After a week of getting to know our surroundings and having a lovely relaxed time, we were more than ready to find a party. From our chats with the locals we had already established you need to be in the city for nightlife. It’s a shame that lack of tourism has led to all nightlife in the North closing down, but not wanting to be defeated we packed up our backpacks and headed to the city!

Like Sunsol, it’s hard to avoid the ad campaigns for Lidotel hotels, and we opted for the Lidotel Boutique Hotel in Pampatar. On arrival at the hotel it did seem quite odd, we were staying inside Sambil, the island’s version of Westfield! The hotel itself was a fit for purpose business hotel, saying it’s boutique is a stretch. Unlike the friendliness of Ikin this hotel operated in a very professional manner but could be perceived as cold. Once settled in our room we were very happy to receive a welcome gift of snacks, and on exploring the hotel we were impressed by the rooftop pool & hot tub that look amazing afterdark, but we weren’t here for the hotel, we were here for the party – so the question was, where to go?

Social media is probably the most useful tool for finding out where to have fun, so after trawling Instagram & Twitter #pampatar off we trotted to Beach Bar. The hotel got us a cab (everyone is very security focused!) and 10 minutes later we arrived at a very empty Beach Bar. Reassured that loads of people arrive late for the party we ordered dinner and cocktails and waited for the party to start over looking the sea. It never really did get super busy, but the crowd was very fun and were soon spinning us around the dancefloor teaching us the latest Salsa moves to the sounds of Marc Anthony. We stayed until closing and the owner called his driver to ensure that we got back to the hotel safely.

Saturday we opted to check out Pampatar beach, being the closest available. The hotel staff were advising us to go to El Yaque but as that was part of our schedule we decided to stick to our plan. Pampatar beach is bustling with locals and salesmen selling everything from fish to photo shoots, and we were a little gutted we didn’t take enough cash to buy a hammock! We pitched up at a café on the beach where you could hire sunbeds. The staff were extremely friendly and even got a Bob Marley impersonator to serenade us – it was hilarious! Everyone drinks whisky on the beach, so feeling encouraged that a daytime drink would be a good idea we started on the vino, one glass later we were asleep! It seemed that the night before’s Beach Bar cocktails had taken their toll…

Saturday night we decided to treat ourselves by venturing to the Lobster House restaurant in Porlamor. We got there quite late so it was very quiet but the food and service was exceptional – we can recommend the lobster thermidor and garlic shrimp.

After dinner we headed to Bora Bora the island’s no.1 party spot (note – if you are a girl you don’t pay to enter). As soon as you walk into the club it’s a little bit like stepping into an episode of TOWIE with a latino twist. It didn’t take us long to bump into people that we had met along the way and ended up spending the evening partying with some of the Ikin staff. If you are planning a trip to Margarita this club is a must and the perfect place to wear those heels you had been wondering why you packed…

Heading to El Yaque the next day was hard work with a hangover, but we were fortunate enough to discover it was only 20 minutes in a cab. When you enter El Yaque you go through a check point, the locals refer to this area as the UN as this is where people from all over the world have invested in land and the role of the checkpoint is to keep out troublemakers. The result is a very chilled out vibe, and we were able to walk around day or night without being bundled into a cab every 5 minutes!

We stayed at the big, yellow Libert Hotel, which has more of a posada feel. The rooms are very compact but there are lots of cute chill out areas and a pool to enjoy a glass of vino, and the staff and breakfast were both great. Libert is set a block back from the main road, and in the evenings you need to walk down a dark alleyway – so pack a torch!

El Yaque is famous for windsurfing, but if that’s not your thing there are a variety of bars along the beach to relax and watch the buff men doing their thing. Rocky’s at the quieter end of the beach is particularly nice for sipping cocktails and eating fresh fish for a late lunch. Early evenings seem to be when the bars are at their busiest, Beach Bar and Sharkeys at the other end of the beach (although it’s not a long beach) are definitely worth checking out.

We spent 2 nights in El Yaque then headed over to Isla De Coche. We were staying in Sunsol Punta Blanca and from chatting to the locals we discovered our hotel had a port 5 mins walk away, that would take us directly to Coche. The boat ride is about 20 minutes long and was relatively smooth on the way over, but don’t be fooled, it’s much rougher on the way back!

On arrival at Coche it was like stepping into a Sandals brochure; powder white sand, crystal clear still waters and everything you could want from a Caribbean island. Even the temperature seemed to turn up a notch!

The hotel has a Caribbean vibe and is made up of a village of little huts which felt cute and quite rustic thanks to their outside showers (note – make sure you check the shower times as the water only runs for set periods).

There is very little to do in the evenings as the main bar closes at 11pm, making it perfect for couples, but even as girls who like to party we would highly recommend visiting Coche as it was our favourite beach by a mile, we witnessed a magical sunset and it definitely shouldn’t be missed off of any itinerary.

Leaving Coche was hard, but we were heading back North and knew the ropes! Our final stop was Lidotel Agua Dorada. The setting is dramatic, with mountain views from the pool, and then beautiful Playa Agua on your doorstep.

Knowing that tourism is dead in this area, we went back to Porlamar in the evening, stopping at La Tequila for dinner. This restaurant is a must; it’s wonderfully camp, they have the best Margaritas in town, everyone gets to wear a sombrero and if you can sing in Spanish there is karaoke to entertain! The food is also great and very good value; our dinner and drinks cost approx. £4 per head. Of course, we couldn’t leave the island without saying goodbye to our favourite venue; Bora Bora, to dance the night away to the sounds of J Balvin and sipping on Cuba Libres.

Saying goodbye to Isla de Margarita was so sad as we really didn’t want to leave, and when our flight was delayed to the mainland we almost didn’t! We learnt from our travels in Nicaragua to always leave a day between connecting to the mainland and flying home, and this time it certainly paid off! Our final night saw us back in the Marriott in Caracas and contemplating flying to Los Roques, but we consoled ourselves with the thought of returning – maybe even later this year – as there is just so much more to explore in this beautiful country!