Playa Guacuco
A wonderful beach with beautiful white sands, crystal blue water, and excellent waves. During our vacation we hardly saw another tourist on the beach and it seemed more of a local hang out. During the week it was not hard to find yourself with much of the beach to yourself save the occasional local trying to sell hand made jewelery or fresh seafood (a simple ‘no gracias’ and they were on their way). On Sundays however, the place comes alive with locals enjoying a family day on the beach. Aside from the occasional stray dog and litter, this beach was certainly one of the cleanest and offered a fabulous day of suntanning and playing in the waves. As this beach is more popular with the locals, facilities were not as extensive as Playa El Agua.

This beach turned out to be our favourite spot during our stay. The cleanliness, proximity to the city, and the lack of tourists made it especially pleasant.

More photos: One, Two, Three

Playa Galera
This beach is a small fine sand beach located right next to Playa Juan Griego.It is a better beach than Juan Griego for sunbathing, swimming and for watching the sunset although it is not lined with as many nice restaurants and does not provide easy walking access to the city. Playa Galera is mainly frequented by locals and offers nice calm water that is slightly cooler than at Guacuco and Playa El Agua. Although there are a few decent restaurants lining the beach, the beach does suffer from a little more litter than some of the others that we visited. With this said, La Galera certainly does provide some beautiful views. Taxis are hard to come by at this beach so make sure you arrange with whomever dropped you off to pick you up.

See more photos of Galera

Playa El Agua
This is a fabulous 3km long stretch of wonderful white sand bordered on one side by crystal clear blue water (dotted with the occasional piece of seaweed) with excellent waves and on the other side by many restaurants, bars and restaurants amidst the coconut groves. Although during high season we have heard that this beach can prove to be quite crowded with gringos and locals alike, the many times that we visited we had no problems finding our own place. As mentioned, the beach has great waves but also a strong undertow that one must be cautious about. Many fabulous restaurants and cafes can be found along the beach ranging in prices and menus. We ate pizza at a nice bar (Moises) for 10,000 Bs each, the pizza was big enough that we could have easily shared. Tour companies and stores can be found between the beach and the road as well. The tour companies on this beach are great places to exchange money. During our vacation we were able to get 2400 BS per American dollar; 100 BS more per dollar than we could find elsewhere and 200 BS more than the official exchange rate. Just make sure that your bills are higher denominations ($20 or above) as many establishments will not exchange small bills or will give a lower rate for them.

Local artisans also dot the road between restaurants displaying their paintings and sculptures. If you are going to be visiting Playa El Agua for more than a few hours is is a good idea to purchase the use of an umbrella and a chair. Shop around and you should be able to find a reasonable rate. We ended up paying 15,000 Bs for two chairs, an umbrella, and a table. Along with the use of the chairs for the full day, you also get full access to the establishment’s facilities (ours had washrooms and showers). Playa El Agua, like most other beaches that we visited on the island, was home to many wandering locals trying to sell everything from massages, aloe vera and necklaces, to fresh oysters and sand buckets. Because of its popularity, this beach seems to be frequented by more wandering merchants but as always, ‘no gracias’ seems to be a sufficient means of getting them to continue on their way. Keep in mind that prices, although still reasonable compared to North American standards, are slightly higher near this trendy beach than at other places on the island. A taxi ride to Playa el Agua from Porlamar was 25,000 Bs at the time of writing.

Playa Parguito
To be honest we only stopped by this beach to have a peak. The beach was by far the most crowded we’ve been on. The beach does not seem as large as Playa El Agua. There is a large rock outcropping that frames the beach in on the southern side. The restaurants, shops, and beach chairs are all crammed together in one small stretch of white sand. It is literally hard to walk between the chairs without feeling like you’re invading someone’s space. The beach has much more of a surfer feel than Playa El Agua. The water was littered with boogie borders and surfers trying their hand at the waves that were rolling in. One strange thing to note about the beach was that it has a distinctive drop off in the sand halfway across the beach (it runs parallel to the water). The drop off is roughly two feet high and seems to be cut by the pounding surf at high tide.

Our taxi driver let us know that in the summer months Parguito is much busier than what we witnessed (which is hard to believe). Space is at a premium. Parguito also plays hosts to some live music on big stages in the summer months.

Playa Zaragosa
Zaragosa a quiet secluded beach offering beautiful views. The sand is extremely fine but unfortunately litter dots the shoreline. Although not really the best beach for sunbathing, sitting at one of the beachside restaurants sipping pina coladas and eating fresh fish while enjoying the gorgeous view made this beach worth a visit if you have the time. Sea-doos can be rented for 20 minutes for around 60,000 bs and can hold up to two people.

The upside of this beach is the pleasant row of restaurants and shops that line it. When we were there only a few things were open. It was later in the day and in the off season. in the high season we imagine this beach would be a fun place to spend the afternoon. Maybe come later in the afternoon and enjoy a light dinner in one of the restaurants.