El Salvador

[midtown 3345]

I know it's just opening up in the last year thanks to El Presidente locking up all the gang members.   My daughter is headed to England with baby momma to attend a soccer camp which happens to coincide with my sons 18th birthday.   So I'm taking him to El Salvador with me. My son is not a fan of the beach but ATVs, zip lining, volcanos etc he would enjoy. Anyone been esp since they've cleaned it up? 

[dcbc 14464]

3 hours ago, midtown said:

I know it's just opening up in the last year thanks to El Presidente locking up all the gang members.   My daughter is headed to England with baby momma to attend a soccer camp which happens to coincide with my sons 18th birthday.   So I'm taking him to El Salvador with me. My son is not a fan of the beach but ATVs, zip lining, volcanos etc he would enjoy. Anyone been esp since they've cleaned it up? 

A guy I work with is married to a woman from El Salvador.  I know they went there several years ago.  I'll see what he has to say.my friend:  

 

Edit:  Per my friend: "Ruta de las Floras in Juayua!  They have Los churros there (7 waterfalls), coffee plantation tours, hike volcano Izalco, cerro verde, lake coatepeque, markets in Merliot." 

 

He's trying to think of more.  They had a great time.

Edited April 4 by dcbc

[midtown 3345]

@dcbc

Would you mind asking your friend about this?

Renting a car and driving the hour down to El Zapote.  Will hit the Los Churros on the drive between El Tunco and Santa Anna area

2 nts El Zapote - Tesoro Beach Hotel (fish and beach)

2 nts El Tunco - Hotel Los Farallones (fish, nightlife, beach, surf)

3 nts Santa Ana - Villa Noellia (Volacno hikes, lakes etc)

1 San Salvador - Hilton

Fly home

Edited August 29 by midtown

[dcbc 14464]

2 hours ago, midtown said:

@dcbc

Would you mind asking your friend about this?

Renting a car and driving the hour down to El Zapote.  Will hit the Los Churros on the drive between El Tunco and Santa Anna area

2 nts El Zapote - Tesoro Beach Hotel (fish and beach)

2 nts El Tunco - Hotel Los Farallones (fish, nightlife, beach, surf)

3 nts Santa Ana - Villa Noellia (Volacno hikes, lakes etc)

1 San Salvador - Hilton

Fly home

I just texted this to him.  I'll let you know what he says.

[dcbc 14464]

Here's his response:

 

Looks great. Maybe add Chalatenango/cerro el Pital. But that looks like a great itinerary to get the vibe.

 

Make sure to hit lago coatepeque, izalco, Santa Ana volcano, and cerro verde. All three are right next to each other and very different. But I think he has those covered on the 3 nights in Santa Ana area. The entire west coast highway is like driving on pacific coast highway 101 or whatever. Very cool.

 

Make sure to also try not only regular pupusas but also the ones made in a rice wrapper, kind of like gummy noodles. Bad ass.

 

And when leaving the airport, stop off in the town of cojutepeque, which has some of the best damned sausages anywhere. The whole town is known for them, and they are very different

Edited August 29 by dcbc

[midtown 3345]

Awesome. Thank you. Good to have some validation on my iten.  I get the feeling that this will not be my last visit.  Esp if I want to get on the pacific and can find a good fishing guide

[dcbc 14464]

No problem.  I took his response as super enthusiastic.  That bodes well.

[Hornbeliever 712]

On 8/29/2024 at 5:35 PM, midtown said:

Awesome. Thank you. Good to have some validation on my iten.  I get the feeling that this will not be my last visit.  Esp if I want to get on the pacific and can find a good fishing guide

Have you gone?

[midtown 3345]

Here. Day 3

[midtown 3345]

Day 4. Ill put up a longer post when my trip is done.  Some ups and downs but overall this country is fucking great  

[Braff Zacklin 13551]

@InkaUtexas

[InkaUtexas 25852]

2 hours ago, midtown said:

Day 4. Ill put up a longer post when my trip is done.  Some ups and downs but overall this country is fucking great  

Yep, love that country. Just saw this thread thanks to @Braff Zacklin. Grew up there and would try and link you up with a few old friends.

When you drive back from Santa Anna to San Sal you will see some small mounds that are all alike, nothing on them. Don't go to them, but that is some ancient ruins I hope in the next few years they can finally clean up and explore. if you have some time to kill in San Sal on the last day go check out Los Planes. Some cool places to grab a beer and eat pupusas. It is where the mountains end and you can look across the littoral plain to the ocean in the far distance.

It has been a few years since I was there but that is my old stomping grounds. IF you meet any 20ish year old girls who say they don't know their Gringo dad and he went to UT they are lying and I was never there.

[midtown 3345]

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.

Edited October 2 by midtown

[midtown 3345]

Pics

[justhookit 4191]

@midtownI can’t believe there wasn’t anyone to take you fishing. Maybe because it was the off-season. We just got back from CR and might have stayed a week longer but the rains were starting to be half day to all day events. But the fishing was amazing, sailfish jumping in the boat, best September any of the locals can remember.

[midtown 3345]

9 minutes ago, justhookit said:

@midtownI can’t believe there wasn’t anyone to take you fishing. Maybe because it was the off-season. We just got back from CR and might have stayed a week longer but the rains were starting to be half day to all day events. But the fishing was amazing, sailfish jumping in the boat, best September any of the locals can remember.

Nope.  I spent hours googling. I emailed a charter company way down south and asked if they knew anyone in the Costa area. I asked the hotel.  I asked the waiter at one of the restaurants.  Apparently per my bartender in El Tunco.  Sport fishing is simply not a thing.  And esp not during rainy season.  Ill just save it for my next CR visit.  I did find someone in the El Tunco area to take me out in a panga but I already had plans to do the waterfoll hike.  I mentioned this to the guy sitting next to me flying who works for SWA in El Salvador and he mentioned that as far as he knows there arent any deep water ports or marinas to speak of. 

Maybe this is a business opportunity.

Edited October 2 by midtown

[justhookit 4191]

16 minutes ago, midtown said:

Nope.  I spent hours googling. I emailed a charter company way down south and asked if they knew anyone in the Costa area. I asked the hotel.  I asked the waiter at one of the restaurants.  Apparently per my bartender in El Tunco.  Sport fishing is simply not a thing.  And esp not during rainy season.  Ill just save it for my next CR visit.  I did find someone in the El Tunco area to take me out in a panga but I already had plans to do the waterfoll hike.  I mentioned this to the guy sitting next to me flying who works for SWA in El Salvador and he mentioned that as far as he knows there arent any deep water ports or marinas to speak of. 

Maybe this is a business opportunity.

They run a tournament out of there that boats from CR and Guatemala travel for. A friend was going to fish it, but he found out that you have to go in and out of the port at high tide only. So some boats do go there. Figured it was sort of a marina that would at least have some smaller boats available. Weird. The fishing is good, too.

[midtown 3345]

Oh I forgot.  Immingration and customs were easy and fast.  I was in first so zero line and right on through. I think he asked if I had anything to declare and done.  Then bag onto scanner and out the door.  Here is the weird part.  Leaving you go through security in the main terminal and then again when you go to the international gates.   But no exit passport control or immigration at all. I dont know how they know I left the country.  Maybe the airlines give the government a passenger maniftest?  

Edited October 2 by midtown