Floating Market

The floating market sits along the Sha Caprileskade in Punda, where wooden boats from Venezuela tie up alongside the quay and sell fish, tropical fruit, and vegetables directly off their decks. It is one of those distinctly Caribbean scenes that feels timeless — vendors calling out their prices, fish on ice, mangoes and papayas stacked on the gunwales.

The market is liveliest in the early morning (from around 6am). Venezuelan traders have been coming here since the late 19th century; the market has shrunk since Venezuela's economic crisis, but it still functions and remains one of the more authentic street-market experiences in Willemstad.

things to do punda sight market
A story
For over a century, Venezuelan fishermen and farmers sailed overnight across the narrow stretch of sea to sell their catch and produce from their boats in Willemstad. The trade was so regular it became an institution. Since Venezuela's economic collapse in the late 2010s, the number of boats has dwindled significantly, but the market survives with a fraction of its former activity.

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