From our own experiences !
Margarita Wild Winds
May - June
Margarita Island
Restaurants
in El Yaque
Gabby's
Blues Barbeque
The owners Migal and Gabby run the restaurant and prepare the food.
The music is always good blues tunes in a relaxing
out door eating area and bar. Great
food is cooked on a large outdoor barbeque
and is probably the best food in the area.
I had the Blacken
Yellow Tuna Fish and Jyl had
barbeque chicken both meals were excellent. As a matter of fact we ate
here several times and all our meals were good, kids liked it too!
Rancho
de Mario
Run by Hector Hung and his family; sisters, mother and
father. The restaurant is
out doors under a beautiful wood and thatched roof hut called a rancho.
The family prides its business on service and friendliness along with
home cooked style food. We had an
authentic Christmas dinner with ham, spiced pork, rice, plantain, arappia (meat
and spices stuffed in a pastry made of corn) and a avocado salad with shrimp. It
was very good and very filling. After dinner and a few drinks; there was
dancing, fireworks and a fire on the beach.
That evening the restaurant was full of mostly Venezuelans from the
mainland. One other note, try the fish soup, it looks a little scary but
tastes very good.
Mike's Bar
One of the most popular beach bars, this outdoor bar is located in front of
Vela Windsurfing. The music is good
and special drinks are numerous. Chocolate
Monkey, Banana Mama, Kaiparina and Fresh juice made in front of you. The bar is open most days and until the party ends.
Pizzeria
de Enrico Restaurante
Located on the corner of the Ocean
Boulevard mini mall. Busy all the time and a good place to see who is in town as
every one walks by. The coffee is
very good with small European cups. Good spot for pizza.
Restaurante
el
Yaque Cafe
Located in the Windsurf Paradise Hotel, the restaurant is next to the pool and
over looks the ocean so you don't miss a thing.
The service is slow at times but our kids enjoyed the pool as we waited
for our food to be prepared. Fairly
wide variety lunch menu with sandwiches, spaghetti, meat and chicken.
Terraza Italianna da Rocco
Located on the terris at the Mistral Hotel. The food is excellent, they have a
wood burning oven and make great pizza. You can dress casual however it is also
a nice place to have a dress up dinner. Service is very good and the menu offers
a wide variety of food.
Fruerza 6
Great chicken place ! Be prepared to wait, the place is friendly but a bit
unorganized at times. Beer & Chicken, beer & chicken, beer &
chicken.
Atti's Restaurant
This is a don't miss place ! The food is great and the view is great too;
located on the hill above the town of El Yaque. They say it is the best
place in town for meat dishes, we had Château Briane for two, they were write.
Expect to pay a bit more for most food here.
Marie Marie Restaurant
Casual place on the main street. The place is very comfortable and
friendly, and the service is pretty good too. Large bar and variety on the
menu, the pizza is good and so is the fish.
Hotel California Restaurant
This restaurant has a french chef and is very good. Not the cheapest
place to eat in town.
Margarita Island
Excursions
La
Restinga
La Restinga is a
unique area of Margarita Island located
about an hours drive from El Yaque. This
is a large park reserve where you rent a boat which takes you through the
mangroves to arrive at the ocean on the north coast.
The beach has spectacular with white sand, rolling waves, and
restaurants. This is a must do for adult both and children
Juan
Greigo
Juan Griego is a fishing village;
From El Yaque it is about 30 minutes by car or Taxi.
The town is known for spectacular sunsets, and restaurants down by the
ocean that serves langostina (large prawns) and lobster.
There is also a very old fortress with a great view over looking the bay.
The thing to do here is arrive at the fortress just before sunset to watch the
sun go down. The island is quite easy to get around so don’t
hesitate to rent a car for a day.
Playa
Caribe
Our families favorite beach on Margarita Island ! warm water, waves, great
sand, sun, and restaurants. We like to go during the week days and when
there is no holidays, it is not crowded and we have the place to
ourselves. The beach is 15 mins. from Juan Greigo so we can have a nice
dinner after a day at the beach.
Polamar
Porlamar is the largest city on Margarita Island.
You will find great shopping, international telephones (Cantv), banking
and money exchange centers, restaurants, casinos, nightclubs, resorts, spas,
etc. The population is about 500,000 people. Watch yourself at night if you are rambling the back streets,
there is crime here like everywhere else in the world.
La
Asuncion
A very old small town, nice drive and walk thru the streets. There are
some shops and restaurants but it is more of a historic town. There is an
old castle that is being restored, we went to it three years ago and it is still
closed. The medical center is located here and a large hospital as
well.
The
Open Market
The Open Market is a local experience you don’t want to miss.
Have you ever seen a truckload of watermelons or bananas being sold by
the farmer? You will find great
prices and a huge selection on everything from fruits and vegetables, to
household items and clothing. The meat and fish area is also in
experience, you may become a vegetarian.
Sambil
Shopping
Margarita Island is a duty free port, which makes for
good shopping. Sambil Shopping
Center is a new shopping center located on the outskirts of Porlamar on the main
highway. This is a new very nice
place to shop with restaurants, movie theatres, and over one hundred shops and
many American names you will recognize like Cinnabon and McDonalds.
I found it interesting because it was very international with shops from
Germany, France, Switzerland, Brazil, etc.
Golf
There is a good golf coarse on Margarita Island.
It is located at a large resort over looking the ocean and is open to the
public. I have heard the rates are
very reasonable and the coarse is good. I have not golfed here so I'm looking for some feed back.
Casino
There are many Casinos on Margarita Island.
You will find them mainly in at the larger Hotels.
Diver land
A chance to swim with the dolphins and learn up close. Our kids
enjoyed the rides, and the staff spoke pretty good English. The cost is
$75us per person, a bit pricey but we thought the boy's got our money's
worth. You should call ahead and make reservations to ensure you have a
spot.
Water
Park
There is a brand new large water park on Margarita
Island. This is a fun outing for
the family. We didn’t go this
visit but it was in the plans. Maybe
next time.
Margarita Island
Excursions
to other places
Los
Roques
Los Roques is one of the largest National Parks in the Caribbean. The
beaches are white sand and the water crystal clear. There are many islands
that make up the park area but many are underwater at times. One island has a
small town where you can stay overnight, we just went for the day. We went
to an underwater marine park to snorkel, it was great! Lots to see and the
equipment was good quality too.
Orinoco
Delta
The Orinoco River flows into the Atlantic Ocean in the form of a delta with
endless creeks and channels. We stayed in these huts on the river and
toured around the area for 2 days. The Warao Indians live here and build
using the "moriche" palm trees. The most interesting place we
went to! we want to go back and stay longer.
Canaima
Between the rainforest of the Amazon and the Orinoco river in Central
Venezuela Canaima is a rugged wall of remote mountains and deep, heavily
forested canyons. The mountains have rock walls that rise to 1800
meters (6000ft.) straight up and then have almost perfectly flat tops. The world
highest waterfall - Angel falls at 979 meters (3211 ft.) is famous and a sight
to see. We flew over the falls and mountains and then went for a hike in
the National Park. The water is black from the high iron and there are
many other waterfalls and scenic area's.
Coche
Island
A 30min ferry ride, El Yaque looks out to Coche Island. Beautiful tranquil white
beaches to relax on. There are several hotels, windsurf clubs and kite surfing
on the small island. Great speed sailing with 4kms of flat water
conditions and an offshore wind. Practicing jibes at high speed is the best
!
Contact Tim & Jyl
TEL: (604) 576-2446
lasbrisas@telus.net