Coche Island
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Coche Island

Coche Island

Small Caribbean island off Venezuela, known for calm beaches, fishing villages, salt flats, and steady trade winds.

Coche is a small, flat island in the Caribbean Sea, part of Venezuela's Nueva Esparta state along with Margarita and Cubagua. It is quieter and less developed than Margarita, with a handful of resort hotels along the southern coast and a fishing village at San Pedro de Coche, the island's capital and ferry port.

San Pedro is a colourful settlement with a character all its own. Along the waterfront you can watch fishermen at work and fish drying in the sun. The beaches are calm and uncrowded, and the steady trade winds make Coche a popular spot for kitesurfing and windsurfing — Playa El Amor on the southern coast is the main centre. The interior of the island is given over to the salt flats that have been worked since pre-colonial times.

Guide

Getting There

Coche is reached from Isla Margarita by ferry. Boats run several times daily between Punta de Piedras on Margarita's western coast and San Pedro on Coche; the crossing takes about 45 minutes in calm weather and can be lively if there is wind. The Conferry and Naviarca services have changed routes and operators over the years — check times locally on arrival in Margarita.

There is no direct service from the Venezuelan mainland; visitors normally come via Margarita. A small airstrip in the centre of the island is used only for occasional private flights. Once on Coche, transport is by por puesto (shared taxi) or hotel pickup; the island is small enough to traverse in 20 minutes by road.

Guide

Things to Do

Coche is small — about 11 km long by 6 km wide — and what there is to do here is essentially the beach, the wind, and the slow rhythm of a fishing community. The southern coast holds the resort hotels and the most developed swimming beaches; the central plain is dry and sparsely settled; and the working village of San Pedro at the north-eastern tip is where the ferry from Punta de Piedras lands.

Kitesurfing and windsurfing are the headline activities — the trade winds are steady year-round and the shallow lee-side water is ideal for learners. Hotels rent equipment and offer lessons. For everyone else, the attractions are quieter: walk the salt flats, watch the fishing boats come in, eat freshly grilled fish on the beach, and watch the sun set across the bay toward Margarita.