When most visitors think of beaches at Isla de Margarita, they think of Playa el Agua, the biggest beach on the island with a teeming throng of bikinis and muscles posturing for each other. The biggest crowds -- and hands-down, the most entertaining people-watching opportunities -- happen during the festivals held there for Christmas, Easter and Carnaval. Waiters emerge from the many fringing restaurants to prowl the beach, slinging drinks and oysters. While the scene is choice, the swimming isn't: the water is shallow close to shore, but the bottom drops off quickly into a dangerously brawny rip tide.
Escape the Playa el Agua crowds by taking a half-hour-long stroll down a long stretch of sand, finally arriving at the quieter neighboring stretch called Playa Larguito. The towering breaks that pummel this classic South American surf beach, edged by coconut palms, sea-grapes and fish kiosks, attract what seem to be the island's most tan, chiseled specimens to man a surfboard.
Check out the Spanish-built fortress at Fortin La Galera, a commanding structure enthroned atop the bay's north headland. The castle keep reveals broad views of the area, where some of the region's fiercest battles played out to a bloody climax still breathlessly recounted by the town's children. Afterwards, stroll for a couple of miles to the calm, tepid waters at Playa Caribe, a golden-sanded, palm-fringed respite with little in the way of crowds.
One of Isla de Margarita's newer draws, windsurfing brings many of the sport's most prominent practitioners to the island. The Professional Kiteboard Riders Association holds a competition here every May that takes over the southern shores of the island, especially the customarily windswept beach at Boca del Yaque, with brightly colored equipment and highly excitable crowds. Newbies can learn from the excellent instructors at Margarita Xtreme, just off the beach. When the kitesurfers don't throng the water, the shallow depth nicely accommodates small children.
The stars of the show at rustic Parque Nacional Mochima are the dolphins. Blessedly pollution-free, the park itself consists of a handful of tiny, empty, arid islets that dot the coast; while the land is unremarkable, the beaches are crowd-free, the water is crystalline, and the reefs just off the beach are prime territory for snorkeling and scuba. Swimmers almost always encounter groups of the aforementioned bottlenose residents, who are very accustomed to fawning humans and happy to pose for photos.
