Living on or retiring to the tropical island of
Isla Margarita or Margarita Island, Venezuela
Tropical Island Living!

This is the fourth page of our information on Living, retiring to
and Working on Margarita Island or Isla Margarita.

On this page you will find information about Schools, Doctors, Hospitals,
Buying a Car & Insurance and Driving in Margarita Island.

Because of the total amount of information on living in Margarita Island I have broken it down
into 4 separate pages:

Page One:
Climate and Weather, Property Ownership, Exchange Controls,
Starting a Business and working on Margarita Island

Page Two:
Supermarket Food Prices, Utilities including phone, Internet,
Electricity & Water & Cellular phones.

Page Three:
Language, Banking, House help, Nannies, Gardeners, Security guards,
Political Situation, & Security

Page Four (you are here):
Schools, Doctors, Hospitals, Medical Insurance, Buying a Car and Insurance, Driving

Schools, Doctors and Hospitals

The first thing that you should know is that the public system does NOT work. The public schools and the main hospital in Porlamar do not function in such a way as to be considered by foreigners. There are, however, excellent private hospitals and schools up to high school. The one University here is quite small and has limited places available so if you have children of University age they would be well advised to attend schools in your home country.

Private schools here are plentiful and range from very inexpensive ($400 per year) to others that require that you purchase a share and can be a few thousand dollars per year. All will require a working knowledge of Spanish and all give some type of English lessons.

Private doctors are also plentiful and reasonably priced - a typical visit currently costs around $20 for residents. A specialist consultation would be around US$40. 
(Many doctors have special tourist rates that are higher than what they charge residents).

Things like eyeglasses and dental work are MUCH cheaper than outside Venezuela. We just purchased some new glasses and the prices were US$41 at the low end (reasonable frames with plastic lenses) to US$70 (lighter, thinner plastic lenses). Another pair with designer frames and multi focal progressive plastic lenses were US$125.

We also had a Densitron (bone density) test done which cost around $10 and a mammogram at the local Cancer society with a new digital machine for under $15 and pelvic ultrasound tests are $17. It is possible that these prices could be somewhat higher as we have not been there in over a year.

Medical Insurance

Local medical insurance, while available, is costly compared to the coverage and there are all sorts of loopholes and exceptions. Many foreigners either self insure (pay for things themselves) or have plans from their home countries.

You do not need any special shots other than maybe a hepatitis booster to live here. Isla Margarita is virtually free of communicable diseases like malaria, etc. although, like everywhere, AIDS and other sexually passed diseases are present in a certain segment of the population.

Buying a Car & Insurance

Cars are generally more expensive than North America and cheaper than Europe (There is now a government plan that allows the sale of certain stripped down duty paid models for as low as US$10.000. Here on Isla Margarita it is possible to buy a car with duty free (Puerto Libre) license plates. This allows you to save about 30% on the cost of the car. The negative is that you can not take it outside the duty free area (to the mainland) and you must also present it to the customs people once a year to show them that it is still here.

(Note: with the current dollar problems duty free cars are virtually non-existent and other cars are now on a 2 to 3 month waiting list.

You can also buy " duty paid" cars which have free movement throughout all Venezuela. All the major manufacturers are represented here including Toyota, Honda, Mitshibushi, GM, Ford, Chrysler and other assorted Korean, Italian and Japanese manufacturers. Sometimes the models that you get here are not exactly the same as you would find in your home country.

Typical prices as of August 2008 for some Toyotas: Fortuner - BsF.94.000 ($36,150).
Corolla automatic BsF.67.000 to 80.000 (US$25,800 to 30,800).

Terios (an all-wheel drive small wagon sold by Toyota but made by Daihatsu, a Toyota Group company) - BsF. 28.000 (US$10,770) for a stripped down, 2 wheel drive, model and BsF. 56.000.000 (US$21,500) for a fully equipped version. Expect waiting lists of months to obtain low end cars.

Terios by Toyota Group

Gas, by the way, is only US$0.024 per litre (US$0.09 US gal) for 95 octane unleaded.

The government requires minimal third party insurance which is 
very cheap and covers very little (Just renewed ours with 
extended liability coverage of BsF.25.690 (US$8,564) for $116.00 annual - March 07). 

You can also get full coverage including collision damage, etc. which runs 10 to 15% or more of the car's value per year. A Toyota Corolla which costs around US$25,000 could cost up to US$3,000 per year for full coverage. Give yourself enough time to shop around for the coverage as it varies greatly in price and often the deal offered by the dealer may not be the best although it could be.

With regard to bringing cars to Margarita from the USA or Europe - yes, it is possible but not recommended. There are very strict rules regarding ownership for at least 1 year before importing a used vehicle and for new vehicles the big problem is available parts. We had a 1992 Pontiac Grand Am that we bought new that sat parked for almost 2 years of the 10 we owned it waiting for someone to figure out what was wrong with it and then waiting for parts from the US. The guy that eventually bought it from us pulled out the original engine and replaced it with one that was assembled here in Venezuela and had a ready supply of parts.
The bottom line is you are way ahead to just buy a car here.

Driving on Margarita Island

First off let me say that in the 20 years I have been dealing with tourists, many of whom rented cars while here, only one has ever been involved in an accident. He insisted that he had "the right of way".

The most important driving lesson here is that there is no such thing as "right of way" - that includes stop signs, traffic lights, traffic circles, intersections or what ever. The rule of the day here is drive defensively and never assume that someone will stop. The other thing you have to be ready for is unusual actions with no warning. Many cars have no brake lights or directional signals and the local people have a bad habit of coming to abrupt stops for no apparent reason on main roads. As long as you are aware that this might happen it becomes pretty normal.

The roads are generally in very good condition and it is safe to drive around the Island. The police do nothing to stop drinking drivers so on weekends and late afternoons you have to be a little more attentive than normal. Pedestrians are also a hazard as people will step off of curbs into traffic without looking.

For information on rental cars have a look at
Margarita Island rental cars .

If you need some time to find a rental place we can recommend either of my vacation properties as affordable & comfortable places to stay for a couple of weeks / months while you are looking around and getting oriented. Have a look at either Casa Trudel Bed & Breakfast which offers rooms with private baths, A/C, pool, sat TV, fridges and king size beds for 1 or 2 people or Trudel's Garden Vacation Homes which are 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom homes with fully equipped kitchens and satellite TV and suitable for either couples or up to six persons (max 4 adults). Both properties are close to Margarita's most popular tourist area and beach, Playa El Agua . You can just send me an e-mail at margarita.island@gmail.com  .