done this trip i would have been devastated,starts with a flight from margarita to angel falls you fly or we did in a small 10 seater plane i was the tallest so had to sit in the front with the pilot,experience i shall never forget and this by the way was for 2 days,anyway we flew over to venezuela and as you do you fly across what looks like a smaller version of the grand canyon ,winding through wide ravine type cliffs then all of a suddern you are there and there in front of you is the magnificent sight of ANGEL FALLS if you want an experience in life go see it,all of a sudden the plane dips sharply to the left and we are on our side as we bank round to go past again,after this we head of over to the the landing strip where we took lunch then set of in small boats to see some smaller but just as great waterfalls where you actually walk below them spend an hour or 2 round these falls which may be a bit long and tiring for any week legged person as there is a bit of walking and climbing,but well worth it as the sights are magnificent,take plenty of bottled water as it is thirsty and of course make sure you have sun cream and insect repellent.
after the trip to the falls we head of onto the delta where we speed down to our night accomodation in great river boats,to try and explain the rush is just to hard but it was great,
we got to our accommodation which although basic is comfortable beds are nicely made everything is made from wood logs,but there is a toilet and shower in each hut,yes hut electric for a couple of hours then candles,we unpack go to the main hall for a spot of tea,then it is back onto the river as we are off pihrana fishing,yes also true and we catch many,not big ones but still we can say we caught pirhana,(one of these were cooked and passed round later at dinner for people to try)no not me?.
after this remarkable few hours back we went and rested for an hour then went out before dinner to look for crocodiles in the dark,and although we did not see any we did see loads of other wildlife which i dont want to say of which kind as if you do this trip at sometime you will find out for yourself,(ladies and some men beware thats all im saying on the matter).
after dinner and a few beers it was an earlish night,as next morning we were going onto the river again to visit some local indians still living as they did hundreds of years ago and to trek through a small part of the amazon,
after this magnificent trip we flew back to margarita island with some great memories and super photo;s.
back at the hotel we spnt the next 2 days just lounging round the pool with cocktails and beers,our hotel had 2 pools a large one which was where most of the activit'ys took place then a smaller more relaxing obne so you could just chill out.
THE ONE DOWN SIDE OF THE HOLIDAY ,we went to the main town to do some shopping as margarita island is a duty free island things are dirt cheap but we were warned of some scam the locals do by the rep but not fully and we walked right into it,what happens is in some parts of the country the exchange rate is different as with most countries,but anyway people on the streets come up to you and offer you nearly twice as much as the hotel and banks which you think yes great deal and you go to change either 50,or 100 dollars or pounds or any amount,so say the exchange is 2800 to the dollar for 100 you want 280000,so they begin counting this out they will make it short by a 1000 or 2 so that you query it,you still have your money at this point,so he counts it again into your hand and it is short again so he takes it back moves away then comes back counts it into your hand again this time with some high value notes and a load of small ones this time is right he then folds it up takes your money gives you the roll and off you go,but then when you check it,there are no high notes and you have lost about 40% of your cash,he is no where in sight we lost 50% which wasnt to bad but this would have been avoided if the rep had explained properly what there scam was,so beware if you are quick you might get away with his cash but if you want to be safe just change at hotel is only about 20p in the pound less than the streets,also women dont wear jewellery chains in particular on the same day we were there 2 german ladies had chains ripped from there necks and no one did a thing about it?
do not however let this put you off your holiday this waqs in the busy city you can go to a mega store and do all the same shopping under one roof if you want to feel safer.
but do shop around as prices do vary,cigs and alcohol iare very cheap,clothes in the right shops were to.
overall one of the best holidays i have taken in the last three years and would reccomend it to anyone,local villages are safe to walk round people are generally friendly the cons and robbers stick to the bigger cities,mosquitos are not a major problem but use sprays especially if going into the jungle.
enjoy it if you do it