Top 10 Marinas in Venezuela
In the 1990s, Venezuela's coast from the Morrocoy National Park to the Paria Peninsula and the offshore islands of Los Roques and Las Aves was considered the crown jewel of Caribbean cruising. The anchorages were uncrowded, the rum was cheap, and the local sailors at clubs like the Los Andes Yacht Club and Marina Venetur were welcoming to ocean-going visitors. Political instability and security concerns through much of the 2000s and 2010s drove the cruising fleet away, but reports from 2024 and 2025 suggest a cautious return is underway, with several marinas renovating their facilities and easing entry bureaucracy.
Marina Venetur Caraballeda
Caraballeda, on the coastal strip below the Ávila National Park, was once the busiest cruising marina between Trinidad and Colombia. After years of effective closure, Venetur Caraballeda has gradually resumed accepting visiting yachts. The facility offers floating pontoons for up to 80 boats, a small chandlery, and proximity to the winding Caracas-La Guaira highway that climbs 1,000 metres over the coastal range. Fuel, repairs, and crew-change flights from Simón Bolívar International Airport are all accessible within an hour.
Marina del Club Náutico
The Caracas marina scene clusters around two main club facilities: the Club Náutico on the Litoral Central and the older Centro Náutico at Macuto. Both offer alongside berths and security-gated compounds, an important consideration for visiting yachts in the current environment. The Club Náutico has maintained an active racing programme throughout the difficult years and retains a membership of enthusiastic local sailors who can advise on current conditions, provisioning sources, and security protocols.
Marina del Ítalo
Marina del Ítalo at Puerto La Cruz is the principal cruising hub on Venezuela's eastern coast, serving as the logical staging point before the offshore island passages to Las Aves, Los Roques, and the Venezuelan ABC islands corridor toward Bonaire and Curaçao. The marina's travel-lift handles vessels to 50 tonnes, and its yard has a reputation for skilled fibreglass and metalwork. Puerto La Cruz's proximity to the oil industry has made diesel consistently available even during periods of national scarcity.
Marina Americo Vespucio
Marina Americo Vespucio, also at Puerto La Cruz, is a newer facility with a more hotel-resort character than the working-yard atmosphere of del Ítalo. Its floating pontoons are in better condition and attract larger, newer cruising yachts, while its fuel dock operates with reliable metering. The marina's restaurant terrace overlooks the Bahía de Pozuelos and the profile of Isla Chimana Grande — one of the archipelago's finest natural anchorages — just five miles to the north.
Centro Marítimo de Oriente
Cumaná, 80 kilometres east of Puerto La Cruz on the Gulf of Cariaco, is Venezuela's oldest European-founded city and the location of the Centro Marítimo de Oriente. The marina sits in a mangrove-lined estuary that offers exceptional hurricane protection — it sits south of the traditional hurricane belt, though the 2010 Tropical Storm Matthew reminded sailors that this immunity is not absolute. The small-boat yard at Cumaná has a long history of building traditional wooden vessels for the local fishing fleet.
Marina de Cumaná
Adjacent to the Centro Marítimo, the dedicated Marina de Cumaná provides stern-to berths for around 60 visiting yachts with water and shore power. The Gulf of Cariaco, one of Venezuela's most sheltered bodies of water, allows reliable day-sailing to Peninsula de Araya and its dramatic 16th-century Spanish salt fortress, whose crumbling ochre walls rise directly from the shoreline.
Playa Grande Yachting Club
The Playa Grande Yachting Club, west of La Guaira on the Litoral Central, was for decades the favourite base of Venezuelan offshore racing sailors participating in events like the Vela Latina circuit and the Copa Venezuela. Its compact marina basin holds around 30 vessels and the club has recently resumed weekend racing. The surrounding residential development provides reasonable security, and the club's mechanics have maintained their reputations through consistent local work during the lean years.
Los Roques Archipelago
Los Roques, a national park 128 nautical miles north of La Guaira, is perhaps the most beautiful anchorage in the entire Caribbean. The atoll's 42 islets enclose a turquoise lagoon in 1–4 metres depth, with snorkelling over pristine coral that rivals anything in the Pacific. Visiting yachts must obtain a national park permit — available online and from the park authority office at Gran Roque village — and must anchor rather than use fixed moorings. Strong trade winds and the absence of the usual Caribbean swell make Gran Roque one of the finest downwind sailing passages in the region.
Marina Sheraton and Litoral Central
The Marina Sheraton complex near the Caracas-La Guaira highway offers hotel-standard security and facilities for larger yachts, with up to 120 berths and a protected basin. The facility's management company has maintained the infrastructure more consistently than state-operated marinas, and Wi-Fi, daily cleaning services, and reception in English are available. The trade-off is cost — rates approach Martinique and Grenada levels — and the restricted provisioning options in the immediate area.
Puerto de Punta Arenas and Isla Margarita
Isla Margarita, historically Venezuela's prime tourist destination and duty-free zone, offers several small-craft facilities at Punta Arenas and the Club Náutico of Porlamar. Margarita sits outside the main hurricane belt, typically in waters below 11 degrees north latitude, and its protected inner bay — the Laguna de las Marites — provides exceptional shelter. The island's duty-free status means that electronics, fishing gear, and provisions can be sourced at significantly below mainland prices.
Explore on the map
Venezuela's cruising grounds span a vast area from the Morrocoy lagoons on the central coast to the offshore paradise of Los Roques and the sheltered Gulf of Cariaco. No pilot book captures them all in one view. Explore the map to see the full spread of anchorages and marinas along Venezuela's coast and offshore islands. For Caribbean-wide passage planning, zoom out on the map to place Venezuela in context alongside Trinidad, Grenada, and the ABC islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao.