My friends would like to visit a beach destination after doing Angel Falls and Gran Sabana, but I am not big into beaches. I am more keen on architecture and natural sights. Which of these is better: Isla de Margarita or Coro/Paraguana Peninsula. Are the beaches near Coro decent?
1
tombo
coro is quite small, so 1-2 days and you have seen it all, we spended some time in the mountains south of coro, which is very nice (few tourists), but there are no beaches ... we didn't visit the peninsula, sorry. Maybe if you really want to visit coro, go there 1-2 days before heading for a beach destination on your route home (direction caracas i suppose). 1 small problem, coro is quite distant from the gran sabana.
2
thberry
Hi TWC,
As mentioned by Tombo, Coro, even though the old town is very quaint and pretty, is quite far from the Gran Sabana. Nevertheless, it is good fun. It is easy enough to get from Coro to it's surrounding areas such as the "Medanos" (Sand dunes), the mountains to the south (Sierra de San Luis), the Cerro Santa Ana located in the middle of the Peninsula and the beaches of the peninsula to the north and northeast. There are some nice beaches around the Adicora area, pretty windy, which makes it ideal for kite and wind surfing. In addition, Coro is close to Punto Fijo which is a duty free port and thereby packed with caraqueños (people form Caracas) and from other whereabouts looking for cheap deals on electronic goods. Margarita is home to some very nice beaches and to some old forts and cathedrals dating back to the time when the Spanish colonized the area. However, many more local and foreign tourists visit the island rather than Coro and it gets very busy over public and school holidays.
Hope you find this info useful.
Travel safe!
All the best,
Thomas H. Berry
Caracas
berry_venezuela@hotmail.com
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