Overall. I give it an 8. I honestly did not do enough planning so I missed some spots and the weather wasnt the best; rainy season should have been ending but hadnt and it was off season so things were relatively quiet.
Also. El Salvador is not cheap by any means. Its not expensive but for a CA country its definitley not cheap. Driving is no issue. Roads are good except when you get off the main road then they turn into bombing ranges.
Costa del Sol. I went here because I was told there might be some fishing guides. There were not. It was dead. They are buidling down there but its going to be a few years before its much of a tourist destination. Seems like its more of a place designed for Salvadorians to vaca.
El Tunco area. Awesome. Nice hotel on the cliff. Fun hanging out down in the El Tunco beach street.
My trip to the falls was cxld when we got to town and the tourism office closed the trail to the falls due to rain. Reason to go back.
I took the scenic route along the coast from El Zonte/Tunco area up to the lake. Takes you through 5 tunnels. fun drive and way better than the highway through San Salvador. Once I made the turn to the lake off the main hwy the roads got more and more narrow and curvy. A tad intense tbh
Lago de Coatepeque was awesome. Just surreal and stunning to be staying on a lake inside a volanco crater. Found a nice hotel behind a giant metal door. Typical CA type little town.Not a place for the cancun/cabo types. Dirt roads with pot holes the size of my rental, stray dogs etc. One night around 7 I got just a tad hungry and remembered there was a hot dog stand about 20 yards down the street. I go. order my dog and I turn around back to my hotel and there are two military dudes in camo holding automatic rifles at the ready standing in from of my hotel. No idea why or where they even came from.
Hike up Santa Ana. This was not easy. And I workout 5 days a week. Lots of mtn bike riding but man 2100m and two hours of a pretty precarious trail. Everything hurt after that but the view of the crater was fantastic.
I cut my trip short one day because I had planned a pool lake day and it started raining around noon and wasnt going to stop so no reason to just sit in a hotel room.
Pics in order. View from balcony at Tesoro Beach Hotel in Costa del Sol
View from hotel bar/restaurant in El Tunco area
Hotel poolside patio on the lake. Coffee on the lake.
Hot dog gathered under military guard. Lobster at Betos on the way out of town. Whole fish on the lake.
Guide at the start. Crater view with clouds. It was worse 10 mins earlier. But our guide who has hike the crater 700 times said. Wait 15 mins and bam. Completely clear.
Last one was the view from Betos where I ate the lobster.