Maracaibo

La Tierra del Sol Amada | The Beloved Land of the Sun

Why visit

Most travelers don't, and shouldn't right now. For those with reason to be there, the historic center around Plaza Bolívar holds the Cathedral, Palacio de los Condóres, and pastel-painted Calle Carabobo. Maracaibo is famous for its food: patacones (smashed plantain sandwiches), tequenos (cheese pastries), and the unique Catatumbo lightning storms (over Lake Maracaibo, the world's most concentrated lightning) visible 200+ nights a year from outlying villages.

When to avoid

Most Western governments currently advise against all travel to Venezuela due to severe economic crisis, crime, fuel shortages, and political instability. Maracaibo specifically suffers chronic power and water outages and high crime rates including kidnapping. Don't carry valuables. Foreigners are targets. Cash dollars are essential as the bolívar is functionally worthless. Only travel here with experienced local contacts.

Plan Maracaibo

Current conditions and the practical reference material that helps turn the saved places into a trip.

The next week in Maracaibo

7-day forecast from Open-Meteo. UV badges flag days when sun protection matters (3 and above is moderate; 8 and above is risk territory for unprotected fair skin within 30 minutes).

Today

Drizzle

35° / 29°

1.4 mm

UV High

Wed

Drizzle

36° / 28°

0.6 mm

UV Very high

Thu

Thunderstorm

34° / 27°

4.0 mm

UV Very high

Fri

Thunderstorm

34° / 27°

2.8 mm

UV Very high

Sat

Drizzle

33° / 27°

UV High

Sun

Thunderstorm

34° / 27°

6.6 mm

UV Very high

Mon

Thunderstorm

32° / 25°

6.9 mm

UV High

Climate

Wet season (Aug-Nov)

About 54% of the year's rain falls in these months. Typical highs around 34°C, lows around 25°C.

Dry season (Dec-Apr)

About 22mm of rain a month, against 91mm in the wet season.

In August 4

Drag to scrub across the year.

JFMAMJJASOND

Weather

36° / 25°

Typical high / low

2 mm rainfall this month

Daylight

12.5h

06:36 – 19:05local

Holidays coming up

Public holidays from Nager.Date.

Airports

closest MAR · 13 km

Getting around Maracaibo

Public-transit operators within 8 km of the city center. Click through to each operator’s site for routes, fares, and tickets.

Local transit operators

Metro de Maracaibo

Operators and modes are aggregated from individual transit-agency GTFS feeds. Route classifications come from each feed’s route type codes.

About Maracaibo

Maracaibo is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, located on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the capital of Zulia and is the second-largest city proper in Venezuela, after the national capital, Caracas. The city has an estimated population of 1,752,602, with the metropolitan area estimated at 2,727,957 as of 2019. Maracaibo is commonly nicknamed "Spanish: La Tierra del Sol Amada".

Area: 1,393 km²
Demonym: Maracaibianos
Airport codes: MAR

Venezuela basics →Country context, advisories, and entry links for the practicalities shown above.

References5

The links below support the changing or licensed reference material on this page. Personal notes and ordinary geographic facts are not footnoted individually.

City background. Wikipedia summary may be clipped or paraphrased. Structured fields are cross-checked against the related references. Related: Wikidata.