Crime in Venezuela ?

Hi,

I planned to travel to Venezuela with my girlfriend. However, the safety advises from the German government sound quite severe. They mention armed robbery etc. quite a lot.

So what is the situation in Venezuela - do you just have to be careful like everywhere in the world or is it really more severe in Venezuela

Thanks

When visiting Venezuela as an independent traveler, you accept a higher risk of becoming a crime victim than in most other countries.

Bad things happend to me in Venezuela, terrible things happened to other travelers I met and even many locals were absolutly paranoid about their or my safety.

Still, I`m contemplating another trip but am hesitant about the risks involved.

Next time, I would avoid Caracas at all costs. I would have a taxi from Choroni pick me up at the airport and would spend my first couple of days in Puerto Columbia. This should help me to get my bearings in a relaxed place and get filled in with the latest stories from travelers and expats.

Hi,
About the warnings about safety.... yes it's true
The touristic places like canaima(angel falls), Merida, los Roques, Roraima, Isla de Margarita and the "Hatos" in Los Llanos are safe.
Also Choroni, where I live, is a very safe. A lot of travellers start here in Choroni their hollydays.

greetings from;Choroni

I agree with #1's post; avoid Caracas like the plague... I felt really unsafe there and had spoken with several other travelers who had been harassed by police, robbed, etc. And when we were there in Choroni there was a kidnapping of a young girl.
I also agree with #2; personally, Margarita Island is not for me, but by going to places like Llanos, Mérida, Canaima, etc you can still get a great flavor of the country and the wonderful people and not miss anything by not going to Caracas.

I was robbed by a teenager at gunpoint in Coro, first time in 65 countries, so that may say something about Venezuela. I wrote a huge post about my experiences in Venezuela (do a search on my username). I did Caracas and had no problems, but didn't go to Sabe Grande district because of so many horror stories. The Bus station (Bandera) was fine during the day, lots of people about.

I went to Choroni and felt very safe. However, after Coro i didn't go out after dark anywhere. This seems to be common in the places i went, as Coro is deserted after dark. Don't carry anything you don't want to lose while walking about. Cops know foreigners carry dollars, and would like them!

My husband and I plan to go to Venezuela in two weeks, and I am very concerned about the violent crime and considering cancelling the trip. I am worried partly because we are both tall and fair. Also, my spanish is not very good (I can read and convey very simple information).

We will be in Merida and Los Roques, which I understand are safer, but we need to spend one night in Caracas before we fly home. I arranged a hotel in Las Mercedes. What is the safest way to get there and back to the airport? Should I have the hotel send a taxi or airport limo for us? Or should I try to arrange a hotel at the airport and lose the money on the Caracas hotel?

Any words of advice? We can still get most of our money back at this point.

The safe way to the hotel it's and official taxi(u will see them at the entry of the airport).Las Mercedes it's one of the safer areas in Caracas.

I agree with people in here that Caracas it's the more dangerous place in Venezuela but i never had a problem there(and next summer will be the 8th time i go there).I have even go party at night in,Las Mercedes(Caracas),El Tigre,and Puerto Ordaz.

For sure u must be careful as u must do it in all latin america.

Maybe it's because that i'm spanish that i think like that but,really never a single problem there.Don't show u have money at the streets,and don't go to the "cerros"(shantitowns).And that's all.

thanks for the advice, we ended up going to Argentina instead and it was just great...

Depend where you go.

Hi, all well I'm Venezuelan/Spanish I lived most of my life there, yes there is crime, a lot of crime, but there's also a lot to see and enjoy, if you want to avoid crime ask the locals like the hotel people or cab drivers (in Spanish of course) about the local safety, because if you go to Caracas is no the same situation of Choroni or Canaima, Los Roques, etc, so my recommendation go and visit Canaima, Los Roques, Puerto Colombia (Choroni) always take cabs, Buen viaje.

Well im living in the USA but i was race in Caracas is just like NEW YORK u have to watchout for u own good, caracas have many places like any big city unsafe, the best thing to do if you can't avoid caracas most safe places are in the east side where the most media and rich people leave and is not tha expensive hotel tamanaco is a good one and their staff take good care of u, canaima,merida,los roques,margarita island

Hi i am a 19 year old student in manchester UK me and my best friend are looking to travel to venezuela as we have a friend there. But we have heard that it has a very bad crime rate and its dangerous for young girls in particular. We are also really interested in going to margarita island as it is said to be more safe but dont know whether it is safe or not can anyone give us some advice? Gracias Ash

Dear Ash,
I am a woman travelling all the time in Venezuela (I live here) and in my opinion if you do not walk on the streets by night in big cities nothing bad can happens to you. Also a white girl is not a big issue, Venezuelan are mixed blood have own blondy girls, so do not pay to much attention to look of foreigners. For sure in Caracas/Ciudad Bolivar/Puerto Ordaz by night it is not a good place for a tourists to walk or go to disco or by metro, treat it only as a transfer - hotel place! out of civilization you are in hands of tour organizers, so you are safety and there is no crime. Margarita is a very international place, so it is safety for a tourist.You can go by night to disco, restaurant and is fantastic!

ooooh really?! Great! thank you for your advice. We will definitely consider going to margarita do you know anything about los roques and angel falls?

I would like to have an idea on the current cost of living in Venezuela such as :cost of milk,bread,meat,beer,coke ,medium priced restaurants,transportation ....etc etc etc..can anyone help?
Thanks

Safety: Places like El Yaque on Isla Margarita and Ciudad Bolivar were deserted at night and said not to be safe. However we were walking around with a smaller group of people and had no problems. At the airport in Ciudad Bolivar, and along the road from Maracaibo to the Colombian border I felt that the national guard (substitutes the police) was rather intrusive and made me feel uncomfortable. Other travellers reported the police stole money from them. Angel Falls and Los Roques are likely to be very safe because they are both very remote places that can only be reached by air.(September 08)
Cost: Rooms are available from 70 BsF, doorms (rare) from 30 BsF; Arepa 3 BsF, simple dish in a restaurant from 15 BsF, beer 2 BsF, . 1hr bus ride 10 BsF. The exchange rate varies a lot. Note that some posadas also change traveller cheques at a decent rate (for example in Sept we got 3.4 BsF for USD cash, others got 3.1 for USD cheque).

Cheers
Till

Edited by: bienenmann

Edited by: bienenmann

Isla Margarita / El Yaque safe at night?? LOL, don't fool me.

Christmas 2007 I spent with my wife two weeks at El Yaque at a private apartment.
2 am in the middle of the night (we were sleeping) three gunmen broke the door (double security by a second iron bars door), we awoke and tried to lock and block the inner door additionally. With their big jimmy they just made it in 30 seconds.
My wife was calling for help outside on the balcony (it was too high to jump) and the neighbours called the police.
They throw my wife on the bed and forced me the gun at my temple to fork out mp-player, cellular, camera and all our money. They didn't believe that 200 euros were all we had, but it was really all. (Most people are travelling with cash because the official exchange rate is very bad).
They got really angry. Finally they moved off leaving us frightened to death.

The police arrived with pump guns (once more frightened to death) - 20 minutes later!! The station house is just two minutes away an blocking the only road in and out to El Yaque.
Of course they didn't see any car passing. The police wasn't really interested what the bandits looked like but repeatedly asked what and how much they captured (to assess their portion!?).

Not alone in dark streets, double barricade, international spot!! Where do we go from here?????

Cold comfort: tourists are not really often assaulted. Usually the local shopkeepers are the main victims. They have a lot of dollars and euros in the till.

EOM

Can anyone tell me anything about Barcelona or Valencia? I may be accepting a job in one of these cities, but I am nervous about how safe the communities are. please let me know---anything is helpful!

Don't worry i have lived 6 minths in Caracas,which is the most dangerous city in Venezuela without any problems and i'm european.
It's Latin America of course,so u make be careful,but don't let "terror tales", that u can read here frighten u.
I don't know Barcelona but Valencia it's good,the only thing i can say about those cities is that venezuelans say that Valencia is full of gays and beautiful girls,but i don't know if it's true,lol.

I'll get the job if i was u,never reject the possiblility of knowing new countries.

Good luck

Edited by: jimmyjazz747