21 Apr 2008 12:37:12

paul's VWC honcho

windurfing margarita in may/june

my wife and i are thinking of going to margarita island for a week. i'd be windsurfing, she'd be just vegging in the sun. a) what's it really like? how touristy? where would you compare it to? b) i've been to cabarete, is it similar c) what is there to do that is not windsurfing d) good place to learn to kiteboard e) worthwhile to spend a few days in Caracas? f) any helpful hints or ideas/recommends?

21 Apr 2008 14:11:50

Bill (NC/ME)

Re: windurfing margarita in may/june

On Apr 21, 3:37=A0pm, "paul's VWC honcho" <p...@bluepen.com > wrote: My cousin and I went to Venezuela two weeks ago. We had an absolute blast. I will definitely go back, and hopefully for two weeks instead of one. > my wife and i are thinking of going to margarita island for a week. > i'd be windsurfing, she'd be just vegging in the sun. > > a) what's it really like? how touristy? where would you compare it to? >>> El Yaque, if that's where you are going, seemed to have a singular purpo= se ... to house windsurfing fanatics. Yes, there is more to the island, but = I didn't explore. The equipment at Vela was top notch. The Mistral center wa= s next door ... they seemed to have excellent gear too. The conditions were = very good. Not amazing, but good enough for me (140 pounds). I sailed down t= o a 4.5 one day. I would have been on a 3.x the day we arrived had I sailed = that day. The day before we left, I jumped on an 8.0 just to get on the wate= r. The wind picked up a little that afternoon, but not much. So, we had ligh= ter conditions for El Yaque. For someone who was/is out of shape, it was a g= ood balance of wind strength. The people are amazing. We had a blast meeting fellow sailors. We met and hung out with more sailors this trip than we did at Aruba. The water conditions weren't as smooth as Aruba, but I didn't mind it. If you went out a mile or so you'd get into the swell, which was very good. In near shore the chop was more confused, but coming from a sailor who's used to flat water at the Outerbanks, this was tolerable. The gear helped... the 77L JP FSW was perfect for me with the 4.5. Since I've been working on getting better at rough-water jibes, the conditions were exactly what I needed. Nobody that I was sailing with felt the need to go over to La Coche... where you get the really flat water. Apparently the gear is a little older and you need really strong winds to get you on small gear over there (since the winds aren't as strong). My cousin and I never ventured over this trip. > b) i've been to cabarete, is it similar > > c) what is there to do that is not windsurfing >>> Hmm... eat and sleep? My cousin and I didn't venture out of the town, so= rry. I know some people took trips to other areas of VZ to be tourists. I im= agine there were things on the island to go see, but I didn't check them out= . Some people did the drive around the island, but they decided it wasn't wo= rth it. With that said, your wife would find many people on the beach to han= g out with. Seriously, I was surprised how approachable everyone was. A good= number of sailors I'd never met before are now people I'd welcome into my h= ome. I asked the guys who run Vela about their season. They said it is still windy into June, but there aren't many people who come down. So, if your wife is going to hang out on the beach, there might not be as many people to chat with. (During a busy week, Vela rents to as many as 75-80 people.) > d) good place to learn to kiteboard >>> People were learning there. It seemed like an ok spot as long as the win= d doesn't pick up TOO much. ;-) Kiters were out en force, but there are more= windsurfers than kiters. > e) worthwhile to spend a few days in Caracas? >>> Maybe find something else to do in VZ, but I'm not so sure Caracas would= be on my list of destinations. > f) any helpful hints or ideas/recommends? >>> There are multiple exchange rates. The official exchange rate is around = $1 to 2.15 or so. The black market rate for cash was $1 to 3.1 and black mar= ket travelers checks was at $1 to 2.9. Not many places take credit cards, an= d they would exchange at the official rate, so avoid credit cards. Alcohol, Coca Cola and water seemed to be priced the same. My cousin and I ate pretty frugally. We spent around 100 Bolivar F. for dinner and 75 for lunch. Breakfast was included in the hotel room rate. If you stay at the El Yaque Beach Hotel, they will exchange cash or travelers checks for you. Read the notice on the back of the door for info about things like breakfast, towels, beach chairs, etc. That's all I can think of at the moment. This was my first trip, so hopefully I am representing the island correctly. Some people I met were back for their 6th visit (each a month long). They seem to get a number of guests coming back year after year.